Ok. Everyone here has been singing praises left and right. Now I love Prince as much as any of you, but SOMEBODY needs to be the equaliser here and speak up.

Being a long time fan who's seen the man many times (live), Sunday's performance was poor. And before any of you get in a big huff here, the fact that it was raining doesn't have much to do with why it wasn't good.

Sound was TERRIBLE (fire that sound man!) and the way the band went from one song to the next was ridiculously rushed. I'm more inclined to blame that on Prince as he's the one in charge of that end of things on that end, however.

Most of that 12 minute set was a blur of incohesive transitions from one part of a song to the next bit of another. He did not take time to finish songs properly and all of them sounded like when those annoying radio DJ's clip tracks off on air. He should have cut one of the various covers and finished Let's Go Crazy (or at least Purple Rain!) properly.

Also, with all the hype the commercials gave playing the end of LGC, he should have saved that song for last and maybe thought of opening with Purple Rain (as it was raining). He and they (the band) have been playing long enough together to be able to have pulled something like that off with ease. It's ridiculous that this set wasn't better organized/constructed!

He's a seasoned performer (one of the greatest I've ever seen, actually), a wonderful songwriter and there is absolutely NO EXCUSE. Instead of feeling proud of him this past Sunday, I felt irritated. I waited for WEEKS to watch this performance and wound up let down. I'd hoped he'd walk in and just KILL the crowd with his awesome-ness and launch himself onto another plateau in his career. While he may have converted a few new younger fans or several who never got to go see one of his shows before, he's not fooling anyone who knows.

I will cut him/the band some slack as it was raining, but really, that set would have been crap either way. It just wasn't set up right.

Speaking of which, the Twins are ridiculous. They were TERRIBLY off on their choreography. I will give them too that it was raining and doing those moves in heels is definitely something to be afraid of. It probably subconciously impaired their ability to perform... but Prince should've cut them some slack and let them wear flats (this would have been better too because it would have made him look taller in the process). THEY ARE ANNOYING and definitely detract from him and his show. DIAMOND & PEARL were ok/good, but these girls HAVE GOT TO GO. They should go record their own album, tour with Tamar or go pose for Playboy etc. I am NOT impressed or entertained by them whatsoever. I will however say that I rather liked the lady dressed in white who sang with him. She had a wonderful voice and I'd like to know more about her.

Last but not least (might as well while we're here!) I want to address something else too.

WHOEVER IS DESIGNING FOR or DRESSING HIM these days should be CANNED IMMEDIATELY. The pastels have also GOT TO GO. The orange is terrible! The pale blue a wash out! The off red and pale purple HORRIBLE for his skin tone.

PRINCE! Please stop wearing BAD pastels. They wash out your facial features, natural coloring and do nothing for you WHATSOEVER!

I'll say one more final thing. And believe me, I've said the above- and I'm saying this too- out of love. We know what he's capable of and he's just not cutting it.

PRINCE, please take a three year vacation. You're tired and you've been through a lot in the last three decades. It's taken a toll on you. Worse yet, it's taken a toll on your creativity and music. Somewhere deep in your heart you know that the last several albums have been rehash. And while you're entitled to do whatever you damn well please, you know that you can do better and be more innovative.

Yes, you're up for a Grammy. But why? Think about the song it's for. And think about the other songs it's up against!

I know you and I know you're capable of more. But you need a break. And you need some time AWAY from your lifestyle, songwriting and the pressures that go with it all. You're a great artist and I just know you'll come through this, but you need to TAKE A BREAK. Only then will you be able to come up with true, natural hits again. While being on a label again might be good exposure etc, you deserve more spiritually and creatively than all this rubbish.

PLEASE TAKE SOME ADVICE FROM AN OLD FRIEND.

Hummmm.....
I think there is a little truth here. A little. And this is a groupie speaking up here peoples. I do think the pastels are just too....too much. I didn't like what he was wearing. I think the musical choices could have been more interesting. But, it is a difficult thing!!! He was appealing to the masses. Not just us lovers here at the org. I don't dig EVERYTHING he is doing (but I dig a lot of it)--however,that just isn't what it's about for me anyway. I don't have to like EVERYTHING he is doing to be a hardcore Prince fan. He is a true artist. He gets crazy and goes off in several directions that I have not always understood or liked, but that doesn't change how much I admire him. It doesn't change the fact that he is my favorite. If he would have been everything that us old time Prince fans wanted, would the masses (all 140 MILLION of them) have gone as nuts as they did? Would he have had the smae control over that audience? Maybe but probably not.I am not sure why he is pushing so hard to everyone love him, but he has NEVER been easy to figure out. He never will be.

I seriously think that he needs some time off.
You're being much kinder than I was.
I grew up in the Cities and witnessing the last several albums/years have been a heartbreak. He's such a creative artist and he's still one of my favorites too, which is why I felt the need to point things out.

