Okay, this is a little late, but I had not seen anyone else send in a report of San Diego's Cox Arena performance on April 27th. Here's the report from the SD Union Tribune. The reporter, George Varga, is quite obviously a fan, but was not very happy with the short versions of the "hits" -- he must have had a stopwatch with a luminous display with him. Too funny! I'm going to have to email this guy and tell him this tour is just a warm-up....

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Concert hit and run | Tour's title aptly describes Prince medleys vs. full-length tunes
The San Diego Union - Tribune; San Diego, Calif.; Apr 30, 2001; George Varga;

Abstract:
Indeed, the "Hit N' Run" tour monicker took on increasing irony at Cox Arena, as Prince and his crack band performed medley after medley of truncated versions of some of his greatest hits. This nostalgia- heavy, "Prince on 45" approach worked well for those who enjoy hearing only snippets of his best-known songs, but not for anyone wanting to hear complete versions.

The rousing "Housequake" benefited from its six-minute length, as did the show-closing "Gett Off." Even better was the new "U Make My Sun Shine." The night's longest song at 13 minutes, it began as a slow, bluesy ballad, then built to a fiery, gospel-edged crescendo that climaxed with a blazing guitar solo by Prince.

These were exceptions in a concert that featured barely more than insinuations of "Purple Rain" and "Let's Go Crazy," and a hint of "When Doves Cry" (replete with pre-taped vocals), for which Prince wasn't even on stage.

Full Text:
Copyright SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY Apr 30, 2001

`So many hits, so little time!"

With those six words, The Artist Once Again Known As Prince summed up both the strengths and weaknesses of his alternately inspired and frustrating Friday night concert at San Diego State University's Cox Arena.

The energetic, dance-happy show was part of his stealth-like "Hit N' Run" tour, and marked the charismatic Prince's first area appearance since a 1997 gig at UCSD.

For longtime devotees, Friday's concert was a welcome opportunity to see one of contemporary music's most gifted and prolific (albeit inconsistent) artists. More recent fans had a rare chance to hear a hugely influential artist, who once ruled the radio airwaves and record charts, but now releases his new music via the Internet.

What the near-capacity audience of 9,400 got was a generous, 131- minute concert that featured more than two-dozen songs -- or, rather, parts of many of those songs.

Indeed, the "Hit N' Run" tour monicker took on increasing irony at Cox Arena, as Prince and his crack band performed medley after medley of truncated versions of some of his greatest hits. This nostalgia- heavy, "Prince on 45" approach worked well for those who enjoy hearing only snippets of his best-known songs, but not for anyone wanting to hear complete versions.

The first six minutes of the concert featured three very abbreviated numbers, "Uptown," "Controversy" and "Mutiny," with the middle selection lasting barely 60 seconds. On the original album version, "Controversy" alone clocks in at more than seven minutes. That's a minute longer than the medley into which it was shoehorned on Friday.

Next came an excellent new tune, "The Work -- Pt. 1," which lasted five, wonderfully unhurried minutes. That was sufficient time for Prince and his band to build up dynamic tension, and they expertly negotiated the song's James Brown-inspired funk riffs and intricate, stop-and-go rhythms.

But this reprieve was sadly short-lived.

"The Work" segued into "Cream," "Little Red Corvette" and two seldom played pieces -- "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Sexy Dancer" -- from Prince's self-titled 1979 sophomore album. All four were dispensed with in just over nine minutes, combined, even though the album version of "Lover" is nearly six minutes by itself.

"Scandalous," a choice cut from Prince's 1989 "Batman" soundtrack, ended almost in an instant. So did "Computer Blue," "I Would Die 4 U" and "God," fleeting excerpts of which were inserted into a too- brief encore of "When Doves Cry."

The rousing "Housequake" benefited from its six-minute length, as did the show-closing "Gett Off." Even better was the new "U Make My Sun Shine." The night's longest song at 13 minutes, it began as a slow, bluesy ballad, then built to a fiery, gospel-edged crescendo that climaxed with a blazing guitar solo by Prince.

But these were exceptions in a concert that featured barely more than insinuations of "Purple Rain" and "Let's Go Crazy," and a hint of "When Doves Cry" (replete with pre-taped vocals), for which Prince wasn't even on stage.

This malady of musical reductivism -- call it "Medleyitis" -- meant that too many of his best songs consisted of only a single verse and chorus, if that. It was almost a relief, then, that he didn't perform "1999," "Erotic City" or other favorites that would've been disappointing in such compressed, content-depleting form.

What made all this even more maddening is that Prince and his two- woman, four-man band were in near-peak form throughout, performing with spunk and precision. The only disappointment was guest saxophonist Najee, a "smooth jazz" confectioner, whose cloying, Kenny G-like solos were featured too often and disrupted the show's momentum.

Prince was in strong voice, from his soaring falsetto to his raspy yells, and his potent guitar playing was a treat throughout. Ditto his supple electric piano work on the rarely played "Ballad of Dorothy Parker," which -- at six minutes -- was an uninterrupted joy.

The star of the show was in an unusually playful mood. He twice invited fans on stage to dance, and spoke at length to his loudly enthusiastic audience.

But what could've been a great concert was instead an erratic exercise, with many sparks but too few explosions. Too bad this "Hit N' Run" concert didn't feature fewer hits, performed in their glorious entirety, instead of so much running from song to song.

George Varga can be reached by phone, (619) 293-2253; fax, (619) 293-2462; mail, Union-Tribune, P.O. Box 120191, San Diego 92112; and e-mail (george.varga@uniontrib.com).

[Illustration]
1 PIC; Caption: ERRATIC EXERCISE -- Prince's melding of his classics into medleys was maddening. (E-1)

Credit: POP MUSIC CRITIC

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Sub Title: [1,3 Edition]
Column Name: POP MUSIC REVIEW
Start Page: E-4

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