What do you think and why?

Well I certainly haven't seen everyone there is to see live and I've been to many great concerts in my life, but I would have to say YES to your question. I've seen Prince 4 times and I've never been disappointed. His performances are always top-notch. It's so obvious that he feels right at home on the stage with his guitar around his neck. He seems his most "normal" when on stage performing.

oui

I would rather see him 50 times in a year - than see one of my other favourists - that´s how good I think he is!
The Best of my time!

I agree.

He's never let me down live. He has great stage presence, i thought he'd peaked years ago but i was wrong.I guess it matters what band he has too. I hink he draws a lot of inspirition from the musicians around him.The SOTT/Lovesexy band gets a lot of props and they were a tight band alright.That was all about Prince at his peak as a performer. The current NPG sees Prince at his peak as a musician.

You better believe it, becuase he's not limited. Not just a vocalist with 'some' guitar, piano or percussionist skill. He plays them all masterfully, and can dance his ass off when he really wants to. So when you're at the concert, your eyes are all over the stage. You don't know where he's going to be next, keeps you guessing. Besides, if you get tired of watching Prince (rarely), you have Rhonda and/or Sheila

You're promised a good time atleast.

Blue

The best of all time?

Gosh, what a subjective question.

Not again. But of course, if one has never listened to anybody but Prince, he/she is gonna believe that he is the best...

Fact is... there is no "the best". There are many great live preformers, and Prince is one of them. But I have seen many who impressed me more than Prince. And there are a whole lot I would like to have seen, but they are dead.

One of the best. Not the best. But my opinion might change if I ever do see him live.

no.

I agree that there is no "best." Styles differ, people want different things. But Prince is one of the 10 best live performers of all time in my opinion. Here they are, in no particular order :

1.Prince

2.Bruce Springsteen

3.Jimi Hendrix

4.George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic

5.Michael Jackson

6.Sly & The Family Stone

7.The Beatles

8.Rage Against The Machine

9.James Brown

10.A tie between Outkast and The Roots (The only 2 hip hop acts I've ever seen that do it proper on stage)

2nd only to Rolf Harris

Of all the concerts I have seen live, so far, I would put the performers I have seen (who I remember) in the following order of greatness:

1. Prince (October last year)
2. Beck (Odelay tour)
3. Billy Joel (The Bridge and Storm Front tours)
4. Moloko (Statues tour, a few weeks ago)
5. Buddy Guy (Feels Like Rain tour)
6. U2 (Zooropa tour)
7. REM (Monster tour)
8. The Roots w/Macy Gray Opening (Things Fall Apart tour)
9. Juliana Hatfield (solo acoustic tour around '98)
10. Goldfrapp (Black Cherry tour last year)
11. Beck (Sea Change tour last year)
12. Cibo Matto (2001 tour)

Okay, I know I've seen more than that, and I have yet to see Bowie, (who I'm seeing next week!), but Prince was definitely the best NIGHT I have had in my life. No question, total brilliance.

.
[This message was edited Fri Feb 13 16:04:45 PST 2004 by mrdespues]

dewmass said:

I hear ya!...Prince can't play the wobble-board to save his life...bah...and he calls himself a musician!

YES

getwild007 said:

Sorry to break it to you but both MJ and The Beatles are/were SHIT live.

Of course the "best" is 100% subjective. If I think Prince is the best (which I do), then I am right. If someone else thinks "Milli Vanilli" is the best, then they are absolutely right too.

But Prince is an easy choice as #1 for me. No one comes close to being as charistmatic, electrifying, and moving as he is.

Michael Jackson is the best lip-synch performer of all the history of music

TonyC said:

don't fool yourself !

7salles said:

that's a bit unfair. Since Dangerous, i'd agree. Prior to that he was something else.

Gotta give props to Queen too. Not really my cup of tea but Freddie Mercury and Co always put on a hell of a show.

i would say prince in this day and age yeah, but Jimi Hendrix and The Who would have been something else, in a completely different league. Also, the 'original' Parliament/Funkadelic set up. I would love to have seen The Ohio Players, Earth Wind n Fire, Kool n the Gang etc. and ofcourse James Brown back in the day. I'm certain they would have blown the heels off Prince. But again, Prince is a one man act essentially, but in that respect he'd have a hard time matching Jimi Hendrix (for instance the Monterey set).

bkw said:

MJ shite

Beatles shite You have to put yourself in that era...




And why the funk hasn't anyone mentioned ELVIS PRESLEY???

Not my cup o tea but still...

Taureau said:

[edit: MJ shite is totally unfair actually]

7salles said:

Michael Jackson is a great singer in the studio but you rarely hear him live, he was like the pioneer for lip syching. Does anyone know why? Maybe he's a perfectionist and knows nothing is perfect live. Maybe his voice is shot which on the rare occasions I see him sing it sounds horrible. Hard to believe he was a better singer at 12 than he is at any time after but it looks that way. I tried to catch some of his Ed Sullivan type shows for signs of lipsynching because it was so perfect. I played the studio version and the live version and they were not the same. Incredible singing at that age. Prince was so, so as a singer when he started and became one of the greats through diligence, Michael seems to have just neglected his gifts.

Prince definitely one of the top ten. Don't know where I'd put him though. He is a great dancer, singer, musician and knows how to communicate with his audience. I always say he was not a great innovator in many areas and live performance is the same. Which is fine, I see flashes all the way back to the thirties in his moves, I see Elvis, Michael Jackson, of course James Brown, Cab Calloway, even Ballet and Fred Astaire. I don't think his charisma matches up to Elvis,Jimi but he's good in that department too. Charisma is the most important thing for a performer, Elvis was a so so musician who could just enrapture an audience with his natural physicality. Jimi was raw as well. So I don't think he added much as far as his live performance to what came before, except for maybe his unique sexuality. I saw him live and I still say it's the best I've ever seen, I've seen Stevie and he was the best singer live hands down but he's blind. Prince was non stop in his prime. I heard he had injuries that keep him from dancing, seems true if you look at him, he puts spins and a kick where he used to do the same thing before a split. All said, he's great but not the innovator that some of the other guys were and without the same charisma.

Taureau said:

No, MJ has been a shite live performer for at least the last 20 years. He lipsynches way too much. He was excellent when younger in the Jackson 5 days though.

The Beatles were SHIT live. They had one good live performance and that was on the roof of their studio. They were a GREAT studio band but never cut it as a live act.

Anyway, this list leaves off probably the greatest rock n roll live act of all time, The Rolling Stones.

No doubt about it... Of course he is!!!

bkw said:

Ok. Whoever said this arguement was totally subjective. They're fuckin right.