another review by rdhull:





Prince: Fucking With Our Heads-L.A. Triple Threat Show
Prince wants to fuck with some of his fans heads. And he did.

Since he went old school in some ways that will become clear, Im going old school with this review. Some may understand it, some wont.

The Nokia Theater show was the tour set up that’s been played at recent one off shows. When the lights went down, The Chocolate Box video began playing on the video screens. The video reminded me of Janet’s RN tour where she played the latest Alright video at the beginning and how Prince also used Alicia Keys RNRHOF induction as a precursor to the concert. And it rocked loud. I finally heard it through and saw the video then and there. It was not as bad as people made it seem. In fact it ‘rocked.’ Then they began with Ol ‘ Skool Company. OSC live is so hot and so much better then the recorded version. Shelby and Liv get to do a crescendo” ahhhh… ahhhhh..ahhhh” chants in it that takes the song higher as well as being up higher in portions with their voice such as where it goes ‘A heaven we can believe in” portion sounds like the Pointer sisters in Yes We Can-Can (you’ll see/hear if he tours ) making it a reminiscent to a Funkadelic acid song from 1978. His If I Was Your Girlfriend needed more dramatic lighting but it was awesome to finally see him do it in this session. Fred Yonnett was able to do a solo of Little Wing that ended brilliantly with him crouched like a bird ready to soar and a smile on his face. He played the harmonica like a guitar through this song and it reminded me of Najee’s stint of playing God Love Theme at the Hit N Run shows but this was more lively to me and more fitting.

Controversy had the whole joint jumping up and down. It’s one thing to see a club crowd have this reaction and another for an arena. He plays Controversy and does the break down ‘rude-nude- chant. Then breaks into Housequake by saying ‘anybody know about th e quake while the Controversy kick drum is still thumpin. When he asks, and people reply “we do!” he says “then jump up and down!” and the arena audience all jumps up and down in unison. A beautiful s(n)ight to see.

He also did Purple Rain, yes, but he did a bluesy intro rather then the usual intro. The whole song took a bluesy form rather then the usual arrangement which was nice. And he had the audience doing the ‘oohh ooh” parts as usual. People complain about that but I always love it. A nice portion of this which is only a slight nuance (I always notice and love the nuances) is that after he sang the lyric “I never wanted to be your weekend lover..I only wanted to be some kind of friend..” he added..”Are u my friend?” For whatever reasons that came as a shock and made me feel sad for some reason, even with the crowd yelling their affirmations.

He had about 3 encores and he knew the crowd wanted him back. He had folks hyped when he began Lets Go Crazy which got folks hyped when he began speaking “Dearly Beloved…”He then had ot fuck with this crowd by doing Th e Bird. They loved it. But he then did Jungle Love. An arena of “oh we oh we oh” chants! Haha. Then he slayed everyone with the help of Ms. Sheila E who got a got a rousing audience applause when she came for one of the final songs as well. The whole set was fun. Even with some technical problems, Prince still rocked it. And when I say rocked it I mean he and the trusty Controversy Hohner did their magic. Showing off one handed playing, shredding in all the right places, and awesome guitar licks all night. The special part was the video screens capturing all those parts so the audience could see his skill.

I didn’t go to the Conga Room show. I wish I had tried because as everyone knows it was a special performance. To begin with I’m Yours shows that he really had a plan: to fuck with our heads. If there is a god this performance was recorded because its probably on par purple history-wise as The Undertaker was. I got to meet a lot of fans waiting in line for the final show which is always fun. Meeting new people, meeting up with your purple concert connection people, exchanging stories, and just everybody enjoying the purple buzz as you wait in line together.

The people walking out of the Conga Room show and lining up for the final resting place all seemed like they just had…sex. Their cadence, speech and expressions were of those who have just had sex. They had this glow and look as if they wanted and needed a cigarette, a sandwich, and a Gatorade. If there is such a thing as a contact buzz, speaking to these people gave out a contact orgasm.

The final performance and Club Nokia was a special as the rest as well. His set list included the obscure album deep cuts that you would not expect. And he fucked with our heads in doing so. And the funny thing is, he KNOWS he was going to fuck with our heads by playing these songs at the Club Nokia (and Conga Room). But he was not attempting to fuck with our heads in a bad way lol. I could almost see him giggling inside when after some ethereal instrumentals of Cheery Moon and Dreaming About You he finally came to the mic and began singing “The message your about to hear is not meant for transmission…” and the rest of When I Lay My Hands On You. A nukka (me) died this night. But he was to be resurrected and died like 3 more times this performance.

