calldapplwondery83 said:

There has always been an element of the audience who have demonstrated homophobic animus towards a guy who is straight, and/or otherwise refuse to accept that a black man can play rock and roll better than most of their so-called heroes. It's astounding to me that some people still don't know about Prince's musicianship, assuming he's a preening song-and-dance man. Because that's what they WANT to believe about black musicians. They want to believe only white musicians play music. Prince is one of the few black artists out there who reminds some hardheads of the "inconvenient truth" of rock and roll.

Those guys claiming that Prince wasn't really playing guitar with "one hand," they were priceless. What jagoffs.

It was nice to see that the performance was a revelation to a few of the posters over there. Not because it was an all-time great Prince performance, but because Prince showed'em something they never expected out of him.

Nickelback? WTF? I just died laughing and choking on my own vomit. And if I see another one of those damn homophobic remarks, I will hunt mofos down and kick some ass.

I have to admit. I didn’t watch the SuperBowl live. Flying back from a weekend trip to New Mexico, I knew I had it Tivo’d and waiting for me when I got home. It didn’t stop me from asking people in the airport who were watching “So, who’s winning?” “The Bears.” “Is it raining?” “Yes, it’s really coming down.” “Hmmm. Has Prince performed yet?” “Prince is performing? No. Not yet.” All day Sunday I kept thinking “How sad that it had to rain during Prince’s half-time show. I just kept imagining all the terrible things that could happen: people hiding in the rain, electrical malfunctions, people slipping on stage, Prince frying with microphone in hand. Ugh.

I needn’t have worried. The extra challenge of the rain only added to the greatness. Like a sword, tempered by fire into a lethal killing machine, Prince sliced his way through crowd-pleasing guitar anthems, both his own and others’.

I knew as soon as I heard the drums and chanting of “We Will Rock You” filling the auditoreum I knew tonight was gonna be special. Electricity coursing through my veins as lightning filled the Florida sky. My heart began to race in my tiny little bedroom. I can’t imagine the thrills the people who were actually watching the show live were feeling.

Then the border lights on the stage began to light. Boom-boom-boom. The stage is Prince’s symbol, 0(+> for anyone not in the know, and as soon as the border lights fill in, a huge explosion of light and fireworks. BOOM! We hear “Dearly Beloved...” and the sounds of “Let’s Go Crazy” as Prince rips into the classic with manic intensity, giving it an updated sound and feel. Fans are allowed into the space surrounding the stage, and they’re running at top speed, crazed looks on their faces, rushing to get close to it, to be a part of it.

Next we are treated to the addition of a marching band storming the football field. Is that the chorus of “1999” they’re playing? I can’t get my bearing on it, but it doesn’t matter because now the band is accompanying Prince on “Baby I’m a Star.” I’m thinking to myself, maybe that’s his secret. Maybe he really is a Star. That would explain how he looks dry when I know rain is falling all around him. Maybe it’s evaporating as soon as it hits his body. White-hot. Supernova. Drip, drop, tsSSS!

Prince leads the marching band into a quick riff of “Proud Mary” and the dancing Twinz have never looked more together or sexy, doing their best Tina Turner impressions. As the band whirls into a dervish, Prince blows a kiss. “Count it.”

It gets very quiet for a split second as the first notes of “All Along the Watchtower” fill the night sky. It takes the crowd a moment to realize what is happening, but when Prince opens with the vocals of the Jimi Hendrix classic, you can hear it! Loud screams from the crowd, certainly the older members in the audience remember Hendrix’s significance, accepting voices calling out in unison.

Then without missing a beat, Prince tumbles into Foo Fighter’s “Best of You” and we hear another cry from the crowd, this time certainly striking a chord with the younger members of the audience. A scan of the audience shows them all “getting it”, singing along, pogo-ing up and down and screaming. To all of these twenty-somethings there is something I’d like to tell you. His name is Prince. He is funky. Be very good to him. He’ll be good to you.

Finally we get to my favorite moment. As Prince brings “Best of You” to a close, he utters the final line “I’ve got another confession to make, my friend.” He closes his eyes and lowers his guitar, pauses for a moment, then reopens them. He looks around slyly, a hint of a smile on his lips and says, “I aint no fool.” Then it’s magic. As “Purple Rain” begins the audience is bathed in purple lights, flying doves take to the air, and hundreds of people in the audience lift their lit cell phones together, hands swaying back and forth. A curtain rises against the end of the stage and it billows with Prince behind it, his silhouette reaching tall, so tall into the night sky, and he plays his guitar with unbridled fury. It’s a beautiful moment. I don’t mind saying I shed a tear or two. It makes me happy to admit that. The show closes with the crowd singing in unison, the sound, so beautiful. And at the center of it stands one man, our Prince, beaming from ear to ear, bowing like a modern Mozart.

Yes, all day Sunday I kept thinking “How sad that it had to rain duing Prince’s half-time show.” I needn’t have worried. It only added to the greatness.

metalorange said:

I usually agree with you, metalorange, but give the man some time! He probably has to fulfill his contract with the Rio before he can up and go on tour. Unless he's been planning one all along, a tour takes months to plan, correct? Maybe he has an album in the wings waiting for release. We can dream, right?

The homophobes that run rampant on the message boards across the web are cowards that haven't evolved to view the world in a much larger frame.

P has defied expectations throughout his career. He can play guitar better than most of his contemporaries. He has style and the charisma that most new musicians would die for, so I wouldn't waste the effort arguing with those jabronis.

calldapplwondery83 said:

There has always been an element of the audience who have demonstrated homophobic animus towards a guy who is straight, and/or otherwise refuse to accept that a black man can play rock and roll better than most of their so-called heroes. It's astounding to me that some people still don't know about Prince's musicianship, assuming he's a preening song-and-dance man. Because that's what they WANT to believe about black musicians. They want to believe only white musicians play music. Prince is one of the few black artists out there who reminds some hardheads of the "inconvenient truth" of rock and roll.

