Appearing as the second-to-last song of the main set, new track "Gimme All Your Love" was naturally the highlight of the night. The emotive anthem, which features one of Howard's best vocal turns to date, seemed over too soon when the singer quieted it to a whisper after about three minutes. Then, without any announcement from the band, the man who inspired her SNL jewelry walked onstage and picked up his guitar. The rest of the song may have lasted two minutes and it may have gone for another five; I couldn't tell you. It was that kind of perfect moment.

And then, it was time. Time to see if all those hopes and dreams were going to come true; time for the universe to open up and thank us for our devotion to the gods of rock ‘n’ roll; time for Brittany Howard and her fantastic band to see if they could hang with the champion of Chanhassen. As the band tore through the second chorus of their big hit “Gimme All Your Love,” he appeared: Prince, clad in black Wayfarers, an aquamarine tunic, and smart grey vest, his Afro getting longer every day, quietly padding to the back of the stage to pick up a guitar and then moving toward Howard slowly, avoiding eye contact, feeling out the groove. Howard stood steady and held her own, looking down at her own guitar and smiling with the knowledge that her band was killing it, she was killing it, and it was actually happening. The musicians took a moment to find each other in the ether, and then Prince laid on some wah-wah effects and stepped to the edge of the stage and delivered the guitar solo of everyone’s collective fantasies. The band locked together, the solo lifted everyone higher and higher, and Prince opened his mouth as if he was unleashing the unholiest of roars. It was perfect. It was spiritual. It was the kind of live concert magic that keeps people waiting in lines and buying tickets and standing in crowds and shifting on tired feet; it was exactly what we wanted, and it validated what it meant to be a fan of this silly little thing called music.