Okay so we know Prince was using medications to relieve his pain for quite a long while (although it probably wasn't Fentanyl the whole time).

I think about that, then I see these more recent concerts on YouTube. 20Ten shows, a 14May2011 show in Inglewood, a show in New York with Sheila E., shows in Rotterdam, or Paris. The Welcome 2 shows. North Sea, Montreux. His energy level was so intense.

As you may know, I hate people romanticizing his death with their stupid "he knew he was going to die" or "what was he trying to tell us" or "his body just broke down" shit. He was full of life, and still loved performing. There are times when he's just playing, but there's also moments when he's so full of energy and love for music that it looks like he's gonna implode.

There's no way this man was giving up, or winding down. He was changing, for sure. He was trying to deal with a lot in private. But on stage, he obviously was able to overcome them to the point that he played like he did when he was 21 years old. No, he wasn't doing splits or humping his guitar during "Head", but his love of music was no where near an end. He was music.

It's one thing to say "we've lost so much" in a broad scope, but when you focus in on a more recent show, and see how he still loved rolling through "Cool" seguing into "Let's Work" and "U Got The Look", or "Mountains" mashed up with "Shake Your Body Down (To The Ground)", while throwing in something newer like "Screwdriver" or "Rocknroll Loveaffair" in the set.

I've often been a hard critic on Prince through the years, when it came to studio output, because I knew he was capable of better. I've gotten a lot of flack for that, and I don't mind it, because it's what I believed at the time. I was never an ass kisser, and I didn't think everything he did was instant gold. What I am though, is a fan who loved him so much, and was never, ever left thinking "Oh, I've seen that before" when it came to a live show. Do a medley of "Take Me With U" and "Raspberry Beret" all day, but there was always something new or different thrown in to keep us guessing. For me, that's where I feel the loss most. The energy of the show.

I couldn't agree more. On the three most recent occasions that I saw him perform live (twice in 2014 and once in 2015), one of the things that stood out for me was just how hard he was working as a showman in 3rdEyeGirl - and just how much he was enjoying it too. Yes, the set list might have seemed fairly predictable, but he still continued to surprise and delight some 30 years after I had first seen him perform live.