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Purple One puts on a royal performance

By Scott Iwasaki

Deseret News music editor



PRINCE, with Milenia and the Fonky Bald Heads, E Center, Wednesday, April 25, 8 p.m.; one performance only.



Thousands of Prince fans gave his majesty the royal treatment in the E Center Wednesday night.

The throngs of loyal subjects screamed, sang, danced and cheered with every note, lyric and beat that poured through the speakers during a set that recapped the Purple One's hit-making career.

Although some of the back-screen projections weren't working properly, Prince — born Prince Roger Nelson — took the stage after a mediocre set from Milenia and a hard-hitting, groovy set by the Fonky Bald Heads.

"Uptown," "Controversy" and "Mutiny" were all part of a spirited medley as the singer and his band cranked it up while linking the songs together.

In fact, the only time the music stopped was just before the second encore of the evening.

The band — keyboardist/band leader Mr. Hayes, bassist Rhonda Smith, drummer John Blackwell, keyboardist Kip Blackshire, saxophonists Najee and guest Maceo Parker, and dancer/visual aid Geneva — were far from court jesters, as they grooved out other vintage Prince songs, such as "Let's Work," "Little Red Corvette" and portions of "When Doves Cry."

A nice surprise was the inclusion of the soulful"Scandalous," a song the former Artist Formerly Known as Prince wrote for the first "Batman" film, which starred Michael Keaton.

Then came "Diamonds and Pearls," and "Nothing Compares 2 U," a song Prince wrote for Sinead O'Connor.

Throughout the show, the charismatic showman slung around a guitar and a bass and even sat back on the keyboards during "Sexy Dancer," while a female audience member — handpicked by Prince — danced on stage.

In fact, there were times when the singer called many audience members on stage to party.

The biggest group came on during the encore, the show-closing "Kiss."

But the biggest cheers came when Prince got down with "Purple Rain" and "Let's Go Crazy."



E-mail: scott@desnews.com