Review: Charismatic Prince keeps fans delirious with classics, generosity

02:06 AM CST on Saturday, April 3, 2004


By THOR CHRISTENSEN/Pop Music Critic



Skeptics make the mistake of writing off Prince because he hasn't had a hit song in more than a decade. Yet there was nothing remotely moldy about his concert-in-the-round Friday night at American Airlines Center.

In an oft-kinetic performance, the artist formerly known as a hit maker proved he's still one the most captivating figures in pop music. When he was on, which was for most of the 2-hour 15-minute show, he was as good as rock 'n' roll showmen get – shadowboxing or wrestling with his guitar as he launched falsetto notes into the nosebleed seats.

And even when the show dragged, it wasn't for long. Just around the corner was a lovely solo acoustic version of "Little Red Corvette" or a hellfire "Purple Rain."

The 45-year-old singer kicked off the show with "Musicology," the infectious James Brown-style title track to his upcoming CD on Columbia Records. His new record deal seems to mark an end to his maverick indie artist days. But he still does things his own way, like handing out a free copy of Musicology to every ticket buyer – a move that must have the bean counters at Columbia steaming.

As solid as the Musicology songs were live, most of the fans had come to hear the old songs, especially since Prince is claiming it's the last time he'll play his classics. (Right. And if you believe that, you're probably still wondering why the Kiss Farewell Tour hasn't ended yet.)

Prince followed "Musicology" with a resounding "Let's Go Crazy" as white confetti covered fans like a snow shower. The show wobbled during a medley of "I Would Die 4 U" and "When Doves Cry," two songs that deserved more than the truncated reading Prince gave them.

In fact, the energy dragged every time Prince vanished to change costumes and the music was left to his hit-and-miss band. Prince's publicists had promised the sax legend Maceo Parker would be in the band, but he wasn't, and fans had to settle for the adequate Candy Dulfer or worse, Mike Phillips, whose marathon note-holding histrionics were insufferable.

But as soon as Prince came back, he lit up the cross-shaped stage with his unpredictable funkmanship. He led a long wicked jam from Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner" to OutKast's "The Way You Move" to Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You."

Even better was the extensive dance groove that moved from "U Got the Look" to "Southern Gul" (featuring guest vocalist Erykah Badu) to "Kiss," which featured 20 female fans dancing onstage and ended on a strange note.

One of the women decided to plant a kiss on the cheek of the pint-sized performer, which caused him to collapse in mock ecstasy. But his two beefy bodyguards weren't quite so thrilled. They emerged from thin air and whisked the offending kisser off the stage, sending a clear message to fans: Prince may touch you, but whatever you do, do not touch Prince.

Who's "I feel for you"?

that is not CHAKA's song. that is PRINCE's song. i hate when people want 2 write reviews and they don't know what the hell they are talking about.

This reviewer is not well informed, but I think his reaction is probably representative of a non-fan's reaction -- impressed, but not all the time and not cherishing every note adoringly. Prince can probably afford to change a few things in his usual set -- I'd go ahead and give WDC the full treatment and cut down a bit on the horns.
[This message was edited Sat Apr 3 11:28:47 2004 by Aerogram]

JOEYCOCO said:

Yes, clearly every newspaper in the country should hire a fam to write the Prince reviews To 99 percent of the world it's a Chaka Kahn song - get over it. Do you argue when people call Respect an Aretha song?


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[This message was edited Sat Apr 3 11:55:08 2004 by lovemachine]

. He led a long wicked jam from Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner" to I wonder if he knows Suzanne's song No Cheap Thrills

sounds like a fair review of the concert. i had similar feelings about the l.a. show (mike phillips circular breathing tricks: annoying, and wardrobe changes: too long)

lovemachine said:

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No, need to hire a fam how about someone who knows something about music. I think it has been mentioned 100 times that Prince worte that song. It is not new news.