Prince
at Fair Park Music Hall
909 1st Ave
Dallas, TX 75210
When: Apr 16 Tue 9:00pm

About the event
By ROB CLARK/ The Dallas Morning News
{{{Prince hasn't had a hit in years. His last big single was "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," and that was eight years ago.

But singles and sales don't really seem to matter as much to the artist anymore. After his battles with Warner Bros. and a one-album cameo on Arista, he seems content to release works on his own.

Unlike Michael Jackson, so desperately sales-driven, Prince has maintained his artistic integrity, all goofy name changes aside.

Here are five reasons he still matters:}}}

1.His influence: Prince's style and sound are stamped all over the young crop of soul musicians. D'Angelo, Maxwell and Bilal are direct descendants, as are Alicia Keys, Nikka Costa and Macy Gray. Ms. Keys recently released "How Come You Don't Call Me," a cover of his old standard, and Eve is tackling "Irresistible Bitch" for her next album. Prince has reciprocated, giving shout-outs to D'Angelo and the Roots' ?uestlove on 1999's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. He's been covering Erykah Badu's "Didn't Cha Know" on this tour, too.

2.His daring: Prince's latest album, The Rainbow Children, is among his most complex works. It's a tough code to crack, with loads of religious imagery and a gruff-voiced narrator. But there is some outstanding music within its challenging structure, like the funk workouts "Family Name," "The Work Pt. 1" and "1+1+1 is 3."

3.His concerts: No one takes it to the stage like Prince, still a dynamo at age 43. His last few tours have been greatest-hits affairs, electrifying performances but often plagued with medleys. This one is different. The "One Nite Alone Tour" is more stripped-down and jazzy and has included such obscure jewels as "Anna Stesia," "Joy in Repetition," "Sometimes It Snows in April," "Starfish and Coffee" and "Adore."

4.His Net worth: Though releasing music on the Internet is now common, Prince was among the first to take advantage of it. Now he gets music to his fans through his NPG Music Club, which includes unreleased songs for downloading (membership costs $100 a year). The entire Rainbow Children album was available to members well before the CD hit stores.

5.His diversity: "White, black, Puerto Rican, everybody just a freakin'," he sang in 1981's "Uptown," his first of many songs about a sort of musical utopia. His concerts hold true to that. Something about his variety of sounds – rock, funk, soul, occasionally hip-hop (the weakest of his repertoire) – brings out a cross section of people that you don't see very often.

Published in The Dallas Morning News: 04.12.02

us prince fans are a pretty diverse group!

awwwww.... How sweet.

Couldn't have said it better myself as to why he's still relevant.

The one thing I hate though, is why he's never mentioned in any articles about freeing the music. All those damn Courtney Love credits and not a single to his name. Oh well, whether or not he gets mentioned, he's still relevant,

any1 out there going 2 the concert in Dallas? Eye will see u in line 4 the soundcheck

LOVE4ONEANOTHER,
LASTDECEMBER

PHEW!!! At last. Some real news and an INTERESTING thread.

Great to see that he is getting some good press at last. And all you Jackson fans: Read the above and take note.

ChildotheRainbow, I will be at the Dallas show as long as the plane makes it and they don't mess up my ticket order.

Excellent Review!!!!! Always nice to see my home town give praise to someone that's not in the Media 24-7.

Much Love,
LoLinex

See you at the soundcheck

Great report.

Rob Clark (the reporter) is a "freak" ... or knows one Very Well.