Due to the problems with the sounds he called mgmt out and stated that if they’d get a decent sound system that “Id be here every week and play for free. But tonight I’ll take my 3 million!” And spread his arms out . Everyone cheered and laughed. Another funny moment was when he even stated “I have to go to Kingdom Hall tomorrow but I’m not worried about time tonight”. I laughed at least, understanding him again mindfucking with some of us again regarding his JW status. It’s awesome to see him make light of the idiotic criticism regarding his religion.

Then he did Journey To The Center Of Your Heart. Another nice mindfuck. Then he has the nerve to do something that sounds so familiar and aha! The Sun, Moon and Stars! He does merengue in the breakdown of it where the studio version has the reggae toasting section. This was made for this! It was like we were in this funked up Twilight Zone all night. He did a jazzy When The Lights go down and took his time with it, letting it breath, shimmying slowly across the stage letting the others musicians shine as he would sing, inspect, play some licks. He was grooving..feeling the music..think of how you groove to When The Lights go down..he was doing the same shimmying.

Then he told us all to hush it down some..to be quiet in a polite manner because we needed to ‘hear’ the next song. And he began singing I Love You But Don’t Trust You Anymore. And he took his time with it. And he ‘felt’ it too. I was so appreciative that he let us into that song and did it , exposing what the song meant and why it was written. Again not for the casual or superficial or new fan. But to us it was sig-FCUKING-nificant.

So after that ‘poignant’ performance that needs to be in gods hands, he has the nerve to have the band start up, grabs that metal maraca thingy or doo-dad or whatchamacallit (remember that candy bar? I made a rap about that in 1980 but that’s another story), and begins singing “Lana drew a picture in school 2day, one that made her mother cry . A picture of a woman with a drink in her hand…” I said Large Room No Light. You have to be kidding me. And when he began singing these lyrics he had a happy smile to himself. He knew he was fucking with some of us. He just knew it. I was transfixed, elated, bedazzled but never bamboozled. Some watched , a precious few seemed familiar to the song, but it was like wanting to cry and shout out and also to watch and let it be sung. Let this song get out there. Let it be free…err..it was like seeing a unicorn. Yeah that. It was smoking pineapple express. Hearing and watching a unicorn. Some of us were elves in Legend watching the unicorn drink in the river before Darkness, the devil played by Tim Curry comes and makes the forest all gray, rainy and scary. But only a few of us saw the unicorn. Not everyone could see it. Prince put something in our drinks and fucked with our minds. If you were a casual fan you could not see the unicorn.....

So after seeing a unicorn, and disbelieving what we just witnessed, Chaka comes down from the tiered seating to join just Prince to do Sweet Thing, and “How sweet it is!”-Jackie Gleason (Fred Flintstones prototype). It was just Prince and Chaka with Prince on geetar, doing his licks as Chaka sang it in a slowed bluesy version. The audience sang the whole song with her. It was so fun. Chaka looked GOOD as well brothas lemme tell you . She got ‘her nails done and her hair did’ for this one.

Then he had the ending with the panty droppers and lets face it..the boxer/brief droppers. Cause I LOVE He! (lol). Watching this man do his balladry (the bombastic ones now) that gets the ladies excited is to witness all the great singers, matinee idols, and pimps (yes, pimps) rolled into one man. Scandalous live is as good as it gets folks. Understand that the lighting made these songs ever the more dramatic as well.

His rendering of these songs make me appreciate the older songs that I never cared for. The Emancipation era specifically. Also She Spoke To me and When The Lights Go Down “The Vault” release. I can now listen to the songs with a renewed ear. That’s the thing. Seeing Prince sing the songs you hear on record bring them alive in a different manner. Now it can also work in reverse as some songs do not transmit well to the live setting. However the songs that he chose to sing this night make me pull out a lot of the old shit. It also made me appreciate his tender side. His tender side, not the ballad bombastic side. I have always loved the latter. But now my ears are opened to the tender songs. And I ‘hear’ the musicianship in them. Much more then his ‘larger’ songs if that makes any sense.

Prince knew what he was doing with these songs this night. He was teasing us. Fucking with our heads like when he did Empty Room back a few years ago lol. He knew we would know these songs and be turned inside out. We thank him for that . He is such a mind fucker and we are all the better for it. He can see the faces and reactions (yet he still remains the cool ruler hahah). And when singing these songs there was a confidence in his performance of these significant songs that stated “yeah muthafuckas that’s right I’m actually playing this..and to you others who are in the audience wondering what the hell these songs are, never you mind. Me and the others are dealing with this right now. Excuse us.”

