W♥M

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl - Record Release Party @ Paisley Park, Chanhassen, MN (30 Sept 2014)

Read More Prince Since Prince isn’t big into celebrating anniversaries (or even the very concept of time itself), First Avenue is picking up the baton and is hosting a Purple Rain 30th Anniversary Dance Party and Costume Contest, Tonight in the Mainroom. …

The Purple faithful were poised and ready.

Prince had recently announced a live webstream via Yahoo Music, of an album release party for the two new albums that came out yesterday- Plectrum Electrum with band 3^rd Eye Girl, and Art Official Age (both on NPG/Warner Bros), a solo effort done mostly with 3^rd Eye drummer Hannah Ford-Welton’s husband, Josh.

No public access or performance was announced, so everyone was glued to their computer, waiting for the 9:30 CST start time… until just after 8pm. 3^Rd Eye Girl’s Twitter announced that the show would be open to attend with just one word- “Come!” and with just over an hour’s notice, area Prince fans made the pilgrimage to the fabled Paisley Park in outlying Chanhassen.

Those that arrived early, were told to remain in their cars, until the soundstage was prepped and live feed properly established; but just before 10pm, the first groups of queued up patrons, were allowed in.

The smaller Love4OneAnother/NPGMC room began the evening’s festivities, with a NPG Jazz project led by drummer John Blackwell and sax player Marcus Anderson, playing amongst stark blue lighting and a hazy mist.

In the bigger room, a DJ was spinning and people were already crowding the stage, as the gear was set up for a performance. As the DJ segued out of new song, ‘The Breakdown’, Prince, dressed in a vest, chains, and large sunglasses (as well as heels that lighted up in the back), took to the stage along with 3^rd Eye Girl with a roar, starting with a stretched-out, raucous ‘Pretzelbodylogic’ from Plectrum Electrum. Each musician got their turn to shine on the track, notably guitarist Donna Grantis.

Tempo grooved downward (almost like for a commercial break of a TV broadcast) and then unannounced guest Kendrick Lamar stalked the stage with Prince commenting, “take this mic, ‘cause I can’t sing”, on a brooding updated take of “What’s My Name” that had Lamar spitting lyrical fire.

Cue another TV timeout-like break, and the band re-emerged with singer Liv Warfield for a soulful cover of Sly Stone’s ‘Thankful n’ Thoughtful’, to re-energize the impromptu crowd of almost 300.

But, just like that and before the set had time to establish any flow or groove, it was over.  The DJ resumed playing tracks old and new and the crowd mingled and conversed, hoping for another live set after the webcast finished, but no luck.

Prince on Yahoo Music photo: Yahoo Music

The webcast itself is on replay for a short time only at Yahoo Music’s site so dial it up while you still can. In addition to the short live performance, additional interviews, unreleased tracks, and a brief tour of Paisley Park are included.

While the free event was special in that we joined Prince at his place on the day of the two albums being released, the brief performance served only as a small appetizer platter, leaving everyone hungry for much more. Let’s hope more Paisley Park performances are in the cards over the next several weekends.

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl @ Paisley Park, Chanhassen (30 Sept 2014) Image courtesy of Yahoo Music Stream

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl - Paisley Park After Dark, Chanhassen, MN (30 March 2014 AM) concert review

Setlist Empty Room How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore Starfish and Coffee (aborted) Ballad of Dorothy Parker Chaos and Disorder Pretzelbodylogic So Far, So Pleased I Like It There Fixurlifeup Something In The Water (Does Not Compute) Beautiful Strange Stratus Let's Go Crazy FunkNRoll > Play that Funky Music Read More Prince Did you catch Prince's appearance on "New Girl"? If so, you may have heard his brand new single, "FALLINLOVE2NITE", featuring singer and actress Zooey Deschanel.…

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.

