Finally, over 2 weeks of being back and I've finished my review! Due to length, this is the edited version. The full length version can be found at http://purplexone.netfirm...sraves.htm

6/21/02
I didn't care for Maceo's set...
At about ten to midnight, Prince and the NPG took the stage. For the next 2 1/2 hours he jammed!...it was such an emotional experience...Prince ended the night with an astounding version of "Joy In Repetition" that was simply put - spine chilling!

Before he went into "Strange Relationship"...he was talking about record companies and radio stations. I couldn't help but notice a hint of jealousy and/or regret in his voice when he said "yeah...I used to be on the radio."

...sad situations, here is a couple:
...We had heard later in the week that the "tours" of the Park had been cancelled after just an hour. Apparently some people don't know how to behave as a guest in someone's house. I was told (by security and others) that people were rummaging through Prince's kitchen cabinets, playing on his pool table, and playing his video games. DAMN! Too bad for the rest of us RESPECTFUL visitors/guests.

Another sad situation...the fact that some people feel the need to use their children as pawns or props to get...attention...Subjecting your children to long, late hours into the morning is NOT good parenting, nor is subjecting them to extremely high levels of music. And neither is putting them in costumes to get Prince's attention. I speak of the woman who dressed her two sons as Prince in the "My Name Is Prince" video including the chain hat and matching gun microphones. This was an obvious attempt to get closer to the stage, to get them and possibly her on stage as well as to get Prince to see them...And to the person who claims that those who don't have children don't understand, FUCK YOU and your idiot way of thinking! Just because someone doesn't have a child doesn't mean that they don't know anything about parenting.

Prince...invited people up on stage, there was an Asian who Prince asked his name. He said "Tuna". Prince asked surprised, "As in CHARLIE?". Tuna nodded his head and Prince said, "Alright Tuna. You're gonna have to get funky tonight or we're gonna put you back in the can." There was also another guy on stage that made us wonder what the hell he was doing up there. At first he seemed lost, then Prince asked him his name and he said, "Bill Fields." Prince asked him if he had any cookies (in reference to Mrs. Field's Cookies).

The set list for the night:
The Rainbow Children
Muse 2 The Pharaoh
Xenophobia
A Case of You
Mellow
1+1+1=3/Love Rollercoaster
The Ride/Alphabet St.
The Other Side of The Pillow
Strange Relationship
Sing A Simple Song (w/Larry Graham)
La, La, La Means I Love You
Didn't Cha Know
When You Were Mine
Avalanche
Family Name
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
The Everlasting Now
Joy In Repetition (Encore)

***
6/22/02
...This night was hailed as a "slumber party" and Sheila E. was the night's opening performance. Who knew the freaks would be out that night!...As we walked passed the security gate...Prince drove up in his white BMW Z3.

Tonight's show was going to be the best because Sheila was the opening act and we KNEW we were in for a show! When we walked in, the A/C was broken!!! It was sooo HOT! We tried to get as comfortable as possible. Checking out all the people who literally were in their PJ's was rather interesting to say the least. There are a few people who stood out for me, one of which was a girl who had on a "Bootylicious" black tee the night before. Ol' girl had on some mad high heels on that just lifted the booty (she didn't need any help there!) and some sheer looking type of covering that just left NOTHING to the imagination. Nice black g-string by the way (WHOA!!!). I can't imagine her SLEEPING in that, but she sure made us do a double take! It was her obvious intention to attract onlookers, therefore I didn't want to disappoint

Sheila played SO MANY songs! She played for almost 2 1/2 hours with TWO encores!...It was so emotional and moving...To hear...and see her perform so much of the older material...such...as Shortberry Strawcake, The Belle of St. Mark, Oliver's House, Noon Rendezvous, A Love Bizarre, Holly Rock, Hold Me, Sister Fate, 17 Days, and Alphabet St. during which Velvet Sunday did the Cat rap. Sheila's first encore was a very beautiful song to and about God. It was so moving that she could not stop crying! She was literally touched by the spirit. When she and the band finished the song, everyone left the stage, we continued to cheer, and then they returned. Not Sheila. I could see her sitting on the corner of the platform of her drum set where she was still wiping her tears. She was still crying as the band started the 2nd encore. She composed herself, and as a true professional, took the stage once again and played an awesome version of "The Glamorous Life".

Takumi...came onstage and asked if everyone could go outside for about 20 minutes so they could try and fix the A/C. Even Sheila commented on how hot it was during her show...Apparently the heat, the lack of air conditioning, the late hours, etc. was not enough to make some people with children go home, at least for the sake of the children. I saw the mother with the "My Name Is Prince" twins and this time she had her infant daughter dressed up like Sheila E. in the Sign O' the Times movie in the white one-legged outfit with matching white cowboy hat. Another attempt at attention grabbing I suppose.

