A couple weeks ago we learned that Prince performed a couple of impromptu live concerts at the Grand Palais in Paris, France after attending a few fashion shows at Paris Fashion Week. Earlier this week, Prince announced on his new official website LOTUSFLOW3R.com that he would be performing again at Paisley Park studio in Minneapolis, MN … and last night was the night. Prince is famous for his legendary late night concert performances at Paisley Park in the 80’s and 90’s but he has since slowed down the practice. The last time he played a show at Paisley Park was in 2004 in celebration of the release of his album Musicology … needless to say, those in attendance at last night’s show were in for a very special treat:
Thirty years into his career, the Minnesota icon showed his faithful something new Saturday night at Paisley Park in Chanhassen: It was his smoothest (read most efficiently run) show there ever. The show advertised for 11 p.m. actually started at 11:10, unheard of at Paisley, where shows typically have started whenever Prince feels like it (read 1 a.m. at the earliest). For the first time, he even offered a free shuttle-bus service so people could leave their vehicles at a nearby park-and-ride and take a plush bus for a 8-minute drive to Paisley. How slick was that? Late-night shows were commonplace at Paisley in the late 1990s but Prince had not done any announced shows there since 2004 after his Musicology Tour concerts at Xcel Energy Center. Those soirees cost $50 whereas Saturday’s gig (which was announced late Friday afternoon) cost $31.21 for fan-club members and $40 for others. Many of the people at Paisley this time seemed to be first-timers for the late-night Purple experience. How was the show? Prince played 10 minutes short of three hours — without changing his outfit. That’s a first. My quickie review (a full review will be posted later) is that he showed more versatility and musicality in the first hour than Michael Jackson did in his entire career. Prince started with a bunch of tunes from this year’s “Lotusflow3r” collection and then he paraded through his hits, especially from the 1980s. In fact, I don’t recall one tune from the ’90s and only “Feel 4 U” from the ’70s. With his horn-less band, Prince has never sounded funkier at Paisley. He was talkative and humorous, loose and spontaneous, calling out songs and arrangements as well as an occasional “so-low” for himself on guitar. He saluted the Time, the Doobie Brothers and the Jackson 5 in song and verbally acknowledged his debt to James Brown, the Jacksons, Chaka Khan, Rufus, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, Joni Mitchell and Tower of Power. His pal Larry Graham sat in on bass for a series of Sly & the Family Stone tunes, and backup singer Shelby J stepped out front on a couple of selections, most notably “The Arms of an Angel.” But this show was about Prince and his love of funk and his guitar prowess. He even offered a little “country western” guitar passage, as he put it, and one of his more passionate versions of “Purple Rain” to close the evening.
Judging from the songs alluded to in this report, it sounds like the last night’s setlist was very similar to the ones he performance in France recently. I gotta tell you, if I had more time to plan I might’ve hopped a plane to Minneapolis to attend last night’s concert. I have always DREAMED of seeing a show at Paisley Park … Mecca for Prince fans. I’ve been extremely jealous of the fans who live close enough to attend these performances. I hope that I will, one day, be able to see one of these shows … here’s hoping last night’s performance wasn’t the last Paisley Park show ever.
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