What made him so wonderful for most of his career was that he was different, so completely himself. He looked for new sounds and looks and experimented.
He's not really doing that anymore. In all honesty, it breaks my heart.
He can do better. And I believe he WILL do better again but if people don't speak up and let him know that (continue to molly coddle him like the folks at the label and those who are around him), he has no way of knowing. And that's part of why he's stopped growing. Too many "Yes" men and women.

Again, I said what I said in honesty and out of love.

Again, I said what I said in honesty and out of love.[/quote]
I understand whre you are coming from. You put it well when you said it was because he was always so unique and differrent that you admired him so much. And that is really so true. The Vegas thing, the Superbowl. I don't gt these choices. But, I think I am just glad he is out there and easily accessed. But I do hope he takes it somewhere other than "to the masses". Not so much in the main vein.

Most of the time i would be ready in a heartbeat to agree that he's pretty lame these days compared to the past..But somehow, I am really appreciating just having him around these days...as he would probably tell u himself.."there is something missing in you if what he decides to give you is not satisfactory to u..or you want him to be what he once was.."

Just a quick comment on the sound and the pastels he wore.

1) He wore the pastels in theme with playing at Dolphin Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins. Being a 'Phin fan, I kinda dug seein' him rock the colors (even though, NO ONE should really wear teal and orange together, ESPECIALLY football players.. )

2) I thought the sound was pretty decent considering the weather and the ABSOLUTE horrible acoustics an open air stadium provides. Let me tell you, if you've been watching the Superbowl as long as I have, you have seen many of artists/bands sound like absolute HELL playing with those kind of acoustics. I mean, did anyone hear how GOD-AWFUL the Stones sounded last year?? Ugh.

There is nothing wrong with the colors he is wearing,he looks good and his skin is not washed out. I think he has some cool clothing designs,it's too bad if some people don't like them. Prince has to like them,he's the one wearing them!

VanityFair said:

Still, incredibly arrogant. His purpose in life may not be to make you and I happy - Prince was always cool because he did what the hell HE wanted. You're at the back of a long line of disgruntled fans - and he really doesn't care.

A lot of what you said may be true, but that you think it's your job to tell him is laughable. Also, bear in mind that he is nearly 50 now - It will never be 1987 again. The joy resides in the fact that it once was.
[Edited 2/8/07 2:54am]

I agree that many have blown the performance out of proportion. The stage set was magnificent and the guy looked great. Although i have seen Prince do his thing better, i dont think ive ever seen prince appear so human. Thats what i think alot of people connected to during this performance. So many things could have gone wrong due to the terrible weather - was he gonna fall? was he gonna mess up? would the equipment hold out? I think that many fans held their breath for the entire 12 minute set! When the final fireworks exploded as purple rain came to an end u could see the relief and happiness in his face.. i think he knew that against the odds he had nailed it.

Don't know why really, but people supposedly knowing what he NEEDS to do, somehow bothers me.


And how the hell should he fire the sound guy from CBS?

Some people have way too much time on their hands.

vivid said:

best line i've read.

calldapplwondery83 said:

Exactly. This is an exchange from several posters on the Velvet Rope forums (a forum for music biz pros), all of whom loved Prince's Super Bowl performance but had some rather harsh words for the quality of the sound engineering. Seems NARAS (Grammys) sound engineering is a big inside joke among these people.






[Edited 2/8/07 6:13am]

I actually love the colors he is wearing. My mom even commented on the outfit he was wearing during the press conference show. I loved that one!! And the halftime outfit was nice too.

I agree with prettymansson, I am just happy he is still around and he gave an awesome performance Sunday, and everytime I see him, I appreciate him. He can't always be perfect and perform up to EVERYONE'S HIGH STANDARDS.
[Edited 2/8/07 6:18am]

I think your post is a bit unfair when you consider the facts.
When you think about it, Prince's choice of colors couldnot have been better. The colors of the dolphins,the superbowl.

His choice of song needed to appeal to all types.

All age and types know him by Purple Rain. Everybody in the world has heard Proud Mary Good Choice.

He gave the hardcore fan new, great material with Bob Dylans Watchtower and FooFighters Best Of You. He showed the whole world that he can play anything. In my opinion he did a very good job of covering these songs.with the time he had, remember it wasn't a 2 hour concert. If he had done Purple Rain and Baby I'm a star in it's entirety, that's all the show would have consisted of and this would have been better?

He did all this is the rain.I was a little concerned about the water and electricity, but I figured Prince knew what he was doing.

As for the twins, they're not my favorite either, but they're just dancers not really something to get you down, and they do wear pretty shoes.

Watch it a second time, you might like it better the second time around.
.