After less than an hour outside, we...got in, Prince was already playing! We missed the instrumental version of The Rainbow Children and Power Fantastic...We walked in on "Extraordinary"...very beautiful version! And when he played "With You", that was just another shocker of the week! To pull something from almost the beginning of his catalogue was just amazing! And "Pearls B4 the Swine"...an instrumental version...For him to include other rarities like "Sweet Baby", "When the Lights Go Down", and "Gotta Broken Heart Again" just made my jaw hit the floor! I didn't think he'd play ANYTHING from the Dirty Mind album much less a contractual album like "The Vault", and these were just awesome! When Sheila came out during his version of "You've Got A Friend" was sweet! It was nice to see them both up there together. And the version of "Pop Life" was just so playful and fun.

During his show he apologized several times for the A/C. Obviously it wasn't his fault...He asked a few times during the show "who wants to go to the movies?" and some yelled in favor and others just disregarded his query. Little did we know that he was serious. Near the end of his show during "Pop Life" he said "follow the black car...no, the white one. When you see it turn the corner, follow it!" He had apparently bought out the Chanhassen theatre (or a few screens anyway) for everyone at the Park. We got to see "Minority Report" on his dime. There were three interruptions/pauses during the movie so we sat staring at a blank screen for a few minutes. Of course, this was not without the idiots who tend to scream "HELLO!!! PROJECTOR!!!"...this of course has no effect on getting the movie to work again. As we were walking out of the theatre, the sun was coming up. Prince's limo was waiting outside and Sheila got into a black Blazer with a few of her entourage and drove off. She's so nice. By the time we got back to the hotel and went to sleep, it was 6 am...WHAT A NIGHT!!!

The set list for the night:
The Rainbow Children (Instrumental)
Power Fantastic
Extraordinary
Here On Earth
With You
Pearls B4 The Swine (Instrumental)
The Ghetto (Cover)
Sweet Baby
When The Lights Go Down
Strollin'
Gotta Broken Heart Again
You've Got A Friend (w/Sheila E.; Cover of James Taylor tune)
Pop Life (Encore)

***
6/23/02
...we decided to check out the "daily activities" at Paisley, especially since we hadn't experienced them earlier. Thankfully the A/C had been fixed. We got there a few minutes before the "discussion" of the day was over. It was with Tavis Smiley (UGGHH!) formerly of BET Tonight, Cornel West,...Londell McMillian and Michael Eric Dyson. Not caring for the topic at hand or the panelists, we checked out the "museum" instead which was pretty cool. On the walls of the hallway to the museum and Studio B Prince has got a lot of his awards on the right side and pictures of himself depicting different eras with the year next to them on the left.

In the museum...guitars on the walls...pictures...lyrics...written on paper and decorated and framed on the walls. The black piano he showcased in the Rave Un2 the Year 2000 show - sans gold symbol on the top albeit very nice! - was there too, as well as Bobby Z's drum set from the Mountains video. It looked really cool with the black and white paisley print all over it. I couldn't resist and I touched the hanging Gold symbol guitar...hit a few beats on the snare drum of the drum set on the floor...checking out the Gold symbol guitar, the white cloud guitar, Habibi and all the others was a real treat. I noticed the Blue Angel wasn't there and anticipated that it would make an appearance later in the week. Next to the museum was his basketball court where they had set up his Graffiti Bridge motorcycle and you could take a Polaroid on it for $5.

...Studio B...nicely decorated with very colorful "graffiti" on one wall, a few rugs on the floor, several oversized pillows, a few chairs, and a piano in the corner. A very welcoming area to just lay back and chill. The sign at the door said they were playing One Nite Alone Live as well as It Ain't Over (the aftershow at The World in New York). We sat for a while and just enjoyed the jams. It was surreal to think that we were a) at Paisley Park, b) sitting in Prince's studio, and c) listening to something that he'd performed merely a couple of weeks ago in perfect quality. There was also the console room and the Studio B lounge...a...picture of...John Nelson in the console room...Studio B lounge was pretty cool...black lighting...makes the stars on the wall glow in the dark...has a few chairs and a sofa...a TV, a lava lamp, and a blue motion lamp...It was almost 4pm and they were getting ready to close for the day to prepare for tonight's show. On the way out we stopped by the "NPG store" to check out the merchandise. Nothing rare and plenty of overpriced...shirts. I liked it better when it was an actual store in Uptown.

Victor Wooten was the opening performance...they played for far too long. According to other reports, he played for a little over 2 1/2 hours! That's not an appetizer, that's the fucking entree! DAYUM!

When Prince and Co. took to the stage, unfortunately he had Larry Graham with him...Thankfully, he only stayed for the first 2 songs then got the fuck outta there! The rest of the night was Prince's. I thought it was cool the entrance that they made. It was very Sign O' the Times. Unfortunately this wasn't the SOTT or Lovesexy band. Pity. "Days Of Wild" could have and SHOULD have been cut short. Much like "The Ride", it went on for far too long. And during "The Jam", it was very rude of Larry Graham to conveniently forget to introduce Rhonda Smith. She was at Prince's piano. How in the hell could he not see her there? THAT'S a pseudo-Christian like behavior for you.

