 This
is not a comeback. Prince never left. He was always holed
up in frozen bereft Minneapolis making music. Some of it
was very good, some of it was very weird but Prince has
always been creating. Tonight, Madison Square Garden was
full of those who wished to celebrate his creations.
As
we entered the Garden, each ticket holder was given a copy
of Prince’s new album, Musicology. This album of funk
mixed with Prince’s 80’s era sound was included
in the ticket price for each fan in attendance. How cool
is that?
As
we awaited the start of the show, my buddy, Raz, & I
ruminated & pondered what we were about to see. In recent
years, Prince had become a devout Jehovah’s Witness.
As a result of his faith, he no longer uses profanity. Which
means he doesn’t sing the songs that have curses in
them anymore. Sadly, those are the songs that I like best.
So I know damn well that I won’t hear "Sexy Motherfucker",
"Pussy Control" or "Erotic City". It
doesn’t bother me too much. He still has a plethora
of great songs.
His
royal badness hits the stage in the round with his band,
the New Power Generation, & broke into the title track
of his new record, setting the tone for the night. As he
segued into "Let’s Go Crazy" it was clear
what he was giving us. Prince hadn’t changed. He evolved.
The songs were still sexy, but not dirty. He reveled in
the crowd & we reveled in him. His James Brown dance
moves mad his diminutive stature seem larger than life.
The
band was tight. I mean really tight. So tight that there
were almost no breaks in between songs, the musicians simply
flowing from 1 into the other without pause. The drummer
looked like a man possessed as he banged his way through "Shhhh" & then into a super funky version
of "When Doves Cry". The NPG flew through shortened
versions of hits like "I Would Die 4 U", "D.M.S.R."
& "Housequake".
The
band took a break as legendary sax player Maceo Parker played
a beautiful version of "What A Wonderful World".
After that, Prince rose from the center of his round stage
on a rotating seat. There he sat with an acoustic guitar
& a microphone to take us through some old favorites.
"Little Red Corvette", "Raspberry Beret"
& "Cream" became stripped down sing-a-longs
as Prince cracked jokes & preened like Little Richard.
He strummed a few lines of "Jailhouse Rock" before
stopping & saying, "You have to be Prince before
you’re a King."
Prince
then took us into the blues, seemingly improvising songs
about funky breath along with slamming Warner Brothers,
his former record company, & how radio wouldn’t
play his songs while he wasn’t on a major label. As
he started to play "7" the band rejoined him &
tore the roof down, giving New York City all the funk it
could handle. They went old school on "Controversy"
& new school with "Life O The Party". They
brought fans on stage to dance during "Kiss" &
"Take Me With U". The horns blared & the bass
rattled through a couple verses of "Soul Man"
while everybody in the joint got buck wild.
Prince
& the NPG left the stage for a wardrobe change &
came back for the encore. Starting with "The Beautiful
Ones", Prince got the crowd to shimmy sexily &
then he took hold of a guitar shaped like to love symbol
that was his name for most of the 90’s. The guitar
was purple.
MSG
was filled with the familiar notes of "Purple Rain".
The rainy conditions in NYC that night brought out some
inspired improvisation. Those in the audience who had them
turned Madison Square Garden into a patchwork quilt of open
umbrellas. 20 thousand voices sang in the purple rain &
witnessed a great artist. The slave has been freed long
ago & as Prince said that night, "Freedom is a
beautiful thing."
R
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