Yeah, they are really, really nice. I struggle to listen to them for obvious reasons. I was lucky enough to be able to attend both of the February 21st shows, and I can actually hear myself scream "Yes!" after Prince started playing "Noon Rendezvous".
Here's a review of the shows I made at the time:
Before I get into details of the show, I thought I’d provide a little background. I took a few years of piano lessons when I was young – I really enjoyed learning to play songs (and even dabbling in some awful compositions named after various other interests, as one particular concoction called “Mali/Gabon/Cameroon” will attest). I gave it up after it became a competitive endeavor – I never viewed piano playing in a competitive light, so performing and being graded at recitals didn’t really feel right, so I stopped at around age 11.
Concurrent with that time period, I started paying close attention to popular music in 1989, mostly through MTV. That was also the year that I became a fan of Prince, and quickly learned to love all of his classic albums thanks to Nathan’s rapidly growing CD collection and my not-as-rapidly growing tape collection. My experience with piano had a role to play in shaping my taste, as I would attempt to adapt my favorite songs to the piano, either through purchased sheet music or through approximation by ear. It’s no surprise that my favorite Madonna song was the piano heavy “Oh Father”, and a combination of my affinity for piano and love of video games made synth pop a personal gold mine. Hence I worked through classics like “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” note by note.
Prince was especially ripe for the picking, so through the years I picked up several of his songs across different styles. The funk of “Controversy”, the lilting beauty of “Noon Rendezvous” and “Moonbeam Levels”, and the dramatic flair of “Anna Stesia” were all fair game, and I performed the latter at the International Dinner at Valparaiso University in 2001. Through the years, piano offered both an escape from academic and personal stresses in my life and a conduit to work through emotions – I played an adaptation of George Winston’s adaption of the Pachelbel Kanon at my dad’s funeral and a version of Winston’s “Some Children See Him” at my grandmother’s. So while Prince has rightly earned his place as a guitar god to many (including me), he has also been a piano/synth maestro for me. And as the acoustic guitar driven The Truth is lionized as a rare, no-frills offering, the piano-helmed One Nite Alone is the album I turn to when I’m in the mood for solitary introspection.
I should also say that it has been a little while since I have been fully in the Prince loop. I keep a casual eye on what is going on, and had kept up with purchasing CDs (I really liked Art Official Age), but a combination of not having as much time and Prince’s increasing insistence on what Aaron perfectly called a whack-a-mole strategy to distributing his music has meant that I have not been the superfan of yore greedily seeking out every purple morsel. Nonetheless, I was all ears when I heard that he was going to perform two shows at Paisley Park with just a piano and microphone. Reviews that gushed about how personal and even vulnerable these shows were made perfect sense to me given my own experiences with piano – there is something about an instrument that is so grandiose, that requires its companion to remain seated, and that is usually played alone which makes for a perfect recipe for bringing inner reflections to life across a canvass of 88 keys.
When he made the surprise announcement that he would bring this show to Australia, Tracy and I knew we had to try our best to witness it. We were lucky enough to grab tickets to two shows amidst the maelstrom of technological shortcomings. It is our 10th wedding anniversary in July, and this is how we chose to celebrate. My work colleagues were sure to ask me whether I had bought tickets, and were a bit perplexed not just because we were going to two shows, but that we were going to two shows on the same night. I suppose only Prince fans would know how he can easily vary show set lists and that even if a song is played in multiple shows, it can sound wildly different each time.
The shows were being held at the State Theatre, which is renowned for its acoustics and art, decked out with chandeliers, statues and paintings of famous composers and artists from centuries past, and even knights’ armor.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=state+theatre+sydney&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQ2ua794nLAhXKEpQKHd_tD_QQ_AUIBygC&dpr=1
The capacity of the theatre is listed at 2,775, so there really aren’t bad seats in the house. For both shows, we were near the front of the elevated dress circle and had clear view of the whole stage. The stage featured a piano, underneath of which were a bunch of flowers. Around 20 lit candles lined the corners of the stage, and a projector from the back of the theatre illuminated the backing screen with kaleidoscopes of color.
