djThunderfunk said:

A couple minutes at Prince Vault confirmed it, Prince doesn't play guitar, bass or keys. WTF?!?

Play the 3rd night until the sampler set.

djThunderfunk said:

...

I just can't get into to a Prince show where he's only singing and not also playing.

I feel the same way. People keep saying "He hardly played anything on the Parade tour!" Except on the Parade tour, he was 28 years old and danced like a motherfucker, and watching him made up for it. Now he's just singing....and it just makes no sense not to hear his guitar.

djThunderfunk said:

Hmmm. I just listened through some of the first night. I was not digging it.

The horns were tight, but other than that I'm just not impressed.

I couldn't figure out exactly what was missing until I got to 'The Jam', then it hit me.

A couple minutes at Prince Vault confirmed it, Prince doesn't play guitar, bass or keys. WTF?!?

If this had already been mentioned, I missed it.

At this point I was thinking I really didn't want to listen to the next two nights.

Then I remembered some of the praise here for Shades Of Umber from night 2, so I gave that track a spin.

Unfortunately I didn't like that one either. (Not hating on the instrumentals, I love Plectrum Electrum and the 2 that were on Sound Cloud).

I noticed at Prince Vault that Prince plays guitar & keys on night 3, so, I skip the rest of Night 2 and jump ahead...

Now I'm hearing some stuff I'm digging. I need to listen to the whole show for this one.

I just can't get into to a Prince show where he's only singing and not also playing.

In total agreement. I find it quite a challenge to really enjoy a show with no guitar presence from Prince himself. I also am not a massive fan of the overly emphasised horns section, not to mention the vocals of the "back up" ladies well and truly overpowering Prince on many occassions. Either they are drowning him out, or he sometimes simply allows them to sing his lyrics anyway throughout most verses. It sounds as though he enjoyed the big band atmosphere and having a full crew behind him, but it has the distinct feel of a 'group' performance more so than a Prince show with a band backing him. Night three is my preferred pick of the shows.