MelissaC said:

I agree wholeheartedly that he can do much better than this performance, but I think this was more of a strategic career move than it was a crafted performance. It worked, since all the press is talking about it! (Prince is on the FRONT PAGE of the Houston Chronicle today with Beyonce. Didn't think I'd ever see that happen!)

For my first time seeing Prince perform live on TV I thought it was an EXCELLENT performance. He rocked with the guitar, sizzled with Beyonce, and it was a great tribute to Purple Rain 2004 style (Remember it is 2004, not '84). It was nice seeing something recent instead of just watching stuff from back in the day.

azifwekare2000 said:

Don't confuse YOUR truth with the truth of all of us. If Prince hasn't "descrated" the memories of Purple Rain since then with the name change and the slave period this won't do it. Beyonce a talentless hag?? Pretty harsh words and it sounds like you took this very personal which is too bad for you. Prince looked BRILLIANT last night and he's got a major buzz going in the industry right now. So as your respect declines, Prince is doing nothing more than preserving the legend of Prince by reminding the masses what made us love him to begin with. I don't mind people's opinions but don't speak for the lot of us. I couldn't be anymore proud of him right now for doing the show to begin with. A true Prince fan or fam is never embarrased by a performance where Prince looks so damn happy, you may need to search YOURSELF for why you're even a Prince fan anymore.

So, here's what I thought about the Grammy performance, and pardon me if my comments are a bit scrambled.

Well, once again, we get a hits medley. Same ol', same ol', right?

WRONG.

For me, anyway.

I looked at the performance through a different filter - maybe other people did, too.

Check it out:

Let's leave the usual suspects at the door for one moment.
Tonight it wasn't about the usual complaints and controversies.
It wasn't about "fams" vs. "fans". It wasn't about club vs. org.
It wasn't about religious interpretations and bodyguards and cease and desist orders.
It wasn't about releasing more music or this, that, or the other.

Tonight, for a few minutes, at least under my roof, I was transported back to the first time I saw Prince & the Revolution play the Grammys and the AMAs, waaay back in the day, when nothing mattered for those few blissful moments except for a man whose talent and charisma and sheer sense of presence are unparalleled.

Someone turned his star sign on extra hot tonight, and I'm still blinded by it.

Tonight was about showing the world why Prince is an icon - a timeless classic genius - an entertainer who does things nobody else can come near - and tonight, I am beyond proud of the man, and proud to be a longtime fan.

The people in the world who don't log on to clubs and orgs every day have been reminded of someone they better never have forgotten. In those few short moments and with those tired old songs, the man delivered on so many levels - as an entertainer, as a musician, as an icon. His chemistry with Beyonce was delicious, and really - for the first time in a live television broadcast performance - he came off like a true elder statesman of popular music.

And "Purple Rain" with full orchestra accompaniment? Dang.

Listen - we can bicker over vaults and chocolate invasions and cease and desist orders and all that tomorrow - I might agree with some of ya, and then again, maybe I won't. For tonight, I just gotta say - if just for a few minutes - The Kid Came Back.

Go figure, but for me it was AMAs/Grammys 1985 again. It was MTV debuting the live "I Would Die 4 U/Baby I'm A Star" video again. It was the live video of "America" for the first time, all over again. It was seeing the words PRINCE SPEAKS on the cover of Rolling Stone all over again. There was no weirdness, no bitterness, no "agenda", none of the usual Prince nonsense of the past ten or so years.

It was exciting and enthusiastic and JOYOUS and FUN.

It was the feeling of remembering why I've bothered all these years.

And to me, that feeling is all that will ever matter.

Bravo.

EverlastingNow said:

I understand why Prince did what he did, but I'd rather support him as an independent, creative and free-thinking artist. If he feels the need to do certain things to pick up new fans, or remind the masses of his musical history, fine. As long as he's happy, it doesn't really matter.

I personally do not like Beyonce, and her little Tina Turner impression, singing his songs, just struck a nerve. Like listening to someone scratching a chalkboard. I know very few people will agree with me, but I did not feel any chemistry between them and she brought the performance down. It was as bad as watching Britney Spears perform with Michael Jackson... it just didn't work.

