who was there, what are some of your memories.....

Mauve said:

If I could have anything Prince has done repeated....it would be that week.

Monday: Maceo Parker
Tuesday: The Time
Wednesday: Eryka Badu
Thursday: Alicia Keys and Common
Friday: Prince at the Excel Center
Saturday: Prince at the Excel Center
Sunday: I can't remember the girls name....she had red hair....

It was a BLAST!!!! I have told this story before but a great highlight for me was holding Badu's hand when came down to the floor to sing. There was an older lady sitting on a folding chair but later into the night she left. During Badu's performance she came down and stood on the chair and I had my hand up waving it and she locked fingers with me. GREAT MEMORY!!!!

I talked to Common and some NPG band mates. The week was very nice. The only bad thing was the hard floor at Paisley Park. Sometimes the performer didn't come to the stage until midnight and most nights we left around 4am.

Touring the place during the day was fun. Seeing Prince just chillin' by the sound board 2 feet from me was exciting. He was dancing to "High" one night while folks were getting ready to leave. He also came on stage every night for about a 1 or 2 with each performer. His NPG pendent was HUGE and full of diamonds. He also sang "the light" which was great.

GREAT WEEK!!!!

I am a little tired and going off memory.....I'll check back

Holla

Nikki Costa played on Sunday nite, covered Anotherloverholeinurhead.....

my hubby n i were there, we had a great old time...
had 2 drive from canada (near detroit) stay overnight in wisconsin, so my hubby could c the stanley cup paid out 2 the avs. drove another 6hrs the next day, 2 end up in chanhassen, only 2 find what?? a family of CANADIAN geese blocking our way down the lost road we were on.... lol!!!
had a blast! wish we could do that kind of thing again, but i guess it's a 1ce in a lifetime xperience, right?
any1 else remember the terrible storms there were?? doppler system is WAY better at tracking tornadoes there than here (guess we don't need it as not 2 many come our way (crossing fingers as she says it, lol))
met many friends from the npg site, alot who we have seen again at other concerts, here in michigan.

prime said:

Wasn't this actually the second celebration?
The first one had Taja Sevelle and Macy Gray, but mostly a lot of waiting and wondering.

The 1st Celebration he played at Northrup on the last nite, that was a great show, a almost full reunion with The Revolution sans Wendy & Lisa, but it was cool 2 see them perform America & Dr. Fink looking like he did in the Raspberry Beret video with the grey hair, lol. Only made it 4 the last couple of nights so I seen Mint Condition play, but I do remember Taja Sevelle played that week as well.

NPG2045 said:

my apologies, i was talking about the '01 celly!

NPG2045 said:

Yup....I couldn't stay....I left Saturday night. MAde me made...he sang the coldest 'Adore' version I have ever heard.

Meeting people from all over the world .. Met Damon D .. good friend .. me prince a couple of times .. bumped into this girl who played donnie hathaway on piano and seemed shy .. Alicia Keys .. Met mint condition .. I stayed in the corner by the big fan ..in the L4OA room.. met Prince mom and dad .. they was at Paisley one night .. got 2 see the vault before the closed up the tour .. Became good friends with all of the security .. Sasquatch where are u man .. ..

at the 1st Celebration, they were playing in the lil L4OA room it was sooooo packed with the overflow going into the big sound stage room. Macey kept saying she had the best band, except for Prince's band.

Freddie you remember punchin some girl in the jaw when you were dancin in the big room.

I was there and it was the first time I traveled by myself ... It was the best time ever ! and met some fantastic people

That's where I met the man i was going to marry ...
I was coming from France and he was coming from DC and met at Paisley Park at the end of the 1st Celebration ..... We married in 2001 ,I moved to the States and now we have a little baby boy who is crazy about Prince ...at 2and a half years old he takes his little white guitar and wants to see Prince constantly ..lolol

petitepoupee said:

That is so cool. Congrates and good luck

Mauve said:

no i don't but i do remember us dancing in a circle with the fellas surrounding this one girl while p control was playing and the fellas kept chanting ..pussy ..pussy ..pussy ..pussy control

i remember the purple rain/grafitti bridge night and when they showed the trailer 2 purple rain and a lot of us bitching that there were scenes shown that weren't in the movie

macy gray was a fucking mess lol

nice seeing taja and mint condition

here r some pics from the 1st celebration






[Edited 5/18/09 16:15pm]

I had a fun time there. Loved the tour of Paisley, seeing The Vault, choosing the Crystal Ball II tracks, Prince's cars, the SOTT studio, the merch, the people, Macy Gray, Northrop...

this is gonna sound odd ... but ...
one thing i really remember bout the celebration is :

if someone had told me - you are goin to go to a Prince party

and NOT DRINK ALCOHOL ... and have fun ... i woulda been like ..

NO WAY .... he he ... but ... it was exactly that ... it was

a good couple days ...

ColAngus said:

i'm pretty sure there was SOMETHING in those npg waters they were selling

I remember meeting one of my dearest friends to this day...

SHORTY!

L4OATheOriginal said:

Hey wait a minute that's me in the purple shirt ..LOL

I remember taking the tour of Paisley, and seeing the studios where most of his music was recorded, touching the mixing board. There was also a room on the second floor that we were taken into, that I just wanted to sit and meditate in. My friend and I kind of lingered and were behind everyone else on the tour, and IIRC, the tour guide kinda made a noise at us to catch up. I remember sitting with friends in the big sound stage room just listening to the music being piped through the speakers. I remember sitting on the swing that was in the Beautiful Strange DVD. I remember Prince's mom was sitting on a couch that was elevated toward the back of the Love4OneAnother room, and being sooo tired from standing so much on the hard floors, and having my leg swollen, and asking a guy (who was obviously there to protect Prince's mom) if it was okay I sat on the floor there and elevated my leg for awhile on the step leading up the couch. Prince's mom nodded and he let me do it. I didn't try to approach her or anything, but did mouth "thank you" to her. The security guy would let me know when I would need to move if someone was going up or down the stairs.

I remember also, another friend and I were talking to some security guards in the big sound stage room and hearing an "ahem" and turning around and looking and seeing Prince on the other side of the room, waiting on his security guards to catch up with him. ( Sorry about that Prince!) I remember being soo tired after a few nights of staying up so late, and getting up early so as to not miss anything, but feeling so much energy and excitement and electricity when I was at Paisley Park, that I somehow forgot how tired I was. (Oh and I missed my flight back home. )

I remember being at the sound board and watching Prince do his thing. I remember shaking Morris Hayes hand and wondering if he was going to give me my hand back. He asked quite a few questions about me and genuinely seemed interested. I really appreciated his focused attention when he's in a room full of people that all wanted his attention. He made every one he met and talked with feel as though they were just a big part of his family, and this was just a family reunion. Very very sweet man. I remember sitting outside for a breather and having several PP staff come outside and just sit around and talk and chat with whoever was sitting outside.

You know, people can say what they want about Prince, about his staff, about how he runs his business, etc., but seeing how open his staff, his bandmates, were with those of us that were at that first Celebration, their kindness, their genuine interest, well, all I can say, is they were very nice, open, and warm with me.

Kappa99 said:

that's u in the 2nd picture? get out!!! i remember having a blast with y'all