Hey... Back in the am from the first show and wanted to give a quick
review....



Prince played the Palladium last night. It is a rather dank and small
venue-perfect for this type of a show. It was general seating, so the
line
was about 8 blocks waiting to get in. Prince arrived in limo around 6:00
and
did a long sound check. I heard Kiss when I walked by the backstage
doors.



The set is minimal. There are two screens in the back, that show a
computer
techno type movie during the show. It seemed like it was out of sync
most of
the show. Besides that, the stage is bare. Drums, two keyboards, one
clear
plastic, one in purple fuzz.


Prince took the stage late due to tech problems. Around 10 he took the
stage
and launched into Uptown. It sounded just like it did on the LP. He
played
the 1st songs with his old Purple Rain fender...very retro feel to it
indeed.
I am hazy, but here is a partial set list (Not in order):
[pre:0deadbeef0]
Uptown
Controversy
Mutiny
House quake
Do me baby
Scandalous- Did not like the new mix
Cream
Diamonds and Pearls
Nothing Compares 2 U
Ballad of DP- still sounds odd live
Let's Go Crazy
Little Red Corvette
She is Always in My Hair
I Could Never TTPOYM
Take Me With U
I Wanna Be Your Lover
The Beautiful Ones
Darling Nikki(with Backwards message at end)
U Got the Look
When Will We Get Paid- A Mavis Staples song...very busy. Long
Political/God
speech at the intro
Purple Rain
Gett Off
Kiss
Purple Rain Love Theme
Santana Medly
[/pre:0deadbeef0]



It was great to see Prince finally accept the fact that his fans want to
hear some of the classics. The best part was that it seemed fresh. I have
been
bored during the last 2 tours. This one had power to it. You really
felt
like you were at a rehearsal. All the guitars had patch cords. The
instruments had to be tuned from time to time. Band members looked
nervously
at each other at times. Prince looked at his set list before many songs.



There were no pre-planned dance steps. The ones he did matched the time
the
song was released I.e.: the stop during HQ, the dance at the end of LRC,
the
grind after Darling Nikki, the guitar ending of ICNTTPOYM. It felt like
you
were seeing a collage of all the tours and shows that we have lived
through
over the last 20 years. I always wished that I saw a SOTT show
live...last night I felt a part of the energy during ICNTTPOY! N. The dirty Minds
songs
had the same rawness of that tour. The PR set was like you were seeing
the
Revolution in 84. The lead it Mutiny felt like the 86 tour. I have seen
over 30 shows over the years-this was the best show. You got a feeling
that
Prince was happy to be himself again, and wanted to embrace his past.
Even
though the show was hit heavy, it did not feel stale like the 90 tour.
All
of the songs felt fresh again. Prince went out of his way showing off
his
guitar work. Often he would take the stage and play a 8 min solo by
himself.
His new horn player smokes, and was given the duty of playing many long
instrumental while Prince changed. He did a bit of the Computer Blue
ending,
but instead of the guitar, he played a sax. The new drummer was tight. A
powerful M. Bland sound. Rhonda now get my vote as his best Basest. The
new
dancer worke! d well. A good contrast on stage...almost like a hot full
version of CAT. Prince moved from keyboard, to guitar and then over to
the
bass. The show had multiple peeks to it. The crowd felt like it was on
a
roller coaster. The only downer was the encore was a Santana tribute.
It
felt anticlimactic. I recommend that everyone tries hard to catch this
hit
and run shows. The show ended at 12:10. Now I have to pay the price
during
the working hours