As far as why I am not a big Prince fan as I used to be... well you know that story. We'd have to start another topic for all that. But you might want to search YOURSELF as to why you think everything he does is golden, worthy of you worshipping the ground he walks on.

The thing that I especially loved about his playing purple rain is that even though he has continually distanced himself from the song in the last few years

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

That's simply not true.

J0eyC0c0 said:

From the One Night Alone live disc:

"Welcome to the power of surrender. First things first. You must surrender your expectation. For those of you who expected to get your Purple Rain on, you in the wrong house."

This was undoubdetly repeated over the course of the tour...

azifwekare2000 said:

Don't confuse YOUR truth with the truth of all of us. If Prince hasn't "descrated" the memories of Purple Rain since then with the name change and the slave period this won't do it. Beyonce a talentless hag?? Pretty harsh words and it sounds like you took this very personal which is too bad for you. Prince looked BRILLIANT last night and he's got a major buzz going in the industry right now. So as your respect declines, Prince is doing nothing more than preserving the legend of Prince by reminding the masses what made us love him to begin with. I don't mind people's opinions but don't speak for the lot of us. I couldn't be anymore proud of him right now for doing the show to begin with. A true Prince fan or fam is never embarrased by a performance where Prince looks so damn happy, you may need to search YOURSELF for why you're even a Prince fan anymore.

MelissaC said:

I agree, this was straight up VEGAS. It's not just Beyoncé either. Everything about this was just bad. I couldn't even hear wtf he was singing. He should stop trying to impress and just let it flow. I haven't been into Prince for over a year now, not even played any of his old stuff, but if this is what his performances are like nowadays I haven't been missing a thing. The band didn't impress me either. Everytime I think he can't sink any lower he surprises me by doing something even worse than the last time.

People were hoping this would mean Prince would be "back", well I can say for sure that after last night I truly believe chances are bigger Jesus will come back this year than Prince.

I agree Jedi. Unfortunately, I think this is exactly why last night's performance didn't impress me much. I remember back in the day when Prince did not, and would not, do this sort of 'strategic career move' to get him on the front page. He didn't care what page he was on, if any. Hopefully this is not indicative of what we can expect for his future career choices.

Will you people get a grip?!!!

As P fams, we should be happy for the little man to be getting some positive feedback from the press and music industry at large. Granted, the performance may have been a little "watered-down", but in this day of short attention spans, it fit the bill perfectly. It gave the young 'uns a chance to see P jam with the hottest thing out there, and it reminded people that he actually still exists and can PLAY some serious guitar. It was so cool to hear all the news shows talking about it - most of the comments raved about his guitar playing, which is as it should be. For once in a long time, no one brought up the whole "is he still the Artist formerly known as Prince" stuff - it was all about the music and Beyonce's legs.

Sometimes I think we (myself included) get too analytical about all things Prince. Let's enjoy the fact that he let people know that he can still do it. All you had to do was look at Justin Timberlake telling his mom, "that was hot".

A side note: I did do a slow-mo thing on the vcr to see whether Beyonce was wearing undies

JesseDezz said:

[b] AND THE ANSWER IS???

EverlastingNow said:

I understand why Prince did what he did, but I'd rather support him as an independent, creative and free-thinking artist. If he feels the need to do certain things to pick up new fans, or remind the masses of his musical history, fine. As long as he's happy, it doesn't really matter.

I personally do not like Beyonce, and her little Tina Turner impression, singing his songs, just struck a nerve. Like listening to someone scratching a chalkboard. I know very few people will agree with me, but I did not feel any chemistry between them and she brought the performance down. It was as bad as watching Britney Spears perform with Michael Jackson... it just didn't work.

As far as why I am not a big Prince fan as I used to be... well you know that story. We'd have to start another topic for all that. But you might want to search YOURSELF as to why you think everything he does is golden, worthy of you worshipping the ground he walks on.