This was one of the shortest nights Prince played, yet it was no less exciting...including different versions of "Sign O' the Times", "Paisley Park", and "Peach" was really cool..."Dolphin"...I'm glad I got to see him perform this song live. It was just breathtaking...more mellow...And the same way the band came in is the same way they made their exit. And in their exit, they included the "It Ain't Over" chant. Unfortunately that chant would stay with us for the rest of the week. It was good the first time, okay the second, and it just needed to die after that.

The set list for the night:
Days of Wild (w/Larry Graham)
The Jam (w/Larry Graham)
Dolphin
Sign O' The Times
The Work, Part I
Paisley Park
Renato's Keyboard Solo
Peach/"It Ain't Over" Jam (w/Damon Dickson)

***
6/24/02
...We ventured out to Calhoun Square in Uptown...We found the DJ Music Emporium...No Remix discs found, but I got the 2000 calendar that's been "sold out" in the...NPGMC site for some time...

...another unknown, Norah Jones, was opening tonight...we got there, about 9:35pm, we sat next to a really nice couple from the Netherlands. When we asked if Ms. Jones was running late, they said she was already done! Apparently she played for a little over an hour. Oh well...

For whatever reason, the Paisley crew had set up rows of chairs for the evening...We had just made it before Prince took the stage a few minutes later. With the way the stage was set up, you couldn't help but notice that it was going to be the show that many Prince fans have been wanting for quite some time - ACOUSTIC!, with just Prince, his guitar, and some nice lighting. And that's exactly what we got, with the occasional accompaniment from Kirk Johnson on percussion...He started off with "Don't Play Me"...and for the next hour I was in complete AWE!!! When he played songs like "Tangerine", "One Kiss At A Time", "Wherever You Go, Whatever You Do", and "Forever In My Life" it was sheer ecstasy. It was funny during WYGWYD when he sung a portion of "Again" from Lenny Kravitz and acted like he'd just realized that the chords were the same. This was just an awesome show! And to top it off, he took a brief intermission and came back with the NPG to play for almost another hour. A nice laid back type of show. It was odd to see him lying on his back under his piano as he sung/spoke/rapped the lyrics to a new song, "(Clap Yo' Hands 4) Prince and the Band."

The set list for the acoustic portion of the night:
Don't Play Me
Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin cover)
7
Tangerine
A Case Of You
Pink Cashmere
One Kiss At A Time
Alphabet St./Beverly Hillbillies theme
Girls and Boys
(Sometimes I Feel Like A) Motherless Child
The Truth
"Guitar Playin' Man" Jam
The Other Side Of The Pillow
She Loves Me 4 Me
Peach/"It Ain't Over" Chant
Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do/Again
Forever In My Life
Last December

The set list for the 2nd half of the night:
Take The A Train/Strollin' (Instrumental)
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
Diamonds and Pearls
The Beautiful Ones
Free
Starfish and Coffee
Sometimes It Snows In April
I Love U, But I Don't Trust U Anymore
(Clap Yo' Hands 4) Prince and the Band
Xenophobia/Bustin' Loose Chant

***
6/25/02
...We got to the Park around 12:30pm and made it in plenty of time for a real treat. We'd missed out on Sheila's workshop on Saturday, but today's guests were Renato Neto and Eric Leeds! We grabbed some rug in the NPG Music Club room and got comfortable. We hoped to get to hear some cool stories since Eric was going to be there.

Renato provided some insight on his current position as Prince's keyboardist. He said the band had rehearsed 25 new songs for the Celebration. Cool! He didn't seem too keen on the fact that Prince doesn't provide much of a set set list for the night. It sounded like Renato was more used to knowing what they're going to play that night, rather than playing some things off the cuff. Sounds like he may not be around much longer, whether it's by choice or not we'll just have to see...This gave Eric quit a bit of room to talk about Prince's ways on tour. He mentioned how when they were on the Parade tour that there were times when the band didn't know what exactly they were going to play until literally a few seconds before the song. He said that The Family had a song called "Mutiny" and Sheila E. had a song called "A Love Bizarre",...because both songs were so similar, they didn't know which one they were going to play until Wendy...would count it off. "A Love Bizarre" starts with "A, B...A, B, C, D..." so if Wendy counted off in letters they know to go into "A Love Bizarre", and if she counted off in numbers they'd go into "Mutiny". He said in a way it was good because it kept the band on their toes because they never knew what to expect. WOW!

