Here's the review of the Saturday, April 14th Atlanta Prince show that I wrote for Flagpole Magazine. I'd love to read what you all have to say about my report. I'm sure I'll get some flack, but I'm interested in seeing what you've got to say. I'll be there next time he slides through. I sent this into NPG Online the morning after the show, but they decided NOT to post it! He did make a lot of changes for the Sunday night show for the better. D'ya think he actually read my review and paid attention? No, well...that's cool. It's still an interesting coincidence! So here you go.



PRINCE

Altanta Civic Center

Saturday April 14, 2001



Prince is a legend. There's no other way to describe him. So the high expectations that I held while heading out to the Atlanta Civic Center last Saturday are quite understandable. First of all I want to say that I got well more than my $45 dollars worth. That's for sure. I sat up in the last balcony somewhere closer to Heaven than the stage, but the civic center is a nice venue that makes a room that size as cozy and intimate as it can be. I hadn't been lucky enough to see a show here before and I was curious as to how this room more suited for the symphony than "the funk" would hold up under tonight's onslaught. I surveyed the excited rainbow of an audience who clearly expected a special treat of an evening. The night kicked off at about 9:30 with a new girl group from the Midwest called Millennium. They sang live over pre-recorded tracks dressed in black shirts and red pants. The quartet successfully mixed the styles of Gladys Knight and En Vogue and dealt patiently with an audience that occasionally heckled them. Their opening tune "I'm Not Going To Turn Back Now" had them out with a strong song in the vein of a female Temptations. These ladies had the soul and the tunes. Their dance moves were occasionally a bit stiff, but they did a great job in a difficult situation. Following this, they did a couple of slower jams and ended with a number that didn't seem to suit their old school style as well. It seemed a bit of an attempt to approximate the sound of Destiny's Child, which was a bit of a let down considering how much stronger they were on their earlier (and more natural) material.




Next up was Fonky Bald Heads. They fed us a Sylvester Stewart jamming with Fishbone stew that was very satisfying. Early in their set Prince himself came out and joined them on keys and backups on "All The Things I Do." After he left the band paid tribute to him with a solid version of "Anotherloverholenyohead." The highlight of their set was "I Hate You For Everything You Hate Me For." It was painful, powerful and profound while still keeping heads bobbing. Solid music and an energetic show made these guys really stand out and stand up to the headliner himself. When their set ended I looked around and noticed all of the working people of Atlanta starting to look kind of tired. I figured they'd be off their butts and shaking soon enough.



At 10:50 the houselights dropped and the "Don't worry, I won't hurt you" intro from 1999 burst through the speakers. The crowd went haywire as a brief overview of Prince's career in the form of sound bites flooded the air. Then suddenly he was there cutting out a stripped down version of "Uptown" which deftly slid into "Controversy." It sounded and looked like the 1981-83 model of Prince. He was even using his old blonde telecaster. The lights even danced in a way very similar to the "Dirty Mind" video.




Next up was "Mutiny," which came across much like "Possessed" in the "80"s. Surprisingly the next song was "The Work." It's surprising because this is a new one that has his old sound right down to the relentless beat and easy to chant along with vocal hooks. I kept half expecting to see Dez pop out of the woodwork. Then he did "Cream", "Little Red Corvette", and "I Wanna Be Your Lover." The latter was an early highlight of the show.



During an instrumental take on "Sexy Dancer," his dance moves were perfect as he brought out the splits and weaves that helped him become so legendary. He was assisted in his dancing by Geneva. She seduced the audience with sexy, fluid moves that never came across as "dirty." The band itself was airtight, of course. Unfortunately, the sound in the venue was fairly muddy and didn't do the band justice.



At one point he looked out over the first few rows and did his "shout-outs" to the VIP's of Atlanta who came to pay homage to him. He pointed out TLC's T-Boz , Public Enemy's Chuck D. and hip-hop impresario Dallas Austin.



On stage, sitting in with the band was phenomenal sax man Najee. After a stomping version of "Housequake" that just about lived up to its title, the show suddenly lost steam. "The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker" was going along beautifully in a jazzier style than the Sign O' The Times recording. Prince laced in beautiful arpeggios from his Fender Rhodes but the energy level was just not there.



The focus seemed to drift, too. This was certainly not the "Hit 'N Run" tour insinuated in the promotion. "U Make My Sun Shine" was much better than the over produced studio recording of the new single and marked a return of opening act Millennium on vocals. The song just wandered on and on, though. The sax solos were amazing, but I came to see and hear Prince play and sing his songs! Sure, his guitar work made jaws drop and Carlos Santana proud, but the tight show had turned into a jam that lost more and more of the crowd. I actually saw people walking out of a Prince show yawning! Who would've ever thought that would happen?



