Afterparty Reflections

What/Where: Afterparty at the Olympia Club underneath the Ice Rink of Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI. Admission for Club Members and General public was $25. Only difference was that Club members were guaranteed entry and got to buy wrist bands earlier in the night. The rest of us were herded into the party. Welcome 2 the Slaughterhouse.

Set list: Yeah right The DJ was the guy from the Fonky Baldheads. Prince songs included Housequake, America, U Got the Look, Kiss, Head, Tell Me How u Wanna be Done, etc. The usual Dance favorites. Also a bunch of current and slammin Hip-Hop.

New/Remixed songs played: Mad (tripmix), Greatest Romance (can't remember which mix...the one with him and Eve rappin a lot), The Work pt1 extended (like REALLY extended, with a long guitar solo. Seemed to be almost 5/6 minutes long), Undisputed moneyapolis, My Medallion, Supercute, Underneath the Cream, High (played by Prince).

Prince Sightings: Twice he came out from the Manhattan Room (a small, more restaurant-type area adjacent to the club). First to play "High," second to play an other song, but he left all frustrated.


Details and Commentary: (not for the faint hearted)

My mother (who is also a Prince fan and loves going to all the concerts with me) calls me at 5pm and says "The guy at Ticketmaster says that the concert isn't on the 30th, it's TONIGHT. Wanna go?" I said "Well...sure. Lets just go and see what kinda tickets are available. If there isn't anything, then maybe we can visit my cousin." So we end up getting there at 9:15. There were many closed exits, so I ended up driving the long way to the southern metro via Inkster and Dearborn. An odd thing, however: while we were coming up on Detroit from I-96, there was a large rain cloud cluster above the city. It was totally sunny behind us, so we saw about 3 or 4 different Rainbows arcing onto the city of Detroit. I thought that was weird/appropriate/eerie/etc.

We found our parking (only because I remotely remember that part of town) and got up to the Ticket Center. Closed. We go upstairs to the other window. Fenced off for smokers. (Why people would pay a lot of money to see Prince and then leave to smoke and talk on a cell-phone is strange to me). We then ask a security guard where we can get tickets. He said the show is now sold out, and all that's left is Will Call tickets, which he's holding about 150 envelopes (300 tickets total) in his hand. "Housequake" is playing, it's now about 9:45, I'm starting to feel a little down. After chatting with the guy for a while, I say "lets chill a bit, listen to the music, and see if anybody wants to sell their tickets. The guard then says, "dude, no way 300 people are coming this late into the concert. Talk to me." I said, "my name is *NAME WITHHELD TO PROTECT THE PERSON WHOSE TICKET I TOOK! *, do you have my will call ticket?" He laughed and said "holy shit...here ya go sir." Lo and behold, I guessed a valid name (still have the envelope to prove it!). The guard then told me to have a good time and I told him to enjoy the afterparty. So I'm in right as Prince is starting "Free" and the piano medley. I pretty much catch half a show for nothing with decent seats. I'm happy. After the concert we head downstairs and then into the club. This waiting had the usual Prince fan chatter with other fans, complaining about being cramped in a stairwell, people trying to push through ahead of the line, First-aid people NEEDING to gurney a person through the line and people not moving, people acting bad and arguing with people, people complaining about the admission price. In the end, about 2-300 people were in the club. I hit the john and set up shop inside a roped off area where the DJ booth is. For a long time, it was just my mom and I at the DJ booth, and I got to talk to the DJ and DVS a lot. Blackwell and Hayes also came out and I got to talk to them too. I congratulated all on the great show, and tried to get DVS to flow over Daisy Chain. Methinks he was too busy dealing with all the hoes who were throwing themselves at anybody who seems to have access to the back room. DVS ended up hooking up with 2 hot little girls. "Let a playa play," I suppose.

As "Cool" was playing, Prince came out of the Manhattan Room surrounded by guards. As I was doing the C-O-O-L hand gestures, I turned and made eye contact with him. I waved hello, and we proceeded to do the C-O-O-L hand gestures together. I thought that was pretty fricken cool. I then respectfully turned away and told my mom that Prince was coming up in a sec, and to expect a large rush. Yes the area was roped off, but that didn't stop the people from rushing the booth. One woman I was talking to and (danced with) stopped Prince right in front of us and told him "Prince! I'm your International lover, honey...Do me Baby!" With which he gave him a peck on the cheek. I saw him laugh and stroll up to the booth. Also, his girlfriend/personal assistant was there. She's really pretty! "Let a playa play," I suppose.

The conversation with the crowd before he played "High" was as follows:
Prince - "Detroit!"
Crowd - "Woo!" *various screams, creams, and orgasms*
"Yall ready to party 'til 4?"
"Yeah!"
"Yall going to church in the morning?"
"No!...er...Yeah!...er...wait! what do you want us to say!"
Prince laughs. "Awwww! I'm tellin your momma!"
Crowd laughs.
"Wanna hear my new song?"
"Yeah!"

"High" plays. People are standing at the DJ booth staring at Prince and slowly moving. The folx who were too far back on the dance floor were grooving a bit. As "High" is playing, the people crowding the DJ booth are pushing up on Prince a bit. Security is really holding folx back. Everybody is just staring at Prince. Prince then pumps his hand to the crowd a few times and splits. Security really had to push to get through.

I stick around at the booth, as do a lot of others. I was getting bumped so much and cramped that I told my mom, "Let's go behind the table with the records." So we do. NOBODY is behind there, so it's really cool to be able to stretch out, dance a little, lean on the railing, etc. I told my mom that he will come out again. After an hour or two, here comes Prince again. Here comes the mad rush again. This time I tell him, "Thank you for the show, hope to see you again soon." I shook his hand lightly and went back behind the table. There, I saw him chat with the DJ a bit, he played with some knobs, then started making his way back a bit. People were REALLY pushing up this time and he cut out pretty fast. This time, there was A LOT of bumping, and I could see the distaste on his face. The guards were almost FIGHTING to get through, Prince was jostled a lot.

After that, tons of people at the Dj booth and many didn't leave until real late. I stayed behind the table and jammed to the tunes for a while. I decided to watch the people and talk to the DJ. Man...there were SO MANY hoes trying to get play from Paisley folk, and security! I thought I was at a strip club! There were some people who were fans and were having a good time, however. So it kinda balanced out. (3 gals in particular, one was in a pretty all gold outfit with matching hat, another was in white with a nice gold, chain-mail pull over, and another who was dancing NICE wearing a black tighty with a gold iron on. You all looked very nice!) There was also the drunken fools who danced with anything with two legs, breasts, and a crotch. That was pretty funny, but..."let a playa play," I suppose.

Well, that's about it for the afterparty. I hope that you enjoyed the details. I want people to know what to expect when they hit up an afterparty. I always hear reports of people who are upset with paying money to stand around and see Prince twice from far away. This is what to expect at an afterparty. For a similar report on an aftershow, I wrote one up last year about the Grand Rapids aftershow. The link is not working now, but maybe it will by the time you read this. Just do a search on Grand Rapids in the news search.