Throughout the discussion, they took a few questions. He said that when he'd met Prince, five minutes later he had Eric working with him...Someone asked if he could talk about Madhouse, and he looks at the camera (Prince was having the workshops videotaped) and says, "Well Prince, I'm not sure what exactly is considered taboo..." and gave a look of "I'm not on the regular payroll anymore, so why not talk about them?" Eric...said that in THREE DAYS he and Prince had recorded the entire first Madhouse album. He said, "Everything you hear on that album except for the horns is Prince. He'd come in, lay the piano, come back and lay down the drums, etc. until the album was done." AMAZING!

He gave us a bit of a chuckle when at one point Renato was talking about working with Prince when Eric looks over at him and says, "Well at least he never FORGOT you!" Eric said that they were working in L.A. and Eric had gone back to his hotel room. Unknowingly, Prince had flown back to Mpls. He says, "I call up Prince and found out he'd gone home. So I ask him, well, can I go home too? And Prince says, 'no, stay there. I'll be there tomorrow.' So he flew back to L.A. and we continued working."

Someone asked Eric if he could play "Adore" from Sign O' the Times. Since he hadn't played that in years, he said, "Well let me see if I remember it. I can play the opening bars." Much to our delight, he played it for us. How cool! And speaking of cool, Eric told us about the night he had dinner with Miles Davis, one of the people he looked up to. He said that had indirectly gotten Prince and Miles together because he knew that Prince admired Miles. He says, "...we were working one night, I went home, then Prince calls me up. He invites me to dinner and says that he was sending a car to pick me up. When I get there, I end up having dinner with Prince, Miles Davis, John Nelson (Prince's father), and Sheila E. Imagine my excitement! I thanked Prince for that because we both knew that he didn't have to do something like that, although I'm very thankful that he did. But I thought that was a really nice gesture from Prince." AWWW!

At the end of the workshop, Renato and Eric stuck around to chitchat with people and sign autographs. Although I'm not much of an autograph hound, I got in line to meet Eric Leeds. I figured while I was there I'd get his autograph, but I wanted moreso to thank him for taking the time and speak with us. He seems genuinely nice and very approachable. Thanks Mr. Leeds!

...I walked on over to the museum again to see what new items they'd put up. No Blue Angel I...worked my way to Studio B. They were still playing the "One Nite Alone Live" and "It Ain't Over" discs. Nice stuff! After a while, we headed outside to check out what was going on. Apparently, the outside crew (Laura, Damon, etc.) had decided that it wasn't fair for certain people to work their way to the front of the stage in front of those who sat in line all day long. I agree! So they decided to try the wristband method. Numbered wristbands were handed out to everyone in line to ensure they got a fair shot at the front rows...

We got to the Park...Once inside, they had set up the chairs once again. Personally, I prefer the chairs because there's more organization, people aren't being crushed by the people behind them, there's less chance of stepping on bottle caps and empty water bottles, and there's less chance of people trying to work their way to the front of the stage regardless of their wristband number or how long they've waited in line...

Another unknown, Bernard Allison, was the night's opening performance...I can thankfully say that his show was at least a bit more interesting than previous opening performances (aside from Sheila's of course)...it was cool of him to leave the stage behind while he walked right down the center aisle while playing his guitar, kind of like an audience interaction sort of thing. As he made his way down the end of the aisle and back up to the stage, that's when many of us realized Prince had been watching the show from the back of the room. Of course after that, I saw many people constantly turn around to look back to see if he was still sitting in his corner.

Apparently Prince had several surprises up his sleeve for the week...tonight was what you could call a two-hour "rock" show! He started off with a kicking guitar solo...tore into "Bambi"...Bambi!!!...I don't think he's played that since the Nude Tour in '90. When he did the Led Zeppelin cover of "Whole Lotta Love", there were different images shown on stage from the back of the room which gave it a trippy effect, very Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" . Really cool! And for him to play a full version of "Something In the Water (Does Not Compute)" was simply AWESOME! Another jaw dropper! It was totally out of nowhere! And the inclusion of a bit of Alicia Keys' "Fallin'" was cool too. "The One"...a ballad...but tonight it was totally revised, reworked, and redone! He continued with a...slowed down version of "I Could Never Take the Place Of Your Man" which was just awesome, then he went into a cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine"..."She's Always In My Hair"...Perfect! Seeing Morris Hayes guest on the keyboards was a nice change too. And the last four songs of the night were simply mind blowing..."Elephants and Flowers" from Graffiti Bridge (WHOA!), "All the Critics Love U In New York" (WHAT?!?!), "Beautiful Strange" (Totally different than on the Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic remix disc), and the finale..."Calhoun Square"!!! Completely shocking this set list was!

The set list for the night:
Prince Guitar Solo
Bambi
Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin cover)
Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)
The Question of U/Fallin'
The One
Jazz Jam
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
Ain't No Sunshine (Bill Withers cover)
She's Always In My Hair
The Ride (w/Morris Hayes on keyboards)
Alphabet St. (w/Morris Hayes on keyboards)
Blues Jam (w/Morris Hayes on keyboards)
Elephants & Flowers
All The Critics Love U In New York
Beautiful Strange
Calhoun Square (Encore)

***
6/26/02
We visited the Park to check out the "daily activities" because we weren't sure if wristbands would be given out again as the night before. Thankfully, we missed the Larry Graham worship/workshop in the NPG Music Club room. I doubt I could stomach any of his reportedly drunken wife Tina looking at him like she idolizes every word he says and every step he takes is like he's walking on holy ground.

