Prince Celebrates At Tour Opener

(6/25/01, 6 p.m. ET) -- Following a week of birthday activities (including two concerts) in his hometown of Minneapolis, Prince kicked off his A Celebration tour this weekend at Joe Louis Arena in his "second hometown" of Detroit. Continuing his recent performance trend, the one-hour and 50-minute show was a high-energy, almost nonstop medley that was heavy with hits performed in snippets and truncated versions--some as briefly as the one line each from "I Would Die 4 U" and "Baby I'm A Star."

None of this mattered the "Purpleheadz," however, as the band--which included a dancer who allowed Prince to play more guitar rather than concentrating on his own moves, and, for a couple of songs, four female backup singers--roared through a selection favorites such as "Let's Go Crazy," "Take Me With U," "Raspberry Beret," "When Doves Cry," "Little Red Corvette," "When U Were Mine," "I Wanna Be Your Lover," "Housequake," "Starfish And Coffee," "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore," a bluesy version of "Delirious," "Purple Rain," "U Got The Look," "Kiss," and "Gett Off."

At a couple of points during the show, Prince brought several audience members onstage to dance to the music, and he also paid tribute to the Electrifying Mojo, a groundbreaking Detroit radio DJ who was responsible for breaking Prince in that city.

Answering faxed questions before the show, Prince told LAUNCH that no release date has yet been set for his new album, The Rainbow Children, which he described as "a headphone album, not easily defined." When it's finished, it will be available via his commercial website, npgmusicclub.com. Prince's A Celebration tour continues tomorrow (June 27) in Omaha, Nebraska, and concludes August 5 in Anchorage, Alaska.

-- Gary Graff, Detroit

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