http://www.canoe.ca/JamCo...2-can.html

Prince kicks off Canadian tour in reserved fashion
By DENISE SHEPPARD
For JAM! Music

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PRINCE
Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
RATING: 3 (out of 5)
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VANCOUVER -- What do you think of when the topic of Prince comes up? Does "talented" come to mind? Oh, yeah. "Prolific"? Absolutely. How about "risque" or "parental advisory"? Not anymore, friends.

At the same hour that Ms. Britney Spears was undoubtedly shaking her thang around a stripper pole at Vancouver's GM Place (with last-minute scalpers tix reportedly going for five bucks) the artist currently known as Prince -- formerly the king of erotic contemporary soul -- was opening his Canadian "One Nite Alone" tour with a solid but reserved performance at Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre, Tuesday evening.

The venue, which seats a cosy 3,000, provided the rare chance to see a big artist in an unusually small space. The catch? The "cheap seats" were $99, while two-thirds of the tickets went for $150 (plus service charges).

At those prices, the room was filled primarily with dedicated fans. The hardest of the hardcore could be found in the first eight rows, where members of the NewPowerGeneration fan club were guaranteed prime spots.

Fans everywhere, old and young, were primed for the night, dressed in their finest velvet, leopard-skin, and lace. When the house lights dimmed, the crowd immediately rose to its feet for a thunderous ovation before the first guitar chord was even struck.

Opening with the jazzy title track to his recent "Rainbow Children" album, Prince and his four-piece band (keyboards, stand-up bass, drums, and sax) managed to be simultaneously improvisational and tight, albeit Maceo Parker-free. (The legendary sax man was nowhere to be found, in spite of recent appearances all over the U.S. leg of the tour.)

The show was occasionally surprising but never shocking. Based on his attire alone -- a tight-fitting blue-gray suit with a black shirt -- one immediately got the sense that Prince's recent conversion to the Jehovah's Witnesses has affected more than his private life. The anticipated bumps and grinds, the graphically sexy songs, and the overall flamboyancy were definitely missed by many an attending fan.

Instead, the night was -- like the "Rainbow Children" album -- a series of blistering jazz jams, often at the expense of the audience"s entertainment.

{{{Were there high points? Absolutely. From his beautifully respectful cover of Joni Mitchell"s "A Case Of You" (included on the new fan-club-only album "One Nite Alone", which gives this tour its name) to Sly & The Family Stone"s "Sing A Simple Song", Prince effectively used part of his set to give credit to his influences. }}}

He also performed some non-"Rainbow" material, although -- save for the third song, "Money Don"t Matter 2 Nite" -- the majority of the familiar Prince-penned tunes didn't appear until right before the encore.

In the meantime, the majority of the audience -- who, it would seem, had yet to purchase the often amazing "Rainbow Children" album -- sat politely and applauded appropriately, though not overly enthusiastically, for much of the night.

Prior to the encore, the evening, surprisingly, fell near tedium at times, as Prince and crew clocked more time performing extended jazz jams than at the microphone.

But the high points did come, eventually, and high they were. The encore arrived with Prince alone at the piano, laying down some gospel-infused gorgeousness via his performance of "Adore". That bled into a medley of sorts, where his now-Purple pant-suited self performed all or part of, among others, "Starfish And Coffee", "Sometimes It Snows In April", "The Beautiful Ones", and "Diamonds And Pearls", the latter a tragically shortened one-minute version.

Thankfully, one spine-tingling highlight was left intact: an emotional version of "Nothing Compares 2 U", which took the house from dead silence to a standing O.

The night itself was a mostly joyful event. Still, for all who sat further than halfway back, justifying the cost of the ticket for the average paycheque-to-paycheque fan is nearly impossible.

Is Prince brilliant? Absolutely. As a musician, you'll have a hard time finding his equal. Does he write incredible songs? Second to none. Was his show entertaining? Sometimes. But in order to keep his talented mind creatively interested, excessive noodling seems destined to be a frequent occurrence on this tour.

As for naysayers who might think this review reads like an anti-jazz tirade, rest easy. It is simply meant as a warning to those considering spending a few hundred dollars hoping to hear a cohesive Prince retrospective. If you're looking for that, fly to Vegas to catch the incredible Purple Reign Tribute -- all yours for the cost of a plane ticket and a one-drink minimum. (More on Prince)

Set List
The Rainbow Children
Muse 2 The Pharaoh
Money Don't Matter 2 Night
Xenophobia
A Case Of You (Joni Mitchell cover)
Mellow
Love Rollercoaster (Ohio Players cover)
1+1+1 Is 3
The Other Side Of The Pillow
Strange Relationship
The "WNPG Radio station":
- Sing A Simple Song (Sly & The Family Stone cover)
- La-La (Means I Love You) (Delfonics cover)
- Didn't Cha Know (Erykah Badu song, featuring bass player Rhonda Smith on lead vocals)
When You Were Mine
Avalanche (from the fan-club CD "One Nite Only")
Family Name
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret

Encore (varying between solo piano and full band)
Adore
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Free
Starfish And Coffee
Sometimes It Snows In April
Girls & Boys
Diamonds And Pearls
The Beautiful Ones
Nothing Compares 2 U
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
Anna Stesia

Oh, P - please come to Europe. It's sheer torture reading these reviews and listening to the concert CDs thinking you might not get over here. Pretty please???