On to the museum, way more interesting. I figured I didn't know if I'd be attending Celebration 2003 (if it happens) so I decided to pay for a $5 Polaroid of my cuteness on Prince's Graffiti Bridge motorcycle. The ONE picture I have inside the Park and you can't see any of the Park in it...ahh well. Wait, something to think about. Prince doesn't allow cameras or any type of video equipment in the Park, yet his ass will have a picture taken of him and sell a $20 poster of it. I guess the "charities" will be receiving some nice donations this year courtesy of Love 4 One Another.

I...grabbed a seat on the sofa next to a really nice lady (sorry I didn't catch your name) in the lounge and just chilled. That room is so cool. The security guard seemed a bit of a chatterbox. He said the last album recorded in that studio was Sign O' the Times. And Prince has used Studio A since then because of the state-of-the-art equipment in there and he's customized it to his preference. We also saw Femi (Jiya, Prince's engineer) pass through a couple of times. He later settled in for a bit in the console room to talk with the people that were hanging out there...at 4pm...made our way to the parking...Apparently, thanks to people still squirming their way to the front of the stage, the outside crew (Laura, Damon, etc.) had decided to hand out wristbands again. This time, you had to work for it! Let the games begin! They decided that they were going to hold a few dance contests and pick the "winners" from each one until they handed out 300 wristbands. We did some dance called the Cha-Cha Shuffle which was fun, and then some dance that Damon (Dickson) came up with. A bit awkward at first. The sun was hot, but we were funky...enough to win wristbands 23 and 24!...

...after the dance contests, we decided to find some shade...as we sat there, they opened up the "Speak Your Mind" booth. This was a booth they had made available which had a "question of the day" on it and a video camera that recorded your response. Today's question asked if we were having a good time and what, if anything, would we change. These "clips" were shown at the beginning of some of the performances throughout the week. One guy from Chicago had asked Prince to drop the price of water from $2 to $1 because he had five ladies with him and every time he bought water it cost him $10. That night, water was a dollar a bottle. The chatterbox security guard in the Studio B lounge said that most, if not all, of the money made in the NPG Store and other areas was donated to charities. Looks like Chicago guy decreased the donations from the sale of water I figured I'd voice myself and just as I expected, my clip wasn't shown with all the others that night...

Since wristbands were issued, we got to the Park and got in line with everyone else. Although we were 23rd and 24th, we ended up in like the equivalent of the 5th row! The chairs had not been set up for tonight's show. I suppose they had to make sure they had enough room to include Joe Public who bought tickets. And yet again, those who feel the need to be up close and personal to Prince's nads worked their way to the front. Some of these people include the "fanlebrities". "Fanlebrities" is a term Chas and I adopted for those people in the Prince fan community who, for some fucked up reason, believe that because they've seen Prince one hundred times too many deserve a spot of recognition. Or those people who worked for him for about a day and think they have a right to steal some of his unreleased material or a spot of recognition. Or those that constantly post to the two most common Prince communities online (alt.music.prince and Prince.org) and think they deserve a spot of recognition. To all of you who THINK you have "inside" information or an unreleased track of a certain song in the utmost of superior quality, so what? SO FUCKING WHAT??? Because you've seen him THAT many times just means 1) you're crazy, 2) you sadly exemplify the word "fanatic", 3) you've obviously spent way too much money on someone who doesn't give a shit about you and doesn't even know who you are, 4) are not...repeat..are NOT any closer to Prince than any of the rest of us, and 5) you're not entitled to shit! That said, it was ironic how those who squeeezed their way to the front started to bitch (and oddly enough to security!) about someone else who moved their way to the front. Because again, God forbid somebody else be in front of THEM and THEY not be in the front! One good point however, I got to meet several more people that night who were all really nice. Let's see, there was that one girl (with a white top, nice shape, long hair) and her sister (and again I failed to get these people's names), as well as Dana (the pic on the NPGMC site says Dawn?) and Clay, a couple who drove all the way from Canada...and the girl whose mom had to sit up front for medical reasons (someone who actually deserved to sit up there). It was funny because the girl said that one of the security guards kept bringing her and her mom water "every hour on the hour" because he liked her. And as soon as she had said that the security guard brought them more water Surrounded by these people made Musiq's show a bit bearable.

Tonight's show was originally scheduled for The Orpheum Theatre...

Musiq's set went on for a little over an hour...I was SO bored!...Chas said the reason Musiq always wears sunglasses is "because he's got a googly eye". It was so hilarious when he told me that because he said it with such seriousness in his voice, and I just busted out laughing! Unfortunately he told me this AFTER Musiq's set. At least I could have had that joke in my head to keep me entertained during his set.

