Concert review: Prince teaches Reno a lesson in excellent music

Prince launches his "Musicology" tour Saturday in Reno at Lawlor Events Center.

Set List
1. Musicology
2. Let’s Go Crazy
3. I Would Die 4 U
4. When Doves Cry
5. Baby, I’m a Star
6. Shhh
7. DMSR
8. I Feel for You
9. Controversy
10. God (instrumental, band only)
11. The Beautiful Ones
12. Nothing Compares to U
13. Insatiable
14. Sign O the Times
15. The Question of U
16. Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance
17. U Got the Look
18. Life O the Party
19. Soul Man (Sam & Dave cover)
20. Kiss
21. Take Me With U
22. Forever in My Life
23. Little Red Corvette
24. R These Twins in My Bed? (official song title unconfirmed)
25. 7
26. Peach
27. A Case of You (Joni Mitchell cover)
28. Purple Rain


Mark Robison (more stories by author)
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
3/29/2004 02:37 pm
Prince couldn’t have hoped for a better crowd to kick off his “Musicology” world tour than the sold-out one he got Saturday night at Lawlor Events Center.

And Reno fans — with Paul McCartney also in the house — couldn’t have hoped for a better show than the 28-song, 135-minute one they got.

After being wheeled to the in-the-round stage inside an equipment box, Prince appeared in a red suitcoat with bi-level coattails and white shirt, pants and boots with glittering high heels.

He launched into the title track of his new CD, “Musicology,” which was handed out free to all 12,000 attendees.

And then he promptly raced through four hits off the rock-funk-soul album that made him a superstar 20 years ago: “Purple Rain.” The sequined, fringed, cleavage-loving crowd was deafening as it sang along to “Let’s Go Crazy,” “I Would Die 4 U,” “When Doves Cry” and “Baby, I’m a Star.”

The tour is supposed to be the last time he plays his big hits for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, he left many out. Yet he duplicated only two songs off his recent three-disc live box set and one from his recent live DVD. The man simply has a bottomless vault of great material.

The music was a seamless dance party. In his first full concert since being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Prince romped up and down the stage extensions at times like they were fashion runways and other times like his guitar-shredding, spinning, kicking, crawling body might just fly into the audience.

The stage show was ultra simple. Just lights and music — musicology, indeed. It was a course in how a band keeps technically intricate interplay fun.

This was no more obvious than when a dozen female fans were invited on stage to shake their stuff. The band members zigzagged around the dancers without missing a note through “U Got the Look,” the new “Life O’ the Party,” Sam and Dave’s “Soul Man” and “Kiss” — “you don’t have to watch ‘Sex in the City’ to have an attitude.”

One guy in the audience was so funky Prince couldn’t ignore him. Soon the man wearing a lime-colored suit with zebra trim and zebra-patterned high-heeled boots was rump-shaking with the ladies on stage.

Prince took a short break, changed into black and returned to sit on a barstool with an acoustic guitar center stage. “Forever in My Life” led into an extended rap against pimp rap, asking for more respect toward women in music.

This strangely led into “Little Red Corvette,” where Prince let the crowd sing the part about the girl’s stash of used condoms.

Next was a hilarious bluesy Chuck Berry-esque song about Prince possibly finding twins in his bed. He had the crowd laughing and hanging on every line as he made grimaces and sly grins.

After a sing-along on “7” and the T. Rex-style groove of “Peach,” Prince did a beautiful version of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.”

Then he appeared from the darkness with his purple symbol-shaped guitar for “Purple Rain” that had fans still singing “whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo’s” all the way out into the parking lot.

Now that sounds like some fucking concert.

Macca was there?

Would've been sweet if Prince'd given him a quick impromptu acoustic cover of Blackbird or something. Damn, if i think that, does that make me a hater?

Frog, can I be a member of the "proud of my own member" club?

BigMFCheez said:

Sure you can. Just need to pass...the test.

Test:
Two witnesses, neither of which can be:

(a) of unsound mind; or
(b) a member of your family.

That's it. Plus £50 and a sherbet lemon.

TheFrog said:

Count me in! Sounds a lot better than that other Prince-hating/ devil-worshiping sub club some idiot recently started