Don't forget Prince is old.

It was raining.

I liked his outfitt.

And I agree. The twinz are awful. And they make him look bad.

boo hiss.

lol

i guess you have to remember that it wasn't really a show for his fans
it was a show that served to entertain the crowd at halltime.

it worked for it's purpose and was executed very well imo. overall it's
nothing for him to be ashamed about and something that people will keep
mentioning for years to come.

who cares if it wasn't this or that, just like with the grammy thing he
just garnered a lot of positive feedback by putting on an entertaining,
fun show.

he's been playing the odd one for over a decade now, and sure it fits
us as fans all very well but i can imagine that a guy his age would also
like to have a little bit of a career left or at least have people look
back at his highlights with respect.

if he'd have dived off the deep end in 2001, he would have ended up as
virtually unknown and unrespected. that's just how these things go. he
would have been the dude who had some hits up to 1988 and then went too
crazy and recorded only crap that no one cared about.

we know that's not true, but that's what it would have turned out like
for all those who only know of prince through hitsongs.

by playing the game the way it works, he's gained the respect of all his
peers again, plus the music press. plus loads of fans who left the boat
a long time ago. he's salvaging his career. imo that's all he's really
been doing since musicology. he's got a legacy to look after and it's as
if he's finally realised that.

the press had been calling him nuts and bonkers all the way through the
80's up to early 2001.

haven't you noticed how this is actually the first time round he doesn't
lean on weird theatrics, vage mystique and just general kistchy good offs
to get his point across?

he's done press conferences where he actually tried to answer some of the
questions, or where he at least showed up and performed etc. even in his
interviews he comse across as somewhat more sane these days.

he always was, we know, but he also created a persona up to a point and
before he realised that he'd taken it too far it had already run away
with him. he really needed this time and these few years of focus and a
bit of commitment to "the machine" to reclaim his place.

even if he goes off and releases 25 internet albums now, at least he'll
have proved people wrong when they said he went off the deep end and is
just a washed up singer ever since '88 who couldn't get a deal anymore
and threw in the towell.

lovebird said:

Or be like me and watch it at least once a day!!!!

The more I watch it the better it is...the whole performance gave me the chills

I have nothing negative to say about his performance on Sunday...except the twins are a little annoying...but my attention was SO focused on Prince, they did not bother me much...

Well said lovebird!!!

It's no secret the halftime show is made for the television audience, not the stadium audience. That's why you weren't impressed. The performance worked for tv.

Great post
LOVEBIRD & ISTENSZEK !!!!!

First off, I want to say I have no problem with people expressing their opinions- even when negative or against the majority. That being said...
The least you could do is READ first. Going on about the colors to the point of mentioning them in your title- the fact it was Dolphin colors is mentioned repeatedly in the SB thread. It was a nice touch for the locals- not to mention it was the colors anyone really interested in the SB would recognize as such. And since when is bright orange a pastel anyway?
"the lady dressed in white"- was Shelby. Also mentioned repeatedly in the SB thread and on a thread in the related artists forum.
"Fire the sound man"- also discussed as probably not being his own guy.
"May have converted a few new younger fans"- you obviously haven't paid any attention to the discussion of a massive increase in sales on Amazon either-CD's that most existing fans already have. BOP, Ultimate and Purple Rain- come on!
All I'm trying to say here is that you could have been more up to date before coming off like you want to be his new manager. No offense to your opinions, even though I fully disagree.

paisley16 said:

Well said! You and me think alike Prince can do no wrong he is awsome!!! People are way to critical what do they want from this man????

4 me,everything was perfect.Just perfect.

Ok, the outfit and the doo-rag were kinda fugly, I'll give you that. (By the way, how come there were no water spots from the rain on his clothes while he performed??)

But the performance itself was fantastic IMO. A gorgeous purple neon stage, pyrotechnics, a great mix of his hits and a few unexpected covers, the dramatic silhouette, great guitar playing, and the rain. It was a high energy performance, he was playing loud and having fun up there.

prettymansson said:

Totally agree...no matter what Prince does, there will always be critics to bash him in some way or the other, he knows he can't please everybody, but the ones he does I'm sure he appreciates. The critics will get over it. He aced the Superbowl and let everyone know he could play all types of music even in the freaking rain..no doubt about it, Prince "rocked" the Superbowl! Gotta give it to the Twinz too for managing to dance in 5 inch heels on a soaken wet stage, they held their own.
[Edited 2/8/07 10:24am]

I said it before so let me say it again "Prince ditch those twins"

Its too many words on this thread

Tom said:

Scotchguard?

Or magic..

DanceWme said:

i know i've the shortest attention span ever!.....I'm half way through reading a post and I'm like.....'was that a double chocolate moose i saw in the fridge earlier ???'

beautifullandb said: