Detroit - June 20, 2004 The Palace (Home of the World Champion PISTONS!!!)Jun 21 '04 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Musicology - a required course for Prince Fans. One of the most entertaining, passionate, funky shows you will ever see. I have paid my dues. I am a (honing in on) 40 year old who has worshiped the Purple One since I was 15, I have stood in line in places my parents would have stroked out over to buy tickets to see Prince. I have spent my last rent penny in the 80's to see the Purple Rain Tour and snuck out with a gracious Mom of a friend at 15 to see Dirty Mind - in a part of Detroit that is not where you take tourists unless you want to scare them. So when I got my tickets from the will call box at the Palace, I decided not to look at my seats, and just handed the tickets to ushers until I got where I needed to be. Which was the 3rd row. I'd like to think the fates waited to smile on me until I was older, so I could really appreciate the finest artist in our generation. For the first time ever, I took my husband, whom I believe was humoring me by tagging along. The look on his face when we were seated with the rest of the NPG Music Club was worth a million to me. FYI - It's worth your money to join the NPG Club - they take good care of you when it comes to seating. Prince took the stage an hour late, luckily for many of the sold out show. He opened with Musicology, and segued into Let's Go Crazy - dropping streamers and confetti from the ceiling. Reminded me of the raining flowers from the Purple Rain Tour. We sat down a total of 3 times the whole show, twice for costume change lapses, and once out of respect for "the Master" Maceo Parker's rendition of "What a Wonderful World". It was so hauntingly beautiful that the place was silent as the last notes floated from his sax. The whole arena quieted for what was my favorite part - Prince and his acoustic guitar for a set that included "Cream, Raspberry Beret, Adore, and Chaka Khan's Sweet Thing. He told us all to go home and sing "Cream" looking in the mirror, because that's how he wrote it. He listened to us sing, turned up his nose when we weren't loud enough, and laughed at the butchering of numerous keys on our part. Then he sang and played and made me feel 20 again. He reminisced about a 1980's Detroit DJ who made him famous here - The Electrifying Mojo. It's true that Prince never forgets those who loved him "way back when". His sense of humor was in perfect form - wearing a Piston's jersey (Tayshawn Prince of course) and declaring "We Hate The Lakers" - with the band at the beginning of the show. The horn section was phenomenal - and the whole band tight as can be. We heard many radio favorites - Kiss, Let's Work (Rhonda on the bass was as funky as Brown Mark ever was), Take Me With You, DMSR to name some of the big ones. Personally, my favorites are not ones you hear often, so I was the tiniest bit disappointed when he stayed on the path of Musicology and Top 40 Hits. (If I had heard Computer Blue or Anna Stesia, I would still be on Cloud 9)!! Only one encore folks - Purple Rain. Don't hang around for more or you'll be stuck in traffic even longer than average. Absolute best song in the show - "Sign O' The Times". Entertainment - 5 Stars. At 46, Prince has not lost his step, his energy is electric and his talent is as deep as ever. I do miss Wendy and Lisa, and I and respect his conversion to the Jehovah's Witness sect, I was pleased to see that he could switch the lines of words he found inappropriate and still keep a packed house on it's feet for 2 solid hours. Not to worry - he still exudes sensuality. 1st Row members were invited up to dance for the final songs. The old school girls with booties and curves were dancing circles around the 20 somethings with their pants hanging above their pubic hair. (Youth isn't everything girls - you got to DANCE too). Prince & The NPG's last line for those who remember "back in the day": "We don't like new wave".... Oh yeah - my husband? Took his free with ticket Musicology CD to listen to in the car on the way to work today. I think we have a convert.  |
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