Purple craze

Friday March 07 2008

BY THE time you read this there’s a very good chance that Prince’s show at Croke Park on June 16 as part of the Earth tour will be sold out (the tickets having gone on sale on Wednesday) and you can look forward to spending the next week scavenging tickets online.

In the general run of things this shouldn’t be the case at all, given that Prince’s commercial status as regards sales of his music is hardly premier league — to the extent that his last album, Earth, wasn’t even available commercially in the UK but given away free with the Mail on Sunday.


That unusual arrangement apparently amounted to a nice financial coup for the diminutive artist, and probably made more sense than Radiohead’s ‘give us what you think the music is worth’ approach for In Rainbows, but it speaks volumes about how his star has waned since the days of Purple Rain and Sign O the Times when he was not only one of the most genuinely innovative and interesting acts on the planet but also sold records by the millions.


For the Croke Park gig the ads proclaim ‘Per4ming his greatest hits 4 the last time’ (that text-speak was irritating enough back in the 1980s and hasn’t improved with the passage of time) and the concert at GAA headquarters is one of only three European shows.


Perhaps the imminent approach of his 50th birthday may have something to do with this decision to give his superb back catalogue a run-out for one last time, but it seems odd given that it’s his live shows which now provide the bulk of his income.


Three years ago, he was the highest-grossing live artist in the US and will always be in contention for that title unless U2 or The Rolling Stones happen to be on the road. Last year, he managed the incredible feat of playing more than 20 nights at London’s 02 Arena, so presumably there’ll be plenty of satisfied customers from that run who’ll be booking flights to our fair capital.


The ‘greatest hits’ selling point is one which should also ensure a run on tickets, and one hopes he’ll keep to that promise because Prince live can be a frustrating experience. I’ve seen him in concert four times and each show was worse than the one before.


It’s not that Prince isn’t a supreme singer, guitarist, keyboard-player and dancer, but his approach to the material frequently leaves an awful lot to be desired.


His first appearance here — at Pairc ui Chaoimh in 1990 — was easily the pick of the bunch. The combination of a gorgeous day and the euphoria generated by Italia 90 (at one point he looked rather bemused when the crowd erupted into a spontaneous rendition of Ole Ole Ole) made for a genuinely celebratory day out, although he was light on the greatest hits. However, by the time he next played here — at the RDS a couple of years later — all his flaws as a performer were on show.


Prince has always surrounded himself with musicians of an extremely high calibre and, while this is all well and good, there are few things more boring than having to suffer interminable jazz-funk workouts characterised by smug muso widdling.


I obviously didn’t learn my lesson, as I went back twice for more of the same, gigs where you’d have to sit through 20-odd minutes of dull if expertly-played music in the hope of hearing a couple of minutes of a song which reminded you why you loved him so much in the first place.


You only have to look at the Sign O The Times concert film to see just how exciting Prince can be when it all comes together, his fusion of rock, pop, soul, gospel, funk, disco making for a truly exhilarating experience, and if that’s what he serves up in Croke Park then those who’ve bagged tickets are in for a real treat.

...by the time he next played here at the RDS a couple of years later - all his flaws as a performer were on show.