Here's my $0.03 on the Philly show. I got to the Acadmey of Music around 6
pm exactly, since I had bought $85 seats, and the venue's website said that
we had to pick them up between 6 and 7. There was a rather long line of
people that doubled over already there to do the same thing. Luckily, the
part I was in wasn't outside, although it wasn't terribly cold outside! They
finally started to let us in to get our tickets around 6:45. That ran
smoothly, so everyone's waiting around in the lobby trying to look in the
window of the doors to the auditorium to see the band do a soundcheck. The
only song I could hear was Uptown being stopped and started again. In the
lobby, they were selling several cheap ass (the look, not price) NPG
t-shirts and whatnot. They were also selling Rhonda's CD for $15! Yikes!
Those are Sam Goody prices. In other words, too damn expensive! Oh well.



About 7:45 almost 8, they started letting people in to be seated. Over the
PA system they were playing someone's CD, and I'm not sure who it was,
though a song or 2 sounded like Prince. It would be the ONLY CD they played,
as it seems like I heard every song at least 4-5 times. The songs sounded
like the same ol' stuff heard on the radio these days, primarily WHUR in DC.
I sure hope it wasn't Prince because it sounded VERY plain Jane and like everyone else's shit. So, for the next hour and a half, I'm just trippin'
off of the folks coming in, looking like they're God's gift to the opposite
gender!! About 5 after nine, Billy Sparks comes out on the mic, saying
Prince is there, and would be playing all of the hits, and would be out in
10-15 minutes, so hold tight. Then there was a huge rush for last minute
bathroom breaks! Several times, someone in the front row held up a doll of
Prince (looking like he did on the Rave cover) on the stage, which was met
with wild cheers from the crowd. I guess everyone was ready for something!!
For the life of me, I cannot understand why he makes each city wait an hour
and a half to 2 hours for the start of the show. It's inconsiderate for
those who have other things to do that night, and it only makes me tired.
Start the muthafucker on time. This ain't MPLS.



Finally, around 9:25, it started!! Since I already knew the setlist from
other reports, I really wasn't surprised by anything he did here tonight.
Though, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Uptown/Controversy/Mutiny!! One of the
problems I had with this show was too much Najee!!!! He was given WAY too
many solos, and his sound doesn't even fit in with the funk, at least not
now!! His playing was very Kenny G.-ish, and it just came across as sounding like muzak! I give much respect to him as an artist, and his smooth jazz
playing, but that shit ain't fittin' in right now. I thought I paid $85 for
a Najee show. Better than hearing Larry's rants and sermons, I guess. I was
also hoping Housequake was a bit funkier than it was, but it was nice to
hear again after 12 years! It should've been started with a real kick drum,
not that drum machine. I noticed he couldn't even say "Shut up, already!
Damn!". He said, "Dang!" You KNOW the performance of the song didn't have
much edge when he couldn't even say "Damn!!" Whassup with that?? Like others
have said, he did way too many hits here. Why am I paying $85 for a
rehearsal, for one, and two, the same shit he's been doing for almost the
past 4 years? That's not fair! Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to have seen
Prince live again, but he's just coasting too much now. He's not putting his
heart into anything right now, and it shows to a lot of us, though we get
called "naysayers" just because we know he can do better live and on tape!!!
Most of his stuff is half assed, and he'll just keep performing stuff like
Purple Rain for the millionth time as long as people accept it. Folks were
just on their feet like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread,
hooting and hollering. Why keep performing this if he's so in the "now",
like he says? If you're going to do old stuff, why not do stuff he haven't heard you do in EVERY concert for the past 4 years?? Granted, he threw a
couple of new gems in there this time, but it's the exception, not the rule.
And don't even get me started on his lackluster performance of the slow
jams! He didn't give the passion and energy any justice when he performed
Scandalous, Do Me Baby, and The Beautiful Ones. Sure he did a few splits and
whatnot, but you could tell he was just going through the motions.



On the plus side, I must say John Blackwell is KICKIN' on them drums! Much
improved over Kirk. So long, sucker. Let the door knob hit ya right there,
and don't come back!! Geneva wasn't as much a distraction as I thought
she'd be, but still not necessary. I was hoping she'd help bring high energy
back to the show like Cat. She's great looking, yeah, but not a true asset
to the show. At the end, Shawn Stockman (?) from Boyz II Men got on stage to
sing a line or 2 from Motownphilly to the beat of Come On along with some
other guy. Nothing great or spectacular. Just enough to feed Prince's ego
and name drop. I must say it was funny to see when Prince let people on
stage to dance to Kiss that one guy was trying to speak into Prince's mic,
but stopped by that bald bodyguard. He then tried for Rhonda's mic, but
again pushed aside. He tried one more time for Kip's, and the BG had enough! HA! He was escorted off the stage. Nice try, man! It was about 11:30 pm and
after Come On, it was over. No encore, no nothing. An afterparty was
announced for some place called Brave New World, but after seeing and
hearing what I just did, I wasn't pressed to try to go there on the hopes of
a performance. I was tired, and I had quite a drive ahead of me. Plus, I
knew he had to be in Cleveland the next night. I sure hope the next time he
swings around these parts that he's retired about 85-90% of this setlist and
started to challenge himself again. And let's get a real show while we're at
it with a real stage and some energetic choreography!! Playing Purple Rain,
U Got The Look, Let's Go Crazy, Take Me With U, etc... may get most of the
crowd pumped, but we can stand to hear it only so many times, Prince!! What
have you been working on for the past 5-7 years???? I love Prince to death,
and this is why it pains me and MANY others on the net to see what he's
becoming lately. Wake me when the real Prince comes back to town! Sorry to
ramble on so long.