Well I went to the show at Fairfax last night. Since I only expected hits, I had a better time. I actually moved seats to sit directly behind the stage and got a good view of everything going on from the back. Interesting perspective actually.



Prince started about an hour late. The intro of each person starting was cool. I enjoyed Rhonda using the bow on the standup bass. WAY too much time was given to Najee at this performance!!! I think we've found the new person for Prince to worship, at least temporarily. Rather than a track by track description, here's my general impressions, good and bad:



Good:


-Geneva. This is the first time I've seen her in action and I LOVE her! It's great seeing a dancer again and this girl is hot. She moves like an erotic dancer and works well with Prince. reminds me a lot of Cat.


-Absence of Larry. This is probably the most important. Prince got back to his dirty dance routins again which was cool. He actually sang "masturbating" in Darling Nikki. He couldn't quite pull "Bullshit" in Housequake, but I'll
forgive him this time.


-"New" songs. Or rather, songs I haven't heard on tour in forever. Ok, some were done at the celibration in June, but it was nice to hear Uptown, Controversy, Darling Nikki, Housequake, Dorthy Parker, God(!!), Father's Song(!!), I Wanna Be Your Lover, Scandalous(full version!) and others.


-"New" musicians. The new guy on drums is great, Rhonda back in the fold is cool. She's still sexy as ever.


-Funny guy from audience with a symbol guitar cutout on stage. This guy was a trip, "playing" along with Prince.


-No "turn that loop up"! Thanks Prince



Bad:


-"Old" played out songs were boring. Ok, I admit I was tired when I came to the show, but certain parts of the show were boring. Especially the songs that have been played out. Take Me With U/Raspberry Beret, Let's Go Crazy, Purple Rain, Gett Off, Kiss. You've been playing these for years Prince.


-WAY WAY WAY too much attention on Najee. His smooth jazz touch to a lot of the songs and solos BORED me to tears. But I guess I'd rather him be there than Larry!


-Still some sampling going on. The guitar intro to Purple Rain was sampled - how lame is that??? Now I admit, it seems much more "live" than recently, but
come on!


-Towards the end, Prince started on some rant that I couldn't hear, the went into that "getting paid" song. Let it drop Prince, enough already.



So overall, even for a fan with not much enthusiasm, it was a decent show. I wasn't too bored and I did have some nice surprises. If I was in the first row, I might have given a more favorable approach, but observing from my point, it was "OK".