Those guys claiming that Prince wasn't really playing guitar with "one hand," they were priceless. What jagoffs.

It was nice to see that the performance was a revelation to a few of the posters over there. Not because it was an all-time great Prince performance, but because Prince showed'em something they never expected out of him.

Well Said!!!!!

What would those fools do if they ever "really" saw him live? And they didn't even get to see the amazing jazzy piano ballads, funk workouts, strange rythmic concoctions, beautiful falsetto octaves, dangerous sexual energy, quirky humor and athletic dance moves. I hate to get competitive with art but let's face it, P is the most complex, multi-faceted musician of the last 50 years. Where is his 60 Minutes piece, Time magazine cover, classic radio coronation and critical bookshelf. Well, I kind've like being the truth teller. In another 50 years they will recognize his genius.

[Edited 2/5/07 13:51pm]
[Edited 2/5/07 13:52pm]

calldapplwondery83 said:

I loved this one:

And if I ever see Nickleback in the same sentence with Prince again, I'll hunt you down.
Posted By Davis, Dallas, TX

As hardcore fans, we're quite spoiled. We all know how brilliant Prince is, and what an amazing live performer he is, so we tend to be incredibly picky when he takes the stage. Sure, I've seen him do better performances than this one, but that isn't the point. Prince was playing to a huge audience, the majority of which aren't fans, so his set-list had to include some of the big hits to keep those people interested. Still, his medley of "All Along The Watchtower" and "Best Of You" was a surprise to non-fans, and got everyone talking. It was a daring move that could have fallen flat, but paid off in the end. The local alternative station's morning show was raving about P this morning, and the general consensus was that the "Best Of You" cover was incredible.

I've had several people at work come up to me and give "my boy" props, and talk about how they now see why I'm such a huge fan. Prince's halftime show is, overall, being praised as one of the best ever, so he obviously knew what he was doing. Sure, we would have all loved to hear him do some obscure b-side or something, but that wasn't the right move for a performance like this. WE may know better, but we also have had all these years to soak up the man's music. The average joes (especially some of the younger folks) were being exposed to Prince live for the first time, and he chose a great set to do that with.

LOOK:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Princ...dZViewItem

As hardcore fans, we're quite spoiled. We all know how brilliant Prince is, and what an amazing live performer he is, so we tend to be incredibly picky when he takes the stage. Sure, I've seen him do better performances than this one, but that isn't the point. Prince was playing to a huge audience, the majority of which aren't fans, so his set-list had to include some of the big hits to keep those people interested. Still, his medley of "All Along The Watchtower" and "Best Of You" was a surprise to non-fans, and got everyone talking. It was a daring move that could have fallen flat, but paid off in the end. The local alternative station's morning show was raving about P this morning, and the general consensus was that the "Best Of You" cover was incredible.

I've had several people at work come up to me and give "my boy" props, and talk about how they now see why I'm such a huge fan. Prince's halftime show is, overall, being praised as one of the best ever, so he obviously knew what he was doing. Sure, we would have all loved to hear him do some obscure b-side or something, but that wasn't the right move for a performance like this. WE may know better, but we also have had all these years to soak up the man's music. The average joes (especially some of the younger folks) were being exposed to Prince live for the first time, and he chose a great set to do that with.

I love the way he sings this part

All along the watchtower
princes kept a view
while the women came and wept
their foot servants too
outside in the cold distance
a wild cat did growl
two riders were approaching
and the wind began to howl


it gives me chills every time!

calldapplwondery83 said:

There has always been an element of the audience who have demonstrated homophobic animus towards a guy who is straight, and/or otherwise refuse to accept that a black man can play rock and roll better than most of their so-called heroes. It's astounding to me that some people still don't know about Prince's musicianship, assuming he's a preening song-and-dance man. Because that's what they WANT to believe about black musicians. They want to believe only white musicians play music. Prince is one of the few black artists out there who reminds some hardheads of the "inconvenient truth" of rock and roll.

Those guys claiming that Prince wasn't really playing guitar with "one hand," they were priceless. What jagoffs.

It was nice to see that the performance was a revelation to a few of the posters over there. Not because it was an all-time great Prince performance, but because Prince showed'em something they never expected out of him.
[Edited 2/5/07 13:51pm]
[Edited 2/5/07 13:52pm]

namepeace said:

so unfortunate and so true.

I still think his guitar playing these days is absolutely ghastly, though. He's always had a pretty messy technique but previously he structured his solos to fit in with that to create his own style, the results being pretty damn cool. Now it's just horrible!

As some-one who always watches the Super Bowl,
this was one the best performances they've had in many years.

I thought it looked great - and the effects and fireworks were just part and parcel of any Superbowl half time show. I don't think it's a general trend - there are many acts who can still pack out a stadium tour without all the pyrotechnics, but this wasn't a normal concert as there had to be something there to draw in the non Prince fans and also keep in tone with the Superbowl spectacle.

I still think his guitar playing these days is absolutely ghastly, though. He's always had a pretty messy technique but previously he structured his solos to fit in with that to create his own style, the results being pretty damn cool. Now it's just horrible!

It's pretty damn hard to play guitar and sing at the same time in the rain in a timed performance in front of MILLIONS of people. For this performance, he did great, and in those hundreds of Tamar and Maceo Parker shows where he just played guitar for two hours...he's got it.