02-29-2016, 12:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-29-2016, 12:49 PM by Drunk Monk.)
It was called PRINCE: a piano & a microphone.
Tickets went on sale last Wednesday and sold out immediately. An ol' Deadhead Rasta martial arts friend of mine scored some, and I jokingly mentioned on fb that it was my birthday. On Saturday, he hooked me up. Best birthday surprise ever. It's been years since I've been in the Paramount and it remains one of the most beautiful theaters in the Bay Area - it's golden art deco adds an elegance, an echo of when the theater experience was much classier.
I've seen Prince several times before. I saw him at San Jose Events center and at BGC, many many years ago, before this forum so I can't really remember when that was. I suppose I could work it out by cross-reffing tour dates on the net, but it's not that important to me. He always satisfies. This show made me completely rethink him. I've always considered him as a guitarist. Not sure why because he plays everything. He played every instrument on 1999 (which I have in vinyl still). Stripped down to just a grand piano, he wasn't as funky without percussion and horn attacks. He was more jazzy, more R&B. He could get so much sound out of that grand - just amazing. And his vocals were as on point as I've ever seen him, switching effortlessly between his angelic castrati falsetto to his rocker eagle shriek to his reedy tenor - his vocal range was far beyond what I remember. And in all fairness, it wasn't just Prince, a piano and a microphone. He also had this kaleidoscope backdrop that was totally beguiling. I've seen a lot of kaleidoscopic backdrops, but none so hypnotizing as this one.
Musically, he jammed through his standards and others with the cool confidence of a master. Little Red Corvette>Peanuts theme>Little Red Corvette. A sweet rendition of Marley's Waiting in Vain without the faintest hint of reggae, and yet so soulful and heartical. He held the audience in his purple palm, commanding us to clap with just two claps, getting tremendous call-response with the choruses. I don't think he played a single song all the way through. Instead, he just jammed back and forth through his massive catalog of tunes. Four encores. I haven't felt an audience that unified with his exiting "Free Yourself" chant since the days of the Grateful Dead's Not Fade Aways. Simply put, Prince is an unbelievable talent.
I got a free DVD on the way out - HITnRUN from last year - and listened to it on the ride home. It didn't do much for me. Prince's live experience just does not compare to his recorded work.
Tickets went on sale last Wednesday and sold out immediately. An ol' Deadhead Rasta martial arts friend of mine scored some, and I jokingly mentioned on fb that it was my birthday. On Saturday, he hooked me up. Best birthday surprise ever. It's been years since I've been in the Paramount and it remains one of the most beautiful theaters in the Bay Area - it's golden art deco adds an elegance, an echo of when the theater experience was much classier.
I've seen Prince several times before. I saw him at San Jose Events center and at BGC, many many years ago, before this forum so I can't really remember when that was. I suppose I could work it out by cross-reffing tour dates on the net, but it's not that important to me. He always satisfies. This show made me completely rethink him. I've always considered him as a guitarist. Not sure why because he plays everything. He played every instrument on 1999 (which I have in vinyl still). Stripped down to just a grand piano, he wasn't as funky without percussion and horn attacks. He was more jazzy, more R&B. He could get so much sound out of that grand - just amazing. And his vocals were as on point as I've ever seen him, switching effortlessly between his angelic castrati falsetto to his rocker eagle shriek to his reedy tenor - his vocal range was far beyond what I remember. And in all fairness, it wasn't just Prince, a piano and a microphone. He also had this kaleidoscope backdrop that was totally beguiling. I've seen a lot of kaleidoscopic backdrops, but none so hypnotizing as this one.
Musically, he jammed through his standards and others with the cool confidence of a master. Little Red Corvette>Peanuts theme>Little Red Corvette. A sweet rendition of Marley's Waiting in Vain without the faintest hint of reggae, and yet so soulful and heartical. He held the audience in his purple palm, commanding us to clap with just two claps, getting tremendous call-response with the choruses. I don't think he played a single song all the way through. Instead, he just jammed back and forth through his massive catalog of tunes. Four encores. I haven't felt an audience that unified with his exiting "Free Yourself" chant since the days of the Grateful Dead's Not Fade Aways. Simply put, Prince is an unbelievable talent.
I got a free DVD on the way out - HITnRUN from last year - and listened to it on the ride home. It didn't do much for me. Prince's live experience just does not compare to his recorded work.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse