This is my first attempt at writing up one of these, so bear with me and I'll do the best I can.

We arrived at Paisley Park around 1:30 a.m. and people were just being allowed in. $7 cover charge, went through the security check (metal detector & frisked). The lobby looked different to me than last time I was there (this was only my second party at the Park) as it was all lit up with a soft purple light.
Got to the door into the NPG Music Rooom (soundstage door was closed) and there weren't very many people in there ahead of me at this point.

As soon as I got in the room I looked over to the soundboard area and saw Mani sitting on a stool up against the wall. She is a *very* tiny lady! She was wearing a white blouse and a black skirt and black high heel boots - and she didn't look pregnant to me at all (I know that has been being speculated upon so thought I'd mention it). I didn't notice Prince immediately as he was bending down and it was rather dark but Prince was there, as well, digging around at something on the floor. Then he stood up and messed around at the board awhile. He was wearing a longish black shirt with a kind of black-and-white checkerboard design on the sleeves, a necklace with a big NPG medallion, and black pants. His hair was short and he looked very very good.

He and Mani stayed back behind the soundboard a most of the time, a couple times going up to the DJ booth and a few times going out in the lobby maybe? Or the soundstage? I don't know. Wherever it was they went, they held hands going there and back every time. Also while they were behind the soundboard they were very lovey and playful - hugging, whispering to each other, laughing. Prince didn't pay much attention to anybody or anthing (from what I observed) other than messing around with the soundboard and talking to Mani. He had his back to the crowd a lot while they were there. As another report mentioned, he even sat in Mani's lap for awhile. lol It was funny to watch the crowd clot all up near the soundboard while Prince was there, just kind of eyeing him and Mani. They must feel like zoo exhibits sometimes. I didn't see his wedding ring last night, but I got a good look at Mani's. *B-I-G* diamond.

The DJ was playing a lot of Prince stuff at first and on the video screens they showed concert footage of Prince, then this weird Discovery Channel type stuff like big massive crowds someplace in China, footage of old tenaments in Cairo (maybe? i think?), footage of some kind - Aborigines? - of tribesmen dancing. All kinds of different cultures. This footage continued all throughout the evening.

Around 3:30 I was ready to go but then decided to wait as it looked like something was going on up on the stage. I'm glad I didn't leave! Within a few minutes John Blackwell came up and started drumming along with the music until the music over the speaker cut out.

Johnnie Blackshire came up and sang a bunch of improvised stuff (he sounded GREAT!) and by this time Prince was up at the keyboard, too. Someone correct me if I saw wrong - I was sitting towards the back of the room on the comfy couch up on that riser thingie - but it looked to me like Prince was playing keyboards and also had his guitar in his lap and was switching back and forth between the two.

He was in a really good mood and was laughing and joking around. He told Johnnie to stop singing once and let the crowd sing a bit and Johnnie held the microphone out towards them. First Prince said he couldn't hear people, so the crowd amped it up a bit and he was satisfied. He joked around with Johnnie and asked him something like "Why'd your baby leave you?". I didn't hear if Johnnie said anything back as his mic wasn't working but Prince then said something to the effect of "Oh that's right you never had one!" and laughed. The crowed was yelling stuff to Prince, or at least it seemed that way to me but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

At one point while Prince was at the keyboards he held down one really low note and said "I'm gonna hold this note down until your bowels are loose!" He also coughed into the mic once for no reason I could descern other than he was being silly.

Larry G. was up there with a shiny rhinestone guitar strap and he and Prince played some mean guitar back and forth for a bit. Also it seemed like - from my vantage point - Prince was watching the screen behind him and playing along with the beat of the people dancing in the video footage. He might of just been watching Blackwell, tho. I'm not sure.

Mani sat up near the stage this entire time except for once when Prince sent her back to the soundboard, apparantly with a message. When she came back to the stage area she said something to Prince that made him laugh.

During the jam session at one point they started into the very beginning of "The Work" and I thought (hoped) they were going to play the whole song but they didn't.

The performance ended around 4:40 a.m. or so and when it was over John Blackwell and Johnnie Blackshire stood in the back and people were stopping by and thanking them or saying a few words. They seemed very gracious and friendly and I shook Johnnie's hand and he seemed like a really nice guy. Prince and Mani left hand in hand out through the door leading into the soundstage.

Last night was my first time seeing a performance at a Friday night party and I had a wonderful time. It was a special treat and very exciting to see them jam like that and to see all that I did, and also to get the chance to visit with some terrific people.

Thank you Prince and Paisley staff for a really really great Friday night and for holding these parties. They are much appreciated.

Sorry about any mistakes or bad writing in this report. I'm operating on like two hours sleep.

[Thanks for the effort, ya did a good job for your first write-up Let's hope there's many more! -Ben]