Prince entertains, educates

Prince
• Where: Conseco Fieldhouse.
• Bottom line: Meet the new Prince, same as the old Prince.



By David Lindquist
david.lindquist@indystar.com
April 13, 2004


Without question, school was in session during Prince's "Musicology" concert Monday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The Minneapolis-based marvel is on the road to promote his upcoming album, but he's also hosting large-scale study sessions on styles he's mastered and charts he's conquered during a 25-year recording career.

This proved to be effortless learning and primarily a joy for the local audience of 12,000 pupils.

It was the kind of night when you sang along perfectly to lyrics even though you weren't sure you remembered the words. And at the height of tremendous instrumental segments, songs in progress simply melted away.

It's been 20 years since the release of Prince's classic "Purple Rain" album and film. He devoted the early stages of Monday's show to a rapid ride through the timeless tracks "Let's Go Crazy," "I Would Die 4 U," "When Doves Cry" and "Baby I'm a Star."

"Doves" was the standout. The amazing thing about this song, as Roots drummer Ahmir Thompson pointed out recently in Rolling Stone magazine, is that it's built upon one -- and only one -- chord.

The simplicity allowed Prince to have some fun with his wardrobe of a white suit accented by red pinstripes. He used a scarlet handkerchief to clean a microphone stand, detail the brim of his hat and -- in an up-to-minute gesture of club culture -- motion as if he were wiping dirt off his shoulders.

Although this was more or less an oldies show, the 45-year-old proved he's paying attention to the new. When his horn players quoted the hook from Beyonce Knowles' "Crazy in Love" (actually an update of a Chi-Lites riff), Prince danced and joked, "Somebody loan me some booty."

Three other lessons from Prince in teaching mode:

• He shared his displeasure that lip-synching has become an accepted practice.

• For the record, the best funk arrives on the "1."

• Music can transcend time. Although his guitar solos were unapologetically pop-metal, they reflected genuine emotion.

During a lengthy stretch of solo acoustic material, Prince showed that he hasn't abandoned the sensuality business. The falsetto of a "Musicology" selection "On the Couch" supplied more than enough evidence.

The acoustic run also showcased the rockabilly of "Delirious," the pop sensibility of "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" and old-school Delta blues on a seemingly improvised song in which he teased a lover about a case of bad breath.

japartington said:

too true.

Very good read. This guy gets right to the point. Its all about the music.

as we all know that Delta Blues song about bad breath is far from seemingly improvised...

I attended the show along with my sister and all I got to say is 3 words:
FAB-U-LOUS I'm through. He showed everybody how it's suppose to be done. I read the other reviews at other shows, but it was hit dead on the nail (perfect) that they played Alicia Keys R & R Hall of Fame speech at the beginning before he comes out. That was tight especially for the people who didn't get a chance to see it, this was their chance. I am so proud of my old man, this was the first time my sister had seen him and she felt like she was schooled. I had an excellent time along with an excellent seat. Thanks IndyStar for the positive review.

TurnItUp said:

You are hilarious "fab-u-lous I'm through"!! man i haven't heard that in a long time. i'm still over here laughing. Glad you to hear that you all had a great time. Prince was, is and will always be the man!!

japartington said:

no it's not. it has at least three chords. it's built around A minor and there is clear harmonic movement toward the G major (or V) chord in every verse/chorus. listen for it at the word "picture of u and i engaged..." in the first verse. then there is clear use of the E major (or major III) chord (a very beatles-esque chord change, it's used in tons of their songs) in every verse/chorus, listen for it at "can u picture this...")

arguably there's even *another* chord change over the oriental-sounding keyboard riff that follows the chorus... either the D minor (or ii) chord or F major (IV) chord, either one fits fine.

that's the beauty of prince's best compositions, he makes them sound deceptively simple. there's actually a lot of harmonic depth to this song and two "experts" on music *really* think there's only one chord change? unbelievable. ?uestlove has the excuse of being a drummer, they don't really count as musicians...

to be fair, lots of prince's songs from this era are very harmonically ambiguous like this. one of my favorite examples is "girls and boys" -- is it in a minor key or a major key? it sounds as if it's in both A major *and* A minor, which helps build an extra amount of bluesy dissonance... check it out...

dearlybeloved said:

Glad I made somebody laugh for a change. Yep, I'm still on the In Living Color tip with the FAB-U-LOUS and you're right, Prince still is the man!!

lakerlaker52 said:

Thank you. That bugged me too and I'm glad somebody else caught it. No music reviewer worth his salt should make that mistake. Good review otherwise though.

lakerlaker52 said:

Actually, when in A minor, the A minor chord is I, G major is bVII, E major is V, D minor would be IV and F major VI (depending on the connection to the next chord). The functions you describe apply to C major only.

Gilius said:

that's an old habit of mine, sorry--outlining a minor key song in its relative major. point taken.