he needs to do what he did in 86....drop the whole band and start again....

forget the hits, that was yesterday - focus on the now, not the past...

a big band is too much for Prince to handle - strip the band down and rebuild

jimino1 said:

he needs to do what he did in 86....drop the whole band and start again....

forget the hits, that was yesterday - focus on the now, not the past...

a big band is too much for Prince to handle - strip the band down and rebuild

yes im sure prince is thinking i MUST do what i did almost 30 years ago

a big band too much to handle??

oookay

Ensemble. There is no such word as ansamble.

Give me the power trio. That will force/allow him to, 1) Get creative with the arrangements, 2) Hit some second tier cities. Thing is, I think he is scaling back his work on stage, and this would push him back to full time. I think he has an all-girl, backing band now. Well the bloom is off that rose, Everyone has an all girl backing band from Beyonce to Cee-Lo. Take it in the opposite direction. Get a killer drummer, hellified bass player, push 3 Marshal stacks on stage and go to work. NOBODY is doing that right now.

Prince

guitarist

bass

drums

keyboards/piano

keyboards/synth

He stripped down for a bit after Planet Earth, the band he had for the 21 Nights book party, 2 singers though

SuperSoulFighter said:

^Add Maceo to that list and we're ready to get ffffonnkaaayyy!!!

I was thinking a sax player too,

I think it would be cool for him to use a stripped band and focus on songs that don't need the sax

and then do shows where he has his guest sax player and do songs that need the sax

It might help to mixed up the set lists

I would love to see Eddie M sax it up with Prince live

SuperSoulFighter said:

^Add Maceo to that list and we're ready to get ffffonnkaaayyy!!!

The thing I dislike about the Prince/Maceo combo (as much as I love and respect Maceo as an artist) is that Prince seems to use him as a "fill-the-gap-musician". Instead of elaborating on songs and finishing their structure, he turns them into a jam after the second verse and calls for Maceo to "blow his horn", who steps forward into the spotlight, improvises a solo and then disappears again. It gets repetitive and it's a great pity, because it takes much away from the actual songs.

Plus, if a solo, I'd prefer a crazy keyboard solo over an alt-sax solo most of the time. It's part of what makes Prince funky.

OldFriends4Sale said:

SuperSoulFighter said:

^Add Maceo to that list and we're ready to get ffffonnkaaayyy!!!

I was thinking a sax player too,

I think it would be cool for him to use a stripped band and focus on songs that don't need the sax

and then do shows where he has his guest sax player and do songs that need the sax

It might help to mixed up the set lists

I would love to see Eddie M sax it up with Prince live

Now we have 7 musicians on the stage. That is more than The Revolution had in it's original form. So you guys prefer the "Ansamble"?

leonche64 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I was thinking a sax player too,

I think it would be cool for him to use a stripped band and focus on songs that don't need the sax

and then do shows where he has his guest sax player and do songs that need the sax

It might help to mixed up the set lists

I would love to see Eddie M sax it up with Prince live

Now we have 7 musicians on the stage. That is more than The Revolution had in it's original form. So you guys prefer the "Ansamble"?

doesn't he have like 12 horn players?

3 singers

2 guitarists

1 base player

2 keyboardists

2 drummers

I like the 1985 line up

thebanishedone said:

What kind of band you find to suit Prince the best ? A large orchestra or small combo? I think that a large band is a distraction from Prince so my choice would be a classic pop rock formation with bass,keyboards and drums and Prince on guitar

Both.

Big band in the arena.

Small at the aftershow.

PS:

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leonche64 said:

Give me the power trio. That will force/allow him to, 1) Get creative with the arrangements, 2) Hit some second tier cities. Thing is, I think he is scaling back his work on stage, and this would push him back to full time. I think he has an all-girl, backing band now. Well the bloom is off that rose, Everyone has an all girl backing band from Beyonce to Cee-Lo. Take it in the opposite direction. Get a killer drummer, hellified bass player, push 3 Marshal stacks on stage and go to work. NOBODY is doing that right now.