Although Prince gave what you'd call a One Night Alone tour performance, it was still exciting and fun! Is there ANY Prince concert that would NOT be entertaining? Doubtful. Especially one that lasts over 2 1/2 hours! This was the closest I had ever been to the stage at a Prince concert...Little did I know that the experience wouldn't be as great as I'd expected...It was weird how as soon as he showed up, people got closer to the stage which meant some of us started to get covered by the people behind us. As close as I was, I thought I would enjoy the music even more. Unfortunately, I found myself distracted. I didn't get a full view of the stage and the entire band, and I started dissecting how Prince looked...even with all of the makeup he had on, I could still see some of the acne marks and blemishes. Contrary to people's beliefs, the man DOES age. We'll just never see it thanks to the likes of Maybelline and Max Factor. And by the way, the man's got a good size bald spot near the center of the top of his head (like his daddy had) so I guess like he said in "Pretty Man", "if there ever comes a time where it just won't grow, I'll do like my brutha and by some mo'"...best get Shaniqua to make him an appointment at She Nay Nay's Hair Hut.

As part of the shows during the One Nite Alone tour during "Xenophobia", Prince will ask someone in the audience if it's better to give than to receive. If the person answers "receive", he goes on to ask someone else the same question. That person, learning from the first person's response, normally says "give". Prince then asks that person, "...then would you give your seat to that person over there (pointing to someone a few rows back)?" Next, he goes on to someone else and asks them, "Is it better to be a leader or a follower?" Naturally, one will answer "leader", which leads Prince to go on to someone else basically looking for someone who will say "follower" (there goes that whole "sheep" thing again). Once he finds someone who responds "follower", he tells them, "...well follow ME", leading them onto the stage to sit near him while he sings the next song. NOT TONIGHT! BWAHAHAHAHA!!! I like to think of it as a "fanlebrity" getting his comeuppance

During "Xenophobia", he asked a person in the front row if it's better to give than to receive. The person said "receive", so he asked someone else the same question. Learning from the first person, the second person answered the exact opposite. So Prince asked them, "...then would you mind giving your seat to the person in that row (a few rows back)?" He then asked someone else, "Is it better to be a leader or a follower?" A "fanlebrity" moves his happy ass on over next to the person being asked the question and yells for them to answer "follower, follower" (typical answer of a sheep by the way!). So, obviously the person answers "follower". Prince didn't like it and tells the "fanlebrity", "Don't help him!" Since the "fanlebrity" made it his business to "help" the so-called "follower", Prince played a trick on him. The "fanlebrity" apparently thought Prince was going to ask the normal question and the "fanlebrity" thought he'd get his chance (once again!) to be "on stage with Prince". Instead, Prince started asking questions about what would bring us all together and from there went on to his usual pseudo-religious psychobabble. He asked what was God's name (apparently something he and Larry Graham must've been discussing at that time) and of course some sheep in the crowd started yelling Jehovah, Yaweh...and other non-sensical stuff. This is the first of two times that I got bored during this show.

Prince gave us a chuckle with his Miles Davis story. He said that Miles wanted to give him a present and that it would mean a lot to Miles if Prince would accept it. So he gives Prince the gift and Prince just looks at it and doesn't know what to say, so he ends up not taking the gift. He says Miles told him, "well F.U. then" and we just laughed! And in Prince's current normal fashion he says, "your interpretation of "F.U." says a lot about you." At that point, I rolled my eyes and yelled, "whatFUCKINGever!"

Around the time during "Avalanche", I could no longer bear the heat, the thirst had just about dried out my tongue, and some of the crowd was just a bit too funky...and not in a good way. Soap IS universal, right? So, we headed for the dollar water! We decided to hang out at the back of the room for the remainder of the show since it was a lot cooler, we had more room to walk around, and we were able to get a better view of the entire stage.

The encore for the night included the new version of "Days Of Wild" he's been playing which pales in comparison to the original ("I can tear shit up ya'll 'cause that's my style, these are the days of wild!"). The song itself is still funky, however with less of its appeal especially since the Spotlight Thief is included in it. This was the second time I got bored. First off, the song lasted for almost half an hour (can we say "The Ride" anyone???). Second, Spotlight Thief bogarted the stage and started walking along the edge of the stage while dangling his bass guitar telling people to "touch the bass...feel the bass..." while making facial gestures that can only be described as "one during an orgasm"...NOT a good sight to see! Definite signs of a not so normal man. And another reason I was overcome by boredom, Prince and his leader were joined by Googly Eye Man...because the song wasn't long ENOUGH right guys?! UGGHH!!!

