http://www.parool.nl/1034745110732.html

The link shows the article in Dutch, I'll give a translation in English here.

'Candy wants to talk to you'

It's easy if you're an American performing in Holland and you've got someone in your band who speaks Dutch."Candy wants to talk to you" was what Prince said quite soon.

And Candy read a statement from a piece of paper by her temporarily employer: "Who came here to hear Little Red Corvette..." the songtitle wasn't even mentioned or a big cheer came from the crowd.The saxophone player motioned to stop, that she wasn't finished yet. The message was that those who came for that song were in the wrong place.

Because, as Candy said on behalf of Prince: "We're not interested in what you already know, we're interested in what you are willing to learn". And that were no empty words. Specially in the first part of the set the audience was made to work hard., Not a single hit in sight, but many long solo's that were sooner to be expected in the BIM-huis (an Amsterdam Jazz club) than in the Ahoy.

Prince is lately busy with jazz, as his loyal fans knew from his latest, badly sold CD Rainbow Children. In Ahoy it led to music that brought back memories of the seventies jazzrock. That was loaded with technical tricks, and Prince added his to it yesterday. It's something you have to like, the kind of string-wizardry which he played for 3 songs in a row, but it made you focus on what a terribly good, and many sided guitar player Prince is.

The audience withstood the heavy stuff bravely and was rewarded with music that was better known. Little Red Corvette, probably the most loved song from his vast catalogue, was skipped, but other than that he played many hit songs. Purple Rain, SOTT, Nothing Compares 2 U, Raspberry Beret, Sometimes It Snows In April... Prince could scream out loud that it was 2002 and that he didn't live in the past, he's entertainer enough to understand that the audience doesn't accept only new songs. The compromise that was made that he re-arranged the old songs.

It led to a nice interaction with the audience. The mass hysteria that was around at the concerts he gave in the eighties is long gone, but as a performer his still is greatly appreciated in Holland. The tickets for the 2 Ahoy shows (he's back in November) were sold within 30 minutes, and nobody used the option the return your tickets due to the burial of the other prince.

The tickets were 60 Euro on average. Rediculously expensive, but they worked hard for their money on the stage, although the master himself was extremely relaxed. Prince hasn't been the most important man in the music business for a long time, but he doesn't seem to care about it. Just as he doesn't spend his days attacking the music business he hates so much. In his TAFKAP period he wrote the word slave on his face, now he let a snippet of a Martin Luther King speech sound; "Free at last, free at last...".

What also must be a great relieve is that he switched his laquered high heels for some loafers.

Is it true that he no longer wears high heels??

LOAFERS! as n totally flat shoes?
dang eye would have paid just 2 c that!

The first part of the show he had his high heels,
the second part he had boots on, I think without heels

fuchsy77 said:

That's right, they were boots. He wore them at the soundcheck too. They had a very small heel.

only "confused" men wear loafers...!!!
He actually wears "wedge heeled moon boots" one pair were white, the other beige ( in London anyway)

the boots had no real heels and at the soundcheck of Hamburg he even wore "slippers" japanese style

Why should the fact that Prince no longer wear high heels onstage be considered such a great relief by the Dutch fans?

.

I think he meant relief for Prince, or at least Prince's feet.
And who is the most important man in music nowadays, Nelly?
It's sad so many still consider record sales in measuring relevance and importance.
But if being less important means we get great shows like the One Nite Alone tour and the yearly Celebration performances then I'm glad Prince is not the most important man in music.