http://www.chartattack.co...7/2911.cfm

LIVE: Prince Is King Of The ACC
Thursday July 29, 2004 @ 05:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Toronto, Ontario
Air Canada Centre
July 27, 2004
by John Teshima


Without a hit single or big selling record in over a decade, the fact that the Artist Formerly and Currently Known As Prince can fill a sports arena two nights in a row is a testament to the durability of his back catalogue and his reputation as a live performer. Prince has spent the last few years independently releasing increasingly impenetrable jazz-funk opuses, but the purple partyman has re-emerged to please the masses once again.


With tour promotion promising "his hits 4 the last time," Prince wasted little time before delivering the goods. After opening with the title track off his new album Musicology (craftily handed out free to every ticket holder), he launched into a rapid fire medley of Purple Rain highlights that electrified the crowd and kept them in the palm of his hand for the duration of the evening. If the audience wasn’t dancing, they were singing, screaming, waving their hands, or doing whatever His Royal Badness commanded.


If all Prince did was play a couple of verses of each greatest hit, the show would have veered dangerously close to Vegas territory. But he judiciously separated the hooked-on-Prince segments with longer workouts on both older classics (e.g., "Controversy", "D.M.S.R.") and more recent tunes (Musicology’s "Life ’O’ The Party"). Aiding and abetting him on these jams was his crack band, featuring Maceo Parker (James Brown) and Candy Dulfer on saxes, Greg Boyer (Parliament/Funkadelic) on trombone, bassist Rhonda Smith and drummer John Blackwell. Blackwell was particularly astonishing – a flurry of twirling drumsticks and thundering rolls that drew impressed cheers whenever he was featured.


These musicians never overshadowed the little man himself though, who romped to every end of the cross-shaped stage, working the crowd, cooing and shrieking his lyrics, ripping out blistering guitar solos and dancing his ass off. He enjoyed toying with the crowd, at one point playing a teasing snippet of Beyoncé’s "Crazy In Love," at another lounging in a chair in a faux pout while reading a Rolling Stone cover story about himself. He charmed everyone with an acoustic interlude, leading campfire singalongs of "Little Red Corvette," "Alphabet St.," "Raspberry Beret" and other hits.


The one obvious difference between this Prince and the badass rude boy of old was a taming of his salacious side, apparently resulting from his conversion to Jehovah’s Witness. There were no renditions of "Jack U Off" or "Orgasm." The line about working "your body like a whore" in "D.M.S.R." became something about getting close to the "floor." And when the crowd went wild at the phrase "I want to go down south," Prince gave a look of mock protest and completed the line with a defensive "to ATLANTA!" Gee, what were we thinking?


Otherwise, Prince delivered the same incredible dynamism and musicianship that he’s used to win over fans for the past 25 years. As he so pointedly uttered during his acoustic set, "All of them get older, I still look the same." After this particular 160-minute workout, it would be difficult to find an audience member who wouldn’t say "Amen!".

Ummm, yeah. He played those songs SOOOO much before his conversion!

Yeah he does look like he haven't aged a bit.(but I don't see him doing those james Brown like splits no more though.)

Okay. It's been almost five years, people, since Prince went by the unpronouncable symbol. Can we please quit with the TAFKAP, or Artist Currently Known As the Artist Formerly Known as bit, and get over ourselves? PLEASE?!?!

EVEN THOUGH HE LOOKS SO YOUNG HE LOOKS EVEN YOUNGER WHEN HW'S SITTIN NXT 2 WENDY FROM THE REVOLUTION SHE LOOKS OLD[NO OFFENSE] AND YO RIGHT HE DONT DO THEM SPLITS NO MORE.
EROTIC KID

KIDEROTICA said:

I heard Prince hurt his knee back in the day. When he did Rave on New Year's Eve, 1999 Prince had it going on. He did it all. I think if he wanted 2, he could still do the splits. Yes he looks so freakin good. the man is gorgeous

Prince = Music. A gorgeous man of many words and sounds

Although he didn't do the splits, he did drag himself on his hands towards the guitar he has just played the shit out of. A classic Prince move.