As the room went dark and the orchestral music that had been playing went silent, a purple door projected onto the screen encased Prince’s silhouette to the shrieks and screams of all in attendance. The door glowed bright yellow as the screen raised and out came Prince, wielding a cane and wearing a black beanie with metallic letters spelling “PRINCE” around the edge. He apologised for being late and then launched into a crowd-pleasing “Let’s Go Crazy”. Immediately, the acoustics of the venue made their presence felt – I’ve never heard him so clearly in concert before. Both his voice and his piano playing were flawless. Prince was playful and kept the mood upbeat with “Funk n Roll”, “Take Me With U”, and “Raspberry Beret”, which saw him invite a woman on stage to dance. An iPad sat atop the piano with lyrics that he could quickly toggle through as the set list evolved. Newly dubbed “Sydneyapolis” was having a blast! You might think that being constrained to a piano would limit Prince’s renowned showmanship, but he ensured the show was highly interactive, repeatedly walking away from the piano at various points, even off stage, offering a full display of facial expressions when he invited the audience to sing along.
The first real treat came with “Starfish and Coffee”, which he played in full! The audience seemed to know the song as well given their reaction. A gorgeous rendition of “Love… Why Will Be Done” came soon after, and Prince played around with the rhythmic structure of the verses (“I see all of your creations as one perfect complex, no one more beautiful or special than the next”). The following “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” was another real highlight, its slower tempo really inviting the sadness of the song to come through.
Another personal highlight came with “Controversy”, as I had played it so many times before. As with most of the upbeat songs, it was significantly blues-ified, but the funk of that heavy first note of each measure held strong! Prince scatted his way through what plays as an instrumental section on the album.
As far as I’m concerned, his falsetto has never sounded better live. He showcased it to perfection on “A Case of U”, “The Breakdown”, and a particularly playful “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore”, in which he revealed to the audience that the funk was in “the drop”, referring to the way the first chord cuts out as if the floor fell out beneath it. All of the screeches and wails that you hear on the record were there for all to hear, and he threw in several more for good measure! His lower register sounded sublime as well, and “I Love U in Me” has long been a favorite of mine for this reason, and he didn’t disappoint.
He was also quite playful during “Cream”, in which he invited us to sing along but repeatedly protested when we began to sing “his parts”. Heck, he even put his ban on profanity on hold by singing the full “she had the cutest ass he’d ever seen” line in “Girls and Boys”!
The first encore began with “Little Red Corvette”, which was a real crowd pleaser. The most surprising part of the entire show might have been when he inserted a few runs of the main line of “Fur Elise” into an instrumental medley that featured “The Question of U” and “Under the Cherry Moon”. He closed this encore with “Nothing Compares 2 U”, which really shone with a piano-only treatment.
The second encore was pure party music, with “Black Sweat” raising the energy and “Kiss” taking it further. He invited a boy around 10 years old on stage to dance, and he killed it with wild footwork!
He returned for a final encore to leave us with “Purple Rain”, which included this funny inversion of the lyric: “It’s such a shame our friendship will never end”! I really liked that it was performed with a lot less bombast than is typical for a Prince show, the classic “woooo-oooh-ooh-oohs” sung almost as a hush.
The show made for an incredible experience, and some Prince first-time concert-goers sitting next to us were left very impressed!
Start: 7:04 pm
End: 8:46 pm
Setlist:
Let’s Go Crazy
Funk n Roll
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
Starfish and Coffee
Stand
Love… Thy Will Be Done
I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
Controversy
The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
Venus de Milo
A Case of U
Rock n Roll Love Affair
Girls and Boys
Black Muse
Cream
I Love U in Me
The Breakdown
Money Don’t Matter 2 Night
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore
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Little Red Corvette
A Question of U (inst.)/Fur Elise/Under the Cherry Moon (inst.)
Slow Down
Nothing Compares 2 U
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Black Sweat
Kiss
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Purple Rain
After leaving our seats, we thought we would be able to stay within the venue just outside the dress circle as our subsequent tickets were literally within 5 feet of those for the first show, but we had to re-enter so our tickets could be scanned. Luckily enough, this gave us the opportunity to meet a married couple of enthusiastic fans, Rory and Tori! They were so instantly warm and friendly, and it turns out that Rory also hailed from South Africa originally! Who would have thought we would be talking about mieliepap at a Prince show?! They mentioned that their kids were also Prince fans and were disappointed they couldn’t come, and that they would fly anywhere for a Prince show to celebrate Rory’s 50th birthday in a few years. It’s always great to meet fans who are as excited as we are!
When the second show opened with the “dearly beloved” intro to “Let’s Go Crazy”, we wondered whether there would be a lot of similarity between the shows, but it quickly gave way to “Controversy”. Although there were a number of songs in common between shows, they were often performed quite differently. Case in point, “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”, which had been performed more or less similarly to the album version during the first show. This time, though, he tantalized with the chords of “Noon Rendezvous” during the verses before returning to the normal chord structure for the chorus. Each time it gave way to the verses, I hoped beyond hope that he would actually perform “Noon Rendezvous”, a song whose beauty is equal parts seductive and elegant in a way only Prince can manage, and which I had recorded on piano for a birthday CD for Tracy years ago.
