http://www.centredaily.co...473686.htm
Posted on Tue, Apr. 20, 2004


Review: Prince show wild and wonderful at Penn State

By GISELA GARCIA

Blue Entertainment Editor


I KNEW HE WAS ICONIC. I was aware of his greatness and that he has influenced many other musical artists.

But until Sunday's concert at the Bryce Jordan Center, I really had no idea how incredible Prince truly is.

To be honest, my knowledge of his legacy is pretty basic. I can maybe sing along to a few lines of some of his well-known hits such as "Raspberry Beret," "1999," "When Doves Cry," and of course, "Kiss" -- thanks to watching Julia Roberts belt it out in that "Pretty Woman" bathtub scene one too many times.

So that was the extent of my familiarity with Prince. Well, that and the fact that he is revered by the rest of the music world, but honestly, I wasn't ever exactly sure why.

I found out Sunday night.

I started realizing why when I had to park on a remote grassy area of the Jordan Center instead of the parking lot, because more than 10,000 people had shown up.

I further realized it as I stood in a humongous line at the door and took in how many true-blue Prince fans had shown up (let's just say purple velvet ran rampant).

And I realized it even more when I got to my seat and looked around. Almost every spot surrounding the X-shaped center stage (Yes! A center stage!) was filled, mostly by purple-clad fans squirming in anticipation of his majesty.

Listen to me. I'm gushing and the show hasn't even started yet.

He took a royal amount of time to come out, but when he did -- clad in a vibrant red suit and clear heels -- he literally rocked the house. It was phenomenal. It was like I was in the middle of the most fabulously decadent party that ever was, with purple champagne and leopard-print curtains and hordes of beautiful people dancing like ... well, like it was 1999. Again.

"Penn State! School's IN!" the royal one shrieked out from underneath a storm of confetti that wafted down from the ceiling. "Every one of you is in college tonight, and I'm about to school you!"

And school us he did. In between his signature yelps, screams and dance moves (holy crap, can that man DANCE!), he gave the swooning audience what we wanted: a lesson in true funk.

"That's F-U-N-K, funk!" he said.

I learned a couple of other things that night, too.

First of all, Prince can play guitar. I mean, he is a DAMN good guitar player. He put down a few solos and dropped even more jaws with his lingering wails that reverberated across the Jordan Center. And he's got some awesome back-up musicians to boot -- including two phenomenal sax players and a drummer who threw his sticks around like he was a juggler. Together, they musically gave nods to "The Flinstones," James Brown, "The Jeffersons" and Beyonce's "Crazy in Love."

Lesson two? Prince is like Elvis, James Brown, Little Richard and the good part of Michael Jackson, all rolled into one neat, little package. Very little. And with a hairy chest.

Thirdly, despite all that energy, he can chill out and do the acoustic thing. After a short intermission, Prince came out in a white Presley-style get-up, cradled his guitar, sat center stage in a swivel chair and treated the audience to unplugged snippets of "Little Red Corvette," "Raspberry Beret" and "Cream" peppered with some tongue-in-cheek blues.

"Hey, where's my background?" he said with a mischievous look when the audience grew too quiet. "Don't make me come up there!"

I was surprised to witness how in tune with the crowd he was. That was lesson four: Once Prince starts performing, the audience is helplessly entranced.

I've been to my share of concerts, and the artist always talks to the crowd and does the whole "What's up Penn State?" thing or even tries to get the audience to clap along or jump. But at most concerts, only the fervent fans or the energetic oblige for a bit. With Prince, his wish was our command. When he asked us to jump, clap or wave, we did. And we ALL did -- even those in the nosebleed section. It was almost miraculous.

But it was no wonder. He was just as in love with the audience as we were with him, dropping "Penn State" into almost every song and frequently asking if we were having a good time.

"I told ya'll I was gonna spoil ya!" he said toward the big finale, when he pulled up about 20 women from the audience (coincidentally, all perfectly gorgeous) to dance on stage, along with two very surprised little girls. He followed up with his claim to fame, "Purple Rain," for an encore.

And yes he did spoil us, though I do have one big gripe to air out. I wish he had spent more time on some of the songs instead of giving us glimpses of them in long medleys. But then again, he has so many songs. I'm not sure how he could have successfully carried that out without working overtime. Still, two lines of "Raspberry Beret" just ain't gonna cut it for me. And dearly missed were "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" and the one-and-only "1999."

All grievances aside, I felt nothing less than honored to be witnessing a living legend performing right in front of me.

GISELA GARCIA

Blue Entertainment Editor

awww, that's cute

So, he's back to putting only "gorgeous" girls on stage? No goofy guys and no fatties?

And what's with the fams dressing up in purple velvet? Prince ain't purple no more!!

A bunch of my non-Prince-geek friends went to the Indy show with me and that was their only complaint. "I wish he would have played the whole song" was something I heard a lot.

Of course, I'm use to going to his last few tours and getting only a chord (if we were lucky)of each hit... So, to me, this tour seems like he does play the whole song and I gave my friends the whole scrunched brow whatchutalkinbout look.

Anyway It is nice to see what others think.

tyme said:

And i bet that if he played the whole song and left others off the list they would have complained that he only played 8 songs.

It was Great and PENN STATE people were so COOL. I Really DUG the WHOLE SCENE...

i was @ this concert though there where sum medleyes ,he did extend many tracks u neva thought he would ie controversey&others .simply stated teir ant another like him in tha biz no body now or his pass competion cant keep up .sad 2say as usual u cant pls every1,but i dare u or any 1else 2name even 1 person that can pass him.4the people w/out .school is in &yes u have home-work2do .....

Was that last post english?

RavedIn2 said:

thank u...maybe he finally came to his senses.

RupertZ said:

if I wanted to watch strippers, I would have taken my ass to the strip club. I think it was inappropriate being that there were children present. Even though they were clothed, they still looked slutty. Sort of reminds me of what the WWF does to boost sales. I certainly hope that this is not a sign of what's to come. The objectification of women is not something that I want to take part in by being in the audience. Certainly, Prince doesn't need to promote such behavior.

And yes, he is at fault as much as the ushers or body guards (whoever chooses these people to get on stage), he should speak up and recognize how inappropriate it is. Afterall, he is promoting this tour as a "family" show, is he not? I would not approve of my child watching such an exhibition.

ps I was there (state college), so I know what I am talking about.

dianne34 said:

And so what if ur kids see beautiful women dance even if they dance like strippers. Tyipical american conservatism. A prince show is no Disneyland and i hope it never will be.

Whistler said:

true, but that should be MY choice, not some perverts that has nothing better to do than to lust after women that they cannot have. I didn't pay 68.50 to watch them. Their beuty is subjective, now isn't it? I didn't think they were all beautiful...thank you.

U goooo girl!

Di... U rock even more than I thought.

Thanks again 4 Everything at Penn State. U R a rare bird, and I hope all in your life recognize this!

Easy,

Giovanni.

Giovanni777 said:

thank you, sexy man, but alas....not all can handle my aggressiveness and assertiveness. Not too many appreciate it and so they conclude that I must be a jaded bitch. They come to this conclusion only because I am a woman. People DO NOT want to challenge me when it comes to feministic issues. If they do, they better be fast, cause I show no mercy.

I am so glad you came to the State College show. It was so nice to meet you. Me a rare bird? I wish we had had more time to chat..we will at some point, I'm sure.
Keep those eyes sparkling

he does get up fat lasses though dianne as we saw in london..and loads of geeky looking lads!but aye.....YOU GO GIRL

Sounds like the reporter has a crush.