A quick summary of tonight's events...

The doors opened at around 8pm, leaving the impression that
the festivities would begin a little earlier than normal.
But apparently being around Prince makes you lose track of
time because Amel Lareaux (sp?) didn't come on until shortly
after 1am!! I'm happy to say she was well worth the wait!
Her voice is absolutely INCREDIBLE! At one moment, she's
doing some tight jazzy scatting and another she's including
some Indian vocal runs with a traditional gospel flare. She
is truly unique and a kind spirit. And I will for SURE be
picking up her CD. She did many cuts from the album as well
as a few from the Groove Theory project, including "Tell Me",
which is my personal favorite. After she introduced her
band, she started to sing an improvisational thank you to
Prince. Some of the thing's she sang were that when she
first heard him, she was touched by how much his music made
her reflect and how beautiful it was. She also mentioned
that she knew she would be listening to his music until she
was old right from the beginning. Also, she said her two
young daugters are listening to him (through her influence).
Prince did not make an appearance on stage with her.

There didn't seem to be very many people in attendance.
Last year it seemed extremely packed with people filling up
both the Love 4 One Another room AND the soundstage area.
This time, only the soundstage area was open and it was less
than half full all night. Unfortunately, many had left by
the time Amel hit the stage. Their loss. Maybe out of
towners are still coming in to Minneapolis thoroughout the
week.

The DJ played a mix of mostly hip hop/r&b with some club
music thrown in and of course a healthy dose of Prince tunes.
Most notably, the full versions of "High" and "My Medallion"
were played, as well as "Va Voom".

The rest of "High" is just sort of a rave-up of the main
themes of the song, with some sung/spoken lyrics and some
vocal fills by Prince and Kip. I must say though, that
towards the end of the tune, Prince sings the "I'll get U
High" part three or so times in his VERY upper register.
I'm sure it's the HIGHEST I've EVER heard him sing. I
didn't think it was him at first. It was just....TOO high.

"My Medallion" takes some unexpected little musical turns in
it's final portion and also includes another verse. In the
final verse which is sung/spoken, Prince has another
encounter with "that girl" and does indeed reclaim his
coveted "medallion". Someone should tell him that the
idolatry must CEASE! I'm sure Larry realized it and the
song won't see the light of day. Just kidding.

"Va Voom" was played, as well. This tune is in the same
vein as "Baby Knows" and "Cream". A little more uptempo
than both of those songs but similar in style. The song
features some bluesy guitar playing and throwaway lyrics.
From what I could tell, the song is basically about the
"pros" of being in a relationship with the "female
character". "With U, I can be an animal....with U, I don't
have 2 comb my hair." Maybe I'm wrong but the song seemed
fairly unremarkable and I can see why it was left off of
Rave, aside from the obvious similarities to "Baby Knows",
which I think is a better song. IMO, "High" and "My
Medallion" are MUCH MUCH MUCH better quality tunes. There
you go....my 2 cents. As I was listening to the tunes, for
some reason, I decided to turn around. And there I saw
Prince peeking around a far back corner watching everyone
dance. He looked pleased to see people having fun. He
also seemed to get a kick out of watching a little 3 or 4
year old look-alike, dancing around in a mock-up of his
Rave suit. It was too cute. The boy took first prize in
the costume contest with his friend, who was supposed to be
a little Lenny Kravitz.

Btw, as i was leaving, I walked out RIGHT BEHIND Dr.
Funkenstein, himself, Mr. GEORGE CLINTON! I was so close
to saying something to him....barking...lifting my leg...
SOMETHING...but none of that really seemed appropriate. He
looked kinda tired and so was I. I just mentioned this
because maybe he will be one of the planned "suprise guests".
I hope so.

That's all. I'm going to hear "The Rainbow Children"
tomorrow morning, so I need some sleep. Cheers.