Sounds like a wonderful show to me

You can see the angle this reviewer is coming from and that is fair enough.

This show is mostly for the diehard fans. As Prince has said, you might as well leave if you've come for Purple Rain.

Did anyone play sax at this show?

bkw said:

Yes, but who?

"Prince and his four-piece band (keyboards, stand-up bass, drums, and sax)"

I read the org reviews and see that it was Eric Leeds.

Good to see they're getting on again.

Maceo was in London on the 28th... I know coz I was there ... WHAT A SHOW... he jammed for 3 and a half hours,- one of the best shows I've ever seen!!! Candy Dulfer was also there - a surprise guest...(and Greg Boyer)
On Maceo's website it says he's joining One Night Alone from Friday (he is playing New York on the 6th) all I can say is after Tuesday in London, I'm all the more ready and waiting for Prince to bring this tour to Europe... with Maceo and Candy!!!
Looks like Eric was a filler for the dates Maceo couldn't do?

Oh please, just buy (better yet, download) one of the many boots of this tour. He barely has changed the set list and even his jokes and sermons remain largely the same from show to show. I'd spend a couple of hours downloading a Canadian gig to hear an update on "Money Don't Matter Tonight", but I wouldn't be begging to pay $150 to see this show. I just haven't been able to get into this tour like I did others.

If you're looking for a ONA boot, I recommend picking up the LA gig as this is the best sound quality I've heard so far.

how can a more or less crappy boot ever compare to being there live?

What is it exactly? The show? Soundcheck? Was there an aftershow? Which label?

My small review on the Vancouver show: First off, we paid $100.00 cndn for a ticket to sit in the upper level balcony at the Orpheum, looking down at the heads of the band. Prince came out amid the beginning of the "Rainbow Children", and the house came to it's feet and gave him a well deserved standing O. I was with my sister, and her boyfriend, and we were not happy with the view at all, although the sound was phenomenal. We decided to go get a drink, and decide what to do. Went down to the main floor, pounded back a beer, and decided to waltz into the main floor theatre area, to my delight, there were seats at the back, where I had a good view of the band, and the man. I won't bother with the set list, but the love in the room became more evident the further Prince and the NPG grooved on. He was penned "His Royal Grooveness" by a local music critic from "The Province" newspaper; "He can say more about love and the human condition in one falsetto wail than a thousand love poems ever will", said Stuart Derdeyn of the local paper. And I fully agree. The musicianship was stellar, Prince's voice was flawless, and especially toward the end, the crowd went wild for him. Before the encore, where Prince swooned the crowd with his beautiful piano playing and vocals, it seemed an eternity before he came out again, but the crowd wasn't going anywhere as they screamed, shrieked, clapped, and chanted Prince's name, "we want Prince, we want Prince!"...my hands are still sore, and my voice trashed from yelling. When he did come out again, he seemed genuinely enamoured with the crowd, and said so a number of times the rest of the night. When the band kicked in with an upbeat tune, people leaped out of their seats to dance in the aisles (I ran down to the front by myself to dance), and then people respectfully returned to their seats and fell completely silent to hear the man's absolutely beautiful vocals, and piano mastery. There was huge respect for him, and he knew it! The NPG was fabulous as well, what a tight ship they are...amazing. My final comment is that it was the best concert I have ever seen...I have seen Prince once before for the "Jam of the Year" this was easily as good, and I
did not need the pelvic thrusts and the pyro...the music spoke for itself. The room was filled with love, the room was packed with groove, the room was shakin', quakin', and the ageless Prince was doing some major bakin'...I'm still a fan, and a fan for life!!!

Great review Sensitive!!! Thanks!

Yeah, a great review!

I have Chicago and LA concert boots from this tour, and they are not the same (and quality is pretty good on both, IMO)! There's several different tracks although you have to remember that he's obviously going to be promoting his recent release so I'd be disappointed to NOT hear most TRC tracks! And I'm impressed by it all.

Each to their own, but I can't wait to see this tour myself. If you don't wanna come, npgfan, no-one's gonna force you to!

I went to the Vancouver show also, and it was the best concert I've ever been to! I was going to write a review, but it would be basically the same as sensitivemthrfker's review, except for the fact that I stayed in the 8th row for the majority of the time.