There are some cool pictures at the site from the performance. I don't know if it's ok to post them here or not, so it's just a link. Interesting column with some info on the deal. I don't know how accurate Robin's info is sometimes, he's always off by one or two details from other sources.

(If it's ok to post the pics, let me know and I'll host them or someone else feel free.)


http://journals.aol.com/r...eLifeVegas

It's been a 3-year-project for pop-royalty's Prince to open his own Vegas showroom and, thanks partly to super-saleswoman Celine Dion, that dream finally came true last night. Wearing an orange suit, he played 4 songs -- including Purple Rain -- to a select group of VIP's including Harrah's executives who signed him to the Club Rio showroom contract. And Luxe Life has the first photos of the party.


Prince's gig starts tomorrow and he'll be playing two, 10PM shows each weekend. Every Wednesday he'll present guest stars and every Thursday it's his Latin Libido strut salsa cha-cha night. Next week's mid-week star is Chaka Khan and the following week it's Morris Day and The Time.

There's no question Prince is a musical genius and a mind blowingly brilliant guitarist. The purple one told us last night: "I Love Las Vegas. I wanted to recapture vintage Vegas when it was THE late night place for musicians and singers to hang out and jam. This is all live. There will be no recorded tracks on this stage."



In addition to his conversion of the former Schintas/Erocktica showroom into the 3121 Club, Prince has also taken over the Rio resort's former Fiore Italian restaurantand installed his personal chef, Lena Morgan, formerly of Wolfgang Puck's Spago Hollywood restaurant, as the executive in charge. It too will be known as 3121 and Prince assures me: "It's not a Biblical reference, it's just a number."



Next week Luxe Life will have an interview with Lena about Prince's menu choices and Concerts West President John Meglin of Anschultz Entertainment Group, who packaged the Prince deal with Harrah's, the giant gaming company that owns the Rio, one block from the Strip, opposite the Palms. I asked Meglin why Prince selected the Rio and he told me, "The Rio's front lighting and logo are purple. It's as simple as that. When he went into the showroom, which also has purple, he simply said 'the vibe is right,' and that was that." More on my chat with Meglin next week here in Luxe Life and his story of how he flew Prince into Vegas to meet backstage at Caesars with his other Strip headliner, Celine Dion to clinch the deal!

Serena said:

First!
thanks 4 the news !

Thank You

Doing a Celine

First of all thaks for the post, second it's sounds like he's having a good time over there. I thought this guy was from MN the land of snow things change I guess.

I know it's a superficial comment but...
...it's not sparkly enough.

Sparkle isn't all bad. Sparkle can be done right.

anon said:

needs more mirror balls

XxAxX said:

No but it is Vegas and it seems very stripped down for that. Maybe that will be different on Friday.
Still, I was talking about the clothes. The outfit and the guitar are two very high energy colors, side by side. The guitar is an appetite color. Maybe it's his way to subliminally get people to buy more food. The jacket is enough to make a person anxious, though.

I prefer the outfit in the photo outside the club. Just a punch of the orange.

I was hoping to see at least some stones too. Even if it's just the guitar strap and/or piping and accessories. He could put the bulk of them on the girls. Wait...they are the accessories. Anyway, i'd rather see a bit of sparkle to add the intensity. More sparkle, less color. But maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just not feeling orange these days. Others seem to like it.

anon said:

Oh, the orange is cool, I like that, it´s the guitar I don´t like. I know it´s technically a very good guitar and there´s probably some teenage memory behind it, like Sonny T. playing on a similar guitar as a teenager or something like that, but Prince is among the few guitar players on this planet who has three trademark guitars that have become his trademark guitars, namely the Hohner , the Cloud guitar and the Symbol/Habibi guitar, and this one just looks ordinary.

Sure, other guitarists have their trademark or custom made guitars as well, like Santana or Benson or Jimmy Page or Paul McCartney, but Prince is and always was a bit different when it comes to his guitars...

It´s like seeing your favorite superhero in an average looking new costume. Like way back in the days when Spiderman had the black costume but even that had more style than Prince using a regular looking guitar. His visual approach has always been part of his stage persona, why did he change that all of a sudden ?

It´s like seeing Batman riding a nice BMW instead of the Batmobile.

KoolEaze said:

No...

I'm pretty sure it's the orange.

Really, it's the combination of both colors and the absence of the neon surroundings (if it is neon), in those shots. Actually like the club (what little I could see). There should be something large and neon on stage. Would make for better photos...that's all many of us will get to see of this event.

Hmm...the pics are gone now from Robin's site, wonder if Prince told him to take them down or if he did it to save space on the page.