I totally agree with what you said. I would love to see him work with Sonny and Michael Bland again, just the three of them like when they did the "Undertaker" session. That was raw and pure and I still enjoy listening to it.

His curret line-up is not really bad, they´re all talented musicians, but they bore me. His whole big band sound bores me, and so do his side projects/proteges ( I could barely make it through Andy Allo´s People Pleaser video....so boring, and the band members acting all corny).

It´s not that I hate bigger bands per se, it worked with the Lovesexy band and the extended Revolution was cool, too. But I´d much rather see him with a smaller, tighter and harder sounding band. Can´t stand the horns, can´t stand the tame, sterile sound he´s had since at least the Musicology tour.

Maceo is a legend but , in my opinion, his sound is way too dominant for Prince´s band. I think Eric Leeds and Eddie Minninfield fit so much better into his band and their sounds were an important part of the purple music recipe. And don´t get me started with Shelby and her "Clap your hands, make some noise!" shit. I hate hypemen at rap shows, they are an unnecessary gimmick of the past, and I don´t know why Prince thinks it adds anything to his shows to use a hypewoman and backing singer(s) the way he does.

But hey, I guess Prince REALLY digs the direction he´s been heading into since at least 2003, so I don´t expect a change anymore.

I´d still love to see a very stripped down show one day, maybe even just Prince and his piano, or like I said, just a power trio like in 1994.

thebanishedone said:

Ok i miss spelled the word ensemble to ansamble so shoot me if that is a big deal

No need for the attitude, I was merley pointing it out as I notice that English may not be your first language.

TheDigitalGardener said:

thebanishedone said:

Ok i miss spelled the word ensemble to ansamble so shoot me if that is a big deal

No need for the attitude, I was merley pointing it out as I notice that English may not be your first language.

KoolEaze said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

No need for the attitude, I was merley pointing it out as I notice that English may not be your first language.

Thank you. We all make mistakes, I guess some of us don't like it when we are told.

KoolEaze said:

leonche64 said:

Give me the power trio. That will force/allow him to, 1) Get creative with the arrangements, 2) Hit some second tier cities. Thing is, I think he is scaling back his work on stage, and this would push him back to full time. I think he has an all-girl, backing band now. Well the bloom is off that rose, Everyone has an all girl backing band from Beyonce to Cee-Lo. Take it in the opposite direction. Get a killer drummer, hellified bass player, push 3 Marshal stacks on stage and go to work. NOBODY is doing that right now.

I totally agree with what you said. I would love to see him work with Sonny and Michael Bland again, just the three of them like when they did the "Undertaker" session. That was raw and pure and I still enjoy listening to it.

His curret line-up is not really bad, they´re all talented musicians, but they bore me. His whole big band sound bores me, and so do his side projects/proteges ( I could barely make it through Andy Allo´s People Pleaser video....so boring, and the band members acting all corny).

It´s not that I hate bigger bands per se, it worked with the Lovesexy band and the extended Revolution was cool, too. But I´d much rather see him with a smaller, tighter and harder sounding band. Can´t stand the horns, can´t stand the tame, sterile sound he´s had since at least the Musicology tour.

Maceo is a legend but , in my opinion, his sound is way too dominant for Prince´s band. I think Eric Leeds and Eddie Minninfield fit so much better into his band and their sounds were an important part of the purple music recipe. And don´t get me started with Shelby and her "Clap your hands, make some noise!" shit. I hate hypemen at rap shows, they are an unnecessary gimmick of the past, and I don´t know why Prince thinks it adds anything to his shows to use a hypewoman and backing singer(s) the way he does.

But hey, I guess Prince REALLY digs the direction he´s been heading into since at least 2003, so I don´t expect a change anymore.

I´d still love to see a very stripped down show one day, maybe even just Prince and his piano, or like I said, just a power trio like in 1994.

who was playing sax on Possessed at the Syracuse 1985 Purple Rain show?

OldFriends4Sale said:

KoolEaze said:

I totally agree with what you said. I would love to see him work with Sonny and Michael Bland again, just the three of them like when they did the "Undertaker" session. That was raw and pure and I still enjoy listening to it.