If you were new or casual fan this show may not have been enjoyable for them especially with some of the logistical problems to be had. Recent Prince virgins who witnessed club shows as their first Prince shows may have been disappointed but they don’t understand..it’s a purple thang. It makes me think they only see the character. The showman. They don’t see the other side It’s like Prince magic-eye art prints. Some can see the boat and others cant. Which means heaven for the rest of us.

.. ..

Thanks to everyone who was there together for purple history.






[Edited 4/3/09 23:41pm]

Wait, was this published somewhere???!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

no its on his myspace blog

Rd



Great, as usual.

PEJ said:

great review!

I can imagine. Great Review. Sounds like Royal Sailing.

I think that was the best concert review I've ever read. That should be published in Rolling Stone, no kidding.

yamomma said:

Oh please. That's written at a sixth grade "And then, and then, and then..." level at best. It's one of the worst concert reviews I've seen written at the org and that's saying something. Unless Rolling Stone is now aimed at Prince-fams, some context, editing, style, and critical thought would be required before that rambling famplosion goes to press.

Another amazing review, WOW!!!

yamomma said:

Well Good Lord! Look what the Lotus dragged in!

Wall said:

I agree. It belongs in a Dynamite or Highlights Magazine.

Remember that 'old school" magazine for kids?

Wall said:

to each their own. I dig his style of writing. His descriptions are dead on. I guess you had to be there Wall.

xlr8r said:

I was an avid reader of both of those magazines.

PEJ said:

[Edited 3/30/09 18:27pm]

nice review!

That was a GREAT review and anyone that thinks differently is not a Prince fan.

PEJ said:

This part cracked me up. Thanks RD for the fun read & Pej for posting it!

Serena said:

my pleasure

I guess they cant see the unicorn.

Couldn't agree with you more brotha! I got lucky in that I just went to the last two shows. I am still, as I type, completely blown away by what I witnessed at the Conga Room!!!! I've seen Prince 25+ times and that had to be one of the top 3 shows I've ever seen for a guitar-driven show. I've dreamed about seeing him cover Hendrix live for the past 15 years and then he plays Spanish Castle Magic for the first time in his career (at least I've never heard him cover it b4), What's next, Elvis? U better beleive it as his funky guitar on Elvis's All Shook Up really ignited the crowd. My buddy and I listened intently to Lotus flow3r befoer the show and we hoped that he would play our two favorite songs from the album---and what do you know, he rocks Colonized Mind and Dreamer!!! It really seemed as if he actually said to Sonny and Michael B. before the show that he wanted to play a special set-list for the fans who have been with him all of these years to show his appreciation for us. The Conga Room made up for the slowness of Club Nokia although I was trippin when he did 'When the Lights Go Down'. U hit it right on the mark. The first show was for the bandwagons, the second and third show was strictly for the select few, meaning us crazy muthafunkas!! -phunk

Phunk said:

I was at all three shows and I enjoyed the second and third shows the most. They were the most memorable parts of my evening. The first show for me sucked in every way possible. I know I might have liked it if I were up closer but I was sitting so far back Prince looked less than a centimeter tall.

RD always keeps the passion!The description/detail of LargeRoomNoLight now it confirms I should have went.

xlr8r said:

oh it was a dynamite mag image


lemme help you with that




[Edited 3/31/09 0:40am]

Well this just goes to prove that PRINCE NEEDS TO RELEASE RECORDINGS OF THESE THREE SHOWS ON THE WEBSITE

jaypotton said:

agreed!!! these shows are to me worth seeing way more than Coachella cuz that concerts lighting was dark plus these two last shows were unique and extraordinary

PEJ said:

I would be VERY happy with soundboard audio recordings of these shows (if they weren't filmed)

yamomma said:

SECOND THAT....RD HULL YOUR THE MAN/WOMAN....THAT'S A FU*KING GREAT REVIEW...I'VE READ EVERY (CURRENT) REVIEW YOU HAVE DONE AND YOU CAN HEAR THE MUSIC IN YOUR WORDS.....

FU*K ME YOU SHOULD HAVE A JOB DOING THIS FULL FU*KING TIME.....GREAT...
[Edited 3/31/09 6:00am]

What a great review!!!!
I loved reading it - u can tell u a true fan and this kind of honesty sould be published.

And damn - he did Scandalous & I love U But I Don't Trust U? I think I would have died.

Serena said:

That was my favourite part too. rd always makes the experience seem larger than life and that's the appeal of his reports to me. And Wall, the 6th grade feel is the whole point, don't you ever just want to blurt out all the shit inside like you were still at school. rd's just dancing like no-one is watching is all...funky.

Thank you PEJ for passing the info from RD and thanks RD for the review. That's some exciting stuff! I felt like I was right there at the shows. I so wish I had been able to go to L.A. Wow!
[Edited 3/31/09 8:24am]