And then it happened. “I’ve been wondering what to wear”, he sang, and I could no longer contain myself, shrieking my approval! And no, this song would not be rendered as a mere snippet – we were treated to a good 4 minutes of this bliss. His performance was completely reverent of the original version, and I savored every second in absolute awe. In a night as special as this, it absolutely stood out as one of the most special moments I’ve ever experienced at a Prince show.
As playful as Prince was during the first show, he was even more so for the second show, at times sprinting around the piano with shoes that announced his movement with the red lights you’d find on a 6-year-old. No sign of age 57 anywhere to be seen.
He clearly gave a lot of attention to some of his newer songs, as “Rock n Roll Love Affair” was performed as a raucous blues stomper in which he beckoned for our voices. He warned that he would be getting into the “heavy stuff” with a furiously funky screed of “Act of God”, in which he worked up such a fervor that he brought it back for a reprise after a cover of “Unchain My Heart”, and ran off the stage at the end. “Black Muse” was also ear-marked as “heavy stuff”, performed in a much more somber tone than it offers on the CD. Showcasing his vocal diversity, he reproduced the… well… screwball tone on the ever-fun “Screwdriver”. The most surprising of these was a stripped down version of “Time”, another real treat.
The end of the main set was packed with high points, as Prince sprinted back from off stage to tease out a verse and chorus of “Partyman”. “Condition of the Heart” was the kind of song this sort of show was made for, and his voice was just as delicate and whimsical as the occasion required. “Do Me, Baby” was as sizzling as ever, and the celebratory “I Wanna Be Your Lover” even featured some of the vamping from the end of the album version which I love so much.
The first encore brought out the tried and true feel-good mashup of “Take Me With You”/”Raspberry Beret” and the delicious “Starfish and Coffee”. The new surprise was a frolicking closer “Paisley Park” which finished with audience in full song.
The second encore took a more sacred tone, with “Love… Thy Will Be Done” and “Nothing Compares 2 U”, and while it was very special in its own right, it had no chance to live up to what came next.
To the degree that “Noon Rendezvous” left me in awe, the last encore left me in stupefied wonder when he opened with “Don’t need no reefer, don’t need cocaine” and it dawned on me that he was playing PURPLE FREAKING MUSIC (it’s called “Purple Music”, but given its status as a wildly experimental outtake from 1982 that never saw the light of day, I feel FULLY JUSTIFIED THROWING ‘FREAKING’ IN THERE, OK?!). The hypnotic frenzy of the outtake was reborn as a high-paced bluesy frenzy. The ragged affect in his voice kept the weirdness factor alive and well, and though he finished with a lively rendition of “Free Yourself”, I was so shell-shocked to hear “Purple Music” come to life that I hardly remember it.
Start: 10:24 pm
End: 12:10 am
Set list:
Let’s Go Crazy intro
Controversy
Ruff Enuff
The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
Noon Rendezvous
Venus de Milo
I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
Stand
Rock n Roll Love Affair
Little Red Corvette
Slow Down
Screwdriver
I Love U, But I Don’t Trust U Anymore
The Ballad of Dorothy Parker
Time
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore
When She Comes
Act of God
Unchain My Heart
Act of God (reprise)
Partyman
Black Muse
Condition of the Heart
Do Me, Baby
I Wanna Be Your Lover
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Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
Starfish and Coffee
Paisley Park
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Love… Thy Will Be Done
Nothing Compares 2 U
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Purple Music
Free Yourself
The night was full of big moments in terms of my Prince fandom, and the synchronicity of celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary with the love of my life who I met thanks to the guy who was performing a piano-helmed set of shows complete with many songs I had worked my way through on the keys over the years made it extra special. ♥
Aside from these personal connections, the shows themselves were otherworldly. I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that his voice has never shone as brightly live in any of the previous 25 concerts of his I had seen. This was standout performance after standout performance – I mean I haven’t even talked about “I Love U, But I Don’t Trust U Anymore” and how his vocals were able to top the studio version. These shows are absolutely RIPE to be recorded and filmed for a widespread CD/DVD release. These shows are incredibly unique and intimate high points in the history of one of the greatest live performers the world has seen. If you’ve made it all the way through this overlong review, my hat is off to you, but less than it is off to Prince. Hot damn!
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