{{{http://www.bayarea.com/ml...150317.htm Posted on Sat, Apr. 27, 2002
Prince performing live: unpredictable, unparalleled
By Brad Kava
Mercury News

The artist known again as Prince turned Oakland's Paramount Theatre into a giant radio station Wednesday night, in a show that surprised even longtime followers with its musical depth.

After blasting the shallowness of corporate radio, the Minneapolis artist led his New Power Generation band on a three-hour eclectic journey -- like a radio station you could maybe hear in your dreams or at a great college outpost -- that included forays into jazz, metal rock, Latin groove, blues, gospel funk, soul and even a jazz remake of Joni Mitchell's acoustic folk song ``A Case of You.''}}}

``Remember when you could turn on the radio and hear Parliament/Funkadelic, Rufus, Chaka Khan and even Oakland's own Graham Central Station?'' asked the 43-year-old Minneapolis native, who has been in the business since his teens. ``Those days are gone.''

Actually, you could probably hear all the groups he mentioned on Clear Channel's retro funk station KISQ-FM (98.1) or on KFOG-FM's ``10 at 10'' program but you couldn't hear them sandwiched with the rest of what he played.

Behind him a screen listed the corporate giants who dominate radio, including Clear Channel Communications, which not only programs 10 Bay Area stations but whose concert division presented this show.

He opened with about 45 minutes of jazzlike jamming off his new album, ``The Rainbow Children,'' featuring former James Brown sideman Maceo Parker on sax, Wanda Smith on bass, Greg Boyer on trombone, Renato Neto on keyboards and Charles Blackwell on drums.

The peripatetic purple one, who brought out a hot red suit for this set, wandered among vocals, piano and guitar, playing each with ease. He didn't touch on his old hits until 90 minutes into the show.

Asked once to pick the most underrated guitarist he'd ever played with, Carlos Santana picked Prince, and you could hear why during his sinuous, airy solos on the guitar shaped like the glyph that replaced his name for a while.

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http://www.bayarea.com/ml...150317.htm

oh no! he kicked Rhonda! Oh no!

EAT THIS!!!

.....all this time kept telling u guys her name was wanda, not rhonda!!!! see, it's right there in print.

Yeah but who is Charles Blackwell? Dontcha love it when the press get it so wrong, suprised Marcus Parker and Cindy Dulfer weren't on the lineup too... LOL