The set list for the night:
The Rainbow Children
Muse 2 The Pharaoh
Money Don't Matter 2 Night
Xenophobia
A Case of You
Mellow
1+1+1=3/Housequake (small portion)/Love Rollercoaster
The Other Side of The Pillow
Strange Relationship
Sing A Simple Song (w/Larry Graham)
La, La, La Means I Love You
Didn't Cha Know
When You Were Mine
Avalanche
Family Name
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
The Everlasting Now
Days of Wild/"Soul Child" Jam (w/Musiq) (Encore)

***
6/27/02
It was the last day of our fun-filled week...

We checked out the NPG Store again in hopes of something new...nothing There were two calendars that I'd been wanting and I already had bought one. I was still on the lookout for the 1999 calendar to no avail...we took some photo ops of the Park. Thank you to the nice lady who took our picture in front of the gate of the Park, although it would have been nice to actually SEE the Park behind us...People were drawing all over the pavement and parking lot with colored chalk leaving Prince different messages and thank you's. Some of it looked pretty cool...I met Lady Cab Driver (Hi Maria!), very sweet lady. Sadly, she was one of the few people that I actually met that I recognized. I kept looking for Jill (ChiTown Generation), Lela (New Power Clique), Derek (New Power New York), and Ben and Val (Prince.org) to no avail. That's what I get for missing the Meet & Greet at Axel's on Sunday...but thanks to Sheila and Prince keeping us up all night, there was no way I could make it.

...two lines were formed for tonight's shows...Throughout the week, some of the "daily activities" included Damon Dickson and crew entertaining folks outside on the Paisley Park parking lot. Part of the entertainment included dance contests, singing, and just plain ol' good fun! Winners of the contests were given various prizes including caps, calendars, t-shirts, and tourbooks. Damon and crew apparently still had quite a few prizes to give away, so as we stood in line they continued the contests. This time it was a "pop quiz". The first question was, "Who can tell me when Prince was born?" Hundreds of hands went up in the air including mine. I took a step forward and the guy looked at me and pointed to me asking for the answer. Naturally, I said "June 7, 1958". The guy asked everyone if I was right, they yelled "YES!", and he waved me over to him for my prize. I won the 1999 calendar that I had lost all hope of getting before coming back home!!! I was SO happy! I had been seeing people with them all week and wondered where they had gotten them and thought they were selling them in the NPG Store, that's why we kept checking out the store for new merchandise. I was very excited!. The "pop quiz" continued and many people got prizes. As we waited in line, a couple of the Paisley help was walking down the lines handing out something from a bag. It turns out, Prince wanted them to hand out pins for everyone! You had a chance of a silver or gold symbol pin, or gold Larry Graham treble pendant. These were sold normally for $15 each in the NPG Store...Cool! Before the lines started moving, Laura announced that Prince had had a single of the June 18, 2002 Montreal performance of "Days Of Wild" pressed onto disc and wanted everyone at the Celebration to have one...FREE!!! This was totally awesome...the calendar I'd been looking for, a gold symbol pin, AND a free CD! The evening was looking better and better!

...I figured since this was the last show of the week, Prince had something special in store for us...After we found a couple of seats, I realized we ended up sitting next to the guy that I had sat next to on the night Bernard Allison had performed (Hi Antonio!). I thought this was odd but in a good way because all week we hadn't sat next to the same person as any time before. So, we started talking a little bit more which was cool. It turns out that I had sat near Dana and Clay again (Hi guys!).

Tonight's opening performance was Rachelle Ferrell...For what should have been at most a 45-minute show, turned into the next two hours and fifteen minutes of umm...let's see...uhhh...well...to me, this show was just very odd...

From the back right corner of the room came...Najee on his flute. He played as he walked up to the stage and sat at Prince's piano, center stage. Then Prince came out, stood behind Najee, massaged his shoulders, patted him on the back, and bid him goodbye as Najee walked off stage left. Prince stayed at the piano alone on stage...and...for a little over two hours, he pulled several surprises, including full length versions of the first six songs of the evening. As he sang "Adore", tears just welled up in my eyes. And the water works came on with "Condition Of the Heart". THIS was just unbelievable! I looked at Chas and just shook my head and said, "WHAT?! NO WAY!" I don't think he's played that since '85! The NPG joined him on stage. When he started "Empty Room", I was trembling. There was no way that I was sitting there listening to this unreleased track LIVE! I was in complete shock! And as soon as he started it, everyone got on their feet! Cheering and clapping filled the room! Then he teases us and says, "Ya'll ain't ready for that yet!" as he walks away from his piano. He comes back to continue. He asked if we had ever been with a woman "and after she's gone you find a piece of her hair and you tape it up to the mirror" and continues the song. No guitar solo, yet very moving, very emotional. "Nothing Compares 2 U" accompanied by Eric Leeds was just awesome. Rosie Gaines joining him on this...would have been a nice surprise. And speaking of surprise, I was in awe when he performed "Shake" from Graffiti Bridge...and he included "Automatic" from 1999 with it!!! I was speechless! I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief! This night was just unbelievable!

