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The show poster was right- “U Never Know What Might Happen”--
Prince and his female band, 3rd Eye Girl (along with drummer Hannah Ford’s husband, Josh Welton) are back from a brief West Coast tour, and have graciously again started opening his Paisley Park studios for what may be a (semi)regular series of late night weekend concerts, called ‘Paisley Park After Dark’.
After disappointing with non-appearances the previous weekend and night before, Prince and band took the stage Saturday (early Sunday) for a fierce, guitar-driven 80min. set with 18 min. encore, that quickly made those other no-show nights, forgiven.
Beginning with the first piano notes of ‘Empty Room’ , an almost 30yr song that has yet to have its studio version released, it was clear that this would be a night most rewarding for the die-hard fans, who know even the deepest and unreleased tracks. Taking the stage at just before 12:30am, the faithful were presented with a set full of mostly newer and more obscure songs from the Purple One’s vast catalog.
The big room in Paisley Park is an open soundstage, capable of holding just over 1800 people, with state-of-the-audio, big screen backdrops in front of its large stage, and symboled mic stand, front and center. In a rare instance at his own place, he momentarily battled some minor sound issues and the three-paned screen displays were sometimes not correctly synch’d, but not enough to be a distraction.
Starting on piano for the first few tracks, Prince quickly moved to mostly guitar, though 3rd Eye guitarist Donna Grantis did most of the heavy lifting, and with considerable flash. ‘Starfish and Coffee’, from the seminal Sign o’ the Times was started, then quickly interrupted, first-verse, with a “..not here” from Prince, seguing instead into ‘Ballad of Dorothy Parker’. “Hand clap- don’t be shy”, he impaired to the mostly younger and new-to-Paisley crowd.
Casually wearing a tunic, he led a driving ‘Chaos and Disorder’, with band 3rd Eye Girl, pushing on all cylinders. The new ’Pretzelbodylogic’ followed, sounding more urgent live, than we’ve heard before. A song that could describe the audience’s feelings, ‘So Far, So Pleased’ from Rave 1999’s Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic was next, given that extra punch from Grantis’ guitars, Hannah Ford’s booming drums, and Ida Nielsen’s solid basslines.
Leaning again on 1996’s Chaos and Disorder, an extended ‘I Like It There’, moved from the express lane to more calm, then back again, with Prince imploring, “relax, make a sandwich…or dance…” during the slower part. The new ‘Fixurlifeup’ shifted it back into high gear, with Prince directing the audience as well as his band, to create the ideal interactive concert experience.
Taking up the piano again and reaching back to 1982’s classic album, 1999, ‘Something in the Water (Does not Compute)’ took the tempo down a little, until Prince had the audience chanting the chorus as he vocally riffed; then at just 50 minutes in, they briefly left the stage.
Darkness and some jazz-like piano intro’d ‘Beautiful Strange’, with its changed lyrics, with Prince feeling loose and obviously comfortable to improvise at his own place. A grooving, somewhat psychedelic ‘Stratus’ was next, complete with extended solos and space-rock organ sounds.
The band left the stage again, then returned for the crunchy 3rd Eye Girl version of hit, ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, with Prince saying beforehand, “It’s official…Hannah is a beast!” referring to the power exhibited by his young drummer.
Then, things got a little odd—
A vintage 1982 public access clip of Washington D.C. radio/TV host Petey Greene showing us all how to (and how not to) eat watermelon was beamed on the screens, as Prince held his stomach in laughter, from just outside the backstage door.
That inexplicable video led to the nights’ final encore, an 18 min. version of ‘FunknRoll’, which segued into Wild Cherry’s ‘Play That Funky Music’, with a handful of the remaining crowd, invited on stage as the rest of the crowd chanted the chorus, with Prince responding cheekily, “who you callin’ white?!”