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl photo courtesy of twitter.com

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 3rd Eye Girl - Paisley Park After Dark, Chanhassen, MN (30 March 2014 AM) photo courtesy of twitter.com

john () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Prince w/ the NPG, 3rdEyeGirl at Paisley Park, Chanhassen, MN (10/05/13) concert review

Setlist (deviated from the printed version) 1999 Diamonds and Pearls Old Friends 4 Sale People Pleaser > Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone > F.U.N.K. Dark Something in the Water (Does Not Compute) Musicology Love Rollercoaster > Play That Funky Music Extraloveable (reloaded) Purple Rain Breakfast Can Wait Mutiny Encore: It’s Alright Act of God > What Have You Done for Me Lately? > Northside > Which Way Is Up? > Dancing Machine > Partyman Nothing Compares 2 U Cool > Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough> Sir Duke (snippet) Read More Prince Sure, I would love to see Prince live, but for $250 a ticket? I think I'll stay home. On top of the expensive tickets, fans must follow strict rules: no cameras, no cell phones…

“Ain’t no party like a Purple Party!” Prince had the crowd call-and-respond more than once during his 100 min. set at Paisley Park over the weekend. Of all the places in the world he plays, none is more special and more comfortable for him than at his own studio in the western metro suburb of Chanhassen, MN and Saturday night was a ‘Housequake’ indeed.

In typical Prince fashion, the show was announced a mere couple days prior and lines started forming early that morning for a show than would no doubt, run into the wee hours of the night. The big room at Paisley is impressive—an open 12,500 sq. ft. soundstage that held some 1,200 fans with a fine-tuned sound system and full lighting rigs.

All corners filled as the pre-show festivities started just after 10pm, with an hour-plus of music featuring singers Shelby J, Liv Warfield, and Elisa (Fiorello) Dease doing a short set each, backed by all-female band 3rd Eye Girl and the well-dressed 11pc. New Power Generation horns.

The crowd was teased with ‘Days of Wild’, but no Prince appearance, until after 10-year old Brianna Curiel sang her heart out of the appropriately-named cover of Etta James’ ‘At Last’. Prince emerged from the shadows to congratulate her just before midnight then promptly ripped into the set opener, ‘1999’ and followed with the combination punch of ‘Diamond and Pearls’ that immediately whipped the crowd up.

The well-rehearsed band(s) then took to a medley with seamless segues starting with Andy Allo’s ‘People Pleaser’, morphing into the new ‘Ain’t Gonna Miss U When U’re Gone’, and ending with a thumping ‘F.U.N.K.’ Slowing the tempo down for a simmering ‘Dark’, the trademark falsetto had females swooning and lead sax man Marcus Anderson wailing on cue.

A stark ‘Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)' featuring only keyboardist Cassandra O’Neal was stellar then the tempo was brought back up by his ode to “real music played by real musicians” ‘Musicology’ which segued into ‘Love Rollercoaster/Play That Funky Music’. Sadly, that was the only time Prince briefly played guitar during the set, though 3rd Eye guitarist Donna Grantis more than held her own all evening.

After half-teasing the show might be over and flashing his trademark grin, the audience was treated to an emotive ‘Purple Rain’- “This is your song, Minneapolis”, he remarked before Anderson blew his solo with little abandon.

Photo of Setlist

The spirited encore started with a non-stop medley of hits anchored by Shelby J, Prince returning to the stage just as ‘Dancing Machine’ finished and launching into a loose and crowd-participating version of ‘Partyman’ before circling it back again to ‘It’s Alright’. Tempo slowed once more, with Prince doing another voice impression/story to intro ‘Nothing Compares to U’, with duet partner Shelby J. The purple party would wind to a close with a thunderous mash-up of ‘Cool’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop til You Get Enough’, which he mockingly dedicated to concert promoter AEG.

Not as overall impactful as his October 2009 three-hour performance at Paisley, the show seemed more of a vehicle to highlight the introduction of the new horn section and underutilized 3rd Eye Girl’s impressive talents as a result. Of course, we all missed his unparalleled guitar work and from my vantage point, wished his vocals were further up in the mix, but those are minor quibbles. The performance itself was mesmerizing and the rare chance to see the master at work at his own place.

Prince seemed very at-ease to play at home- walking through the crowd banging a tambourine, fist-bumping fans, and telling stories and jokes from the stage. “Should we do this again next weekend?” he asked the crowd – the answer was incredibly obvious.

Prince at Paisley Park, Chanhassen (10/05/13) NOTE: Image above is a screengrab from the live stream

john () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ 3rdeyegirl.com