His curret line-up is not really bad, they´re all talented musicians, but they bore me. His whole big band sound bores me, and so do his side projects/proteges ( I could barely make it through Andy Allo´s People Pleaser video....so boring, and the band members acting all corny).

It´s not that I hate bigger bands per se, it worked with the Lovesexy band and the extended Revolution was cool, too. But I´d much rather see him with a smaller, tighter and harder sounding band. Can´t stand the horns, can´t stand the tame, sterile sound he´s had since at least the Musicology tour.

Maceo is a legend but , in my opinion, his sound is way too dominant for Prince´s band. I think Eric Leeds and Eddie Minninfield fit so much better into his band and their sounds were an important part of the purple music recipe. And don´t get me started with Shelby and her "Clap your hands, make some noise!" shit. I hate hypemen at rap shows, they are an unnecessary gimmick of the past, and I don´t know why Prince thinks it adds anything to his shows to use a hypewoman and backing singer(s) the way he does.

But hey, I guess Prince REALLY digs the direction he´s been heading into since at least 2003, so I don´t expect a change anymore.

I´d still love to see a very stripped down show one day, maybe even just Prince and his piano, or like I said, just a power trio like in 1994.

who was playing sax on Possessed at the Syracuse 1985 Purple Rain show?

Was it Eddie M?

rdhull said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

who was playing sax on Possessed at the Syracuse 1985 Purple Rain show?

Was it Eddie M?

I'm listening to it now, and it has his wickedness as far as the soloing is going, but I know both Eric & Eddie were on the tour by then

jonylawson said:

jimino1 said:

he needs to do what he did in 86....drop the whole band and start again....

forget the hits, that was yesterday - focus on the now, not the past...

a big band is too much for Prince to handle - strip the band down and rebuild

yes im sure prince is thinking i MUST do what i did almost 30 years ago

a big band too much to handle??

oookay

laugh all you want but Prince's ego couldn't work with a big band ... not for long anyway.... for a start they'd all have to convert LOL

I'd love to see Prince do a small scale tour - just clubs - with a Power Trio type set up - of course it'll never happen cos it's all about the $ these days....why do small shows when u can do 1 or 2 for a much bigger fee...

the difference is the Prince of the 80's was about the music and breaking genres and everything else...the Prince of now is about the $ and how to get more of it....

Personally, as much as I respect Maceo, I think Eric Leeds brought a whole new level to Prince's sound/music... as stated above - Prince and Maceo jam together and sure it's funky most of the time - but Eric and Prince melded their sounds together as one... but given Prince and Erics history I doubt that bridge will be mended in a hurry

[Edited 11/9/12 2:41am]

[Edited 11/9/12 2:42am]

jimino1 said:

I'd love to see Prince do a small scale tour - just clubs - with a Power Trio type set up - of course it'll never happen cos it's all about the $ these days....why do small shows when u can do 1 or 2 for a much bigger fee...

the difference is the Prince of the 80's was about the music and breaking genres and everything else...the Prince of now is about the $ and how to get more of it....

Personally, as much as I respect Maceo, I think Eric Leeds brought a whole new level to Prince's sound/music... as stated above - Prince and Maceo jam together and sure it's funky most of the time - but Eric and Prince melded their sounds together as one... but given Prince and Erics history I doubt that bridge will be mended in a hurry

I agree, the thing about having another 'established' artist in your band is that they are still going to do their own 'sound' & style, Maceo is not going to do 'Prince' music

Eric, even though he performed with James Brown and others, it was still at an early time in his career that he was still finding his grove. I believe it wasn't until he started jamming with the Revolution & Sheila E/Eddie M from Purple Rain - Parade that the blend of music for him happened, there is a sound from Eric that I just know is his, same with Eddie M

I prefer the stripped down band. Prince has made me literally hate horns. His live music nowadays is hard for me to stomach and its all because of the horns. I really enjoyed the way he incorporated the horns on the Act I/II tours and Sign/lovesxy but they are too dominant now. It takes away from everything else. For instance when I watched the Montreaux Jaxx festival shows on dvd there was no horns and I thought that is one of his best shows peroid. I miss those type of shows.