And with that, the show was over, but not before he mentioned, “this is your house—see you next weekend…” which could signal the beginning of a busy and potentially memorable Spring at the Park. You never know what might happen…
Prince and his female band, 3rd Eye Girl (along with drummer Hannah Ford’s husband, Josh Welton) are back from a brief West Coast tour, and have graciously again started opening his Paisley Park studios for what may be a (semi)regular series of late night weekend concerts, called ‘Paisley Park After Dark’.
After disappointing with non-appearances the previous weekend and night before, Prince and band took the stage Saturday (early Sunday) for a fierce, guitar-driven 80min. set with 18 min. encore, that quickly made those other no-show nights, forgiven.
Beginning with the first piano notes of ‘Empty Room’ , an almost 30yr song that has yet to have its studio version released, it was clear that this would be a night most rewarding for the die-hard fans, who know even the deepest and unreleased tracks. Taking the stage at just before 12:30am, the faithful were presented with a set full of mostly newer and more obscure songs from the Purple One’s vast catalog.
The big room in Paisley Park is an open soundstage, capable of holding just over 1800 people, with state-of-the-audio, big screen backdrops in front of its large stage, and symboled mic stand, front and center. In a rare instance at his own place, he momentarily battled some minor sound issues and the three-paned screen displays were sometimes not correctly synch’d, but not enough to be a distraction.
Starting on piano for the first few tracks, Prince quickly moved to mostly guitar, though 3rd Eye guitarist Donna Grantis did most of the heavy lifting, and with considerable flash. ‘Starfish and Coffee’, from the seminal Sign o’ the Times was started, then quickly interrupted, first-verse, with a “..not here” from Prince, seguing instead into ‘Ballad of Dorothy Parker’. “Hand clap- don’t be shy”, he impaired to the mostly younger and new-to-Paisley crowd.
Casually wearing a tunic, he led a driving ‘Chaos and Disorder’, with band 3rd Eye Girl, pushing on all cylinders. The new ’Pretzelbodylogic’ followed, sounding more urgent live, than we’ve heard before. A song that could describe the audience’s feelings, ‘So Far, So Pleased’ from Rave 1999’s Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic was next, given that extra punch from Grantis’ guitars, Hannah Ford’s booming drums, and Ida Nielsen’s solid basslines.
Leaning again on 1996’s Chaos and Disorder, an extended ‘I Like It There’, moved from the express lane to more calm, then back again, with Prince imploring, “relax, make a sandwich…or dance…” during the slower part. The new ‘Fixurlifeup’ shifted it back into high gear, with Prince directing the audience as well as his band, to create the ideal interactive concert experience.
Taking up the piano again and reaching back to 1982’s classic album, 1999, ‘Something in the Water (Does not Compute)’ took the tempo down a little, until Prince had the audience chanting the chorus as he vocally riffed; then at just 50 minutes in, they briefly left the stage.
Darkness and some jazz-like piano intro’d ‘Beautiful Strange’, with its changed lyrics, with Prince feeling loose and obviously comfortable to improvise at his own place. A grooving, somewhat psychedelic ‘Stratus’ was next, complete with extended solos and space-rock organ sounds.
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Prince and 3rd Eye Girl
photo courtesy of twitter.com
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Then, things got a little odd—
A vintage 1982 public access clip of Washington D.C. radio/TV host Petey Greene showing us all how to (and how not to) eat watermelon was beamed on the screens, as Prince held his stomach in laughter, from just outside the backstage door.
That inexplicable video led to the nights’ final encore, an 18 min. version of ‘FunknRoll’, which segued into Wild Cherry’s ‘Play That Funky Music’, with a handful of the remaining crowd, invited on stage as the rest of the crowd chanted the chorus, with Prince responding cheekily, “who you callin’ white?!”
And with that, the show was over, but not before he mentioned, “this is your house—see you next weekend…” which could signal the beginning of a busy and potentially memorable Spring at the Park. You never know what might happen…
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Prince and 3rd Eye Girl - Paisley Park After Dark, Chanhassen, MN (30 March 2014 AM) photo courtesy of twitter.com
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