He continued with...Paisley Park...Karaoke Night. He picked a young lady by the name of Connie Castillo. He had her sing "Manic Monday"...I've heard Apollonia's version and I would have to say that Connie's version came pretty close to it...and Apollonia's is pretty bad. I've read other reviews and people mentioning this part of the show and I disagree with anyone who says that she did a great job...Prince clapped at the end but I think he would have done that to anyone that he would have chosen to go up there.

After Amateur Night, his sleeve still had some surprises up there...to hear "Soul Sanctuary" was just AWESOME, and in its entirety! Apparently he was on a spiritual vibe because he then asked for the lights to be turned off as he went into "God"!...OH...MY...GOD! No pun intended. I was literally crying listening to this! For a moment, I was taken back in time. I never had the privilege of seeing him perform this during the Purple Rain tour, and tonight would be a memory I would keep forever.

Unfortunately, Prince got hit by what he thought was "the spirit" and invited Googly Eye Man, Rachelle Ferrell ('cause we didn't get enough of HER tonight), and Kip Blackshire (a wannabe singer) up on stage to sing with him. ALL of them just destroyed "God", COMPLETELY! All of them sucked any inkling of life out of that song! UGGHH!

The lights were turned back on, the stage was cleared of all the riff raff, and the band played "Last December"...Oddly enough, this was the only time Prince picked up a guitar the whole night. Afterwards, Prince and crew cleared the stage. The obvious cheering, clapping, and chanting ensued for an encore. Little did we know what was in store for us next. They return to the stage...Prince goes into an amazing guitarless piano version of "Purple Rain"...sheer bliss! The emotion...phenomenal! He continued with what has to be the funkiest, most riveting version of "Anna Stesia" EVER! I've seen the Lovesexy tour version in Dortmund, Germany in '88, and listened to the Celebration 2000 version...neither of these compare, not even the album version. Although it went on for almost half an hour, and his pesky guests got in the way, it was awesome to experience tonight. Many of us didn't understand why in the world Stage Thief decided to take off his red Stacey Adams and hold them up as if to say, "touch the PHUNK...feeel the PHUNK"...UGGHH!!! Googly Eye Man, Rachelle, her brother, and her guitarist joined Prince and the NPG to round out the night. I felt a chill during the performance when Prince said that "The Everlasting Now"...meant an exact moment in your life that you wish would never end..."and this is that moment for me right now. I wish this moment RIGHT NOW would last forever." Near the end of the encore, he asked everyone to clear a space in the center of the room and move the chairs to give us room to move and "party till the sun comes up". After everyone left the stage and the house lights came up, the DJ took over and we continued dancing. The show ended a little after 2am and we stayed for an hour longer. In the end, it was sad to see everyone leaving because it made it more real that it was all over. The week of fantasy and fun was surreal, exhausting, emotional, phenomenal, and exciting!

As we walked out of the Park's parking lot, I waived the Park goodbye in hopes of returning next year and thanked Prince for an eventful week. We headed out for our last meal in Mpls, which turned out pretty cool. We ended up at Denny's and everyone there had just come from the Park Everyone shared different experiences with each other including one that was mentioned about someone being caught trying to steal a stack of the "Days Of Wild" discs that were given away. Afterwards, we dropped off Antonio at his hotel, headed back to ours, and got ready to go home.

The set list for the night:
Najee Flute Solo
One Nite Alone
Adore
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Do Me, Baby
Condition of the Heart
U're Gonna C Me
Empty Room
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
Nothing Compares 2 U (with Eric Leeds)
Speech
Shake!/Automatic/Shake!
Manic Monday (Sung by NPG Music Club Member, Connie Castillo)
Soul Sanctuary
God/God (Instrumental) (with Kip Blackshire, Musiq, Rachelle Ferrell)
Last December
Purple Rain
Anna Stesia/'Party 'Til The Sun Comes Up" Jam

What a long Ass book you just wrote! Whew! Well although you did seem to enjoy Prince's music at the Celebration you were and are way too critical and mean spirited about several people and events. Case in point Criticizing the cute children dressed up at Prince's concert, Prince's face and Bald Spot, Fans or so called people who think they deserve special VIP treatment,Larry ,Tina and Connie who was brave enough to go onstage with Prince and did a fabulous job for an amateur. How would you fare? I think that took a lot of courage on her part. I don't think Appolonia sang badly either . People really don't have to be perfect you know! Prince was so damned cool and it was such a fun time for so many of us . Like I always say Prince is wonderful and there is only 1 Prince. I wasn't feeling so well otherwise I would have enjoyed it more. Exhaustion/Depression. But Prince will always be the Man!

NPT, remember me? We met outside the Park one day while waiting to get in! I'm glad you had a good time!

Why Certainly!

Hi LCD, definitely I remember ya

great report!

XxAxX said:

Thanks XxAxX, it was a great week