Najee went on and on at Prince's incessant encouragement. Tonight "NPG" stood for "Najee Power Generation." It was quickly becoming irritating. If I'd have known that when I fought to get tickets to the sold out show, I might've just passed for now.



Prince did wake us up again for about 45 seconds with the first verse and chorus of "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man", but then just devolved into another extended and (honestly) boring jam on the end of the album version of said song. What's up here? How could this have happened to the master of the live show. Who can deny that this man is the most talented and versatile musician alive today? How could his show turn so dull?



Keeping in the slow mode, he then launched into a steamy take of "Do Me, Baby" that swung into "Scandalous" too quickly which just made the first song seem like an aborted mission. Moreso, it just showed how interchangeable most of his ballads actually are. It could've been "Insatiable" or "The One" or myriad others that are all pretty much the same! I checked the time and noticed that midnight struck and it was now Easter. Surely Prince would turn this into church for us all and he'd summon a higher power to wash over us. Instead, "Diamonds And Pearls" was just the next crumb thrown at us before going into one of the most complete songs of the night.



"The Beautiful Ones" was truly spectacular. It was almost a religious experience. His impassioned voice was searing and hot. It swooped and growled sometimes simultaneously. He didn't shy away from the high notes and gave his all in a truly stunning performance that segued into an equally amazing take on "Nothing Compares 2 U." That's where he gave me back the price of my ticket. It was incredible. It would be the only truly incredible moment of the night. He then said his "good nights" and left the stage. I expected there to be at least another hour and a half. Certainly Prince wouldn't leave us hanging like that.



Well, he did come back out, but I don't know if he should've bothered. When he did return, it appeared the party was going to kick into high gear as he started "Let's Go Crazy." The place rightfully went nuts, but then he chopped another song up! He basically went straight to the solo and wailed unaccompanied. His playing was (once again) phenomenal, but we love the SONGS and we were shortchanged this whole night. Well, it got worse.



"Take Me With U" segued into "Raspberry Beret" and would've been a good one to do the medley thing with if it hadn't become so grating by this point. Finally another highlight came with "Darling Nikki." Geneva was bumping and grinding with (and on) Prince. She wore a naughty school girl outfit and set off a fine performance of the tune that started the record rating controversy, the PMRC and the senate hearings on "porn rock" back in the Reagan years. It might have been better with some guitar, but on this one I'll grant that's nitpicking. I'm glad he gave us that before the travesty and (in my opinion) disrespect that followed.



All he gave us was one measly chorus of "When Doves Cry" and he wasn't even onstage for it! The whole room yelled a collective and shocked "No!" when it jumped straight into the instrumental ending of "Computer Blue" featuring (guess who) Najee! Then people were now leaving the building in droves! A dirge-like, plodding and nearly unrecognizable verse and chorus of "I Would Die 4 U" then bled into what could've been the highlight of the Easter morning show.



"God" began beautifully. All it became was yet another sax solo for Najee with Prince not singing a word. What a shame. It's nearly unforgivable for a Prince show to have degenerated this way. Then Prince decided to at least be more than his own sideman for the final tune of the night, which was an obligatory run-through of "Purple Rain." It wasn't as chopped up as most of the other tunes, but it didn't have the spark it should've had.



I remember the first time I saw him play this live. It was so spiritually overwhelming. It was magic. Tonight, the only chills it caused were in remembering that night at the Fox Theater and the chills that come with the realization that a personal hero may have finally passed his prime.



I've heard it speculated that this "Hit 'N Run" tour is an attempt to recapture a larger audience that he has spent the past 10 years alienating due, in large part, to his battles with his former record company. I wish I didn't see any believable argument there, but I do after witnessing the show first hand.



I'm not just a casual Prince fan. I'm not a super fanatic either. I'm just a big fan. I'd like to say that I'm "fam." You Prince freaks know what I mean. I love his music. I love his ambition. I love his talent. I love his image and his showmanship. I hate feeling let down after seeing him live, though. I couldn't care less if he's playing his hits or 3 hours of never released tunes as long as his heart's in it. It only seemed that way for a few minutes here and there last night. He really seemed to have phoned this one in. He was almost blown off his own stage by the opening act Fonky Bald Heads!



What's going on? The world makes a little less sense to me after seeing such a genius putting on a Las Vegas revue of sorts. Elvis Presley did medley crumbs in his last few years, too. Prince fans waited so long for the dawn. Is it dusk already?



Early in the show, you said something to the effect of "I'm at your service. You take care of me and I'll take care of you." I believed you. Unfortunately, that promise was not kept. I was definitely not "taken care of." I didn't feel ripped off, but I should've felt joy. No one should leave a Prince show depressed, but I did.



Chris McKay