Fan Is Short for Fanatic
As you may already know about me, I am the world's hugest Prince fan. Always have been. I remember the first time I heard him. I was at my grandma's house and my super-cool, older cousin, Missy, brought in a record she had just bought. It was Prince's "Purple Rain" and we listened to it on a record player. While I was only about 6-7 years old, I remember that the music was fun to dance to and since Missy liked it, I knew it had to be cool.
In middle school my best friend and I choreographed a short dance to "7" for some class that I can't even recall now. Once I was in middle school I could see past just the good beat of Prince's music and start to get a glimpse of his raw talent.
He is 5 foot 2 of pure sexiness.
His lyrics are blatantly obvious. No hidden message. It's no wonder why so much of his music has not been played on the radio. Even Tipper Gore got involved and his "Darlin' Nikki" back in the early 80s is the reason music now has the "Parental Discretion Advised" label. Now that is a powerful artist. His music isn't made for everyone, and certainly much of it is not suitable for children. However, for grown ups who want to hear it, he speaks his mind. That kind of honesty and openness is something most artists these days won't do.
In high school my Prince obsession exploded. I loved every song of his that I heard and searched to find older albums so I could experience even more. I would doodle in class (because who really wanted to pay attention in AP Government) and my doodle typically revolved around trying to write down as many Prince song titles as I could think of. I could get at least 50 in before the teacher would become suspicious of my sudden passion for note taking in his class and I would quickly turn the page. Also as a cheerleader, we did a dance number to the "Purple Medley" my senior year. It was choreographed by Holli -- a member of the squad who shares in my love of Prince and who also attended this weekend's concert with me.
I have tried to see him in concert before. He toured the East Coast my freshman year of college and I had planned to see him in South Carolina, but he cancelled the show before we got tickets. He hasn't even been back on the East Coast since 2004, so when Holli contacted me that Prince was going to be in Greensboro in 2 weeks, I KNEW we had to find a way to be there. We wanted to get the best seats possible and were lucky enough to get seats in the 2nd row! Holli and I went with her cousin, Meegan. I didn't know who Meegan was until she walked in the door and I recognized her as a girl I had grown up with and who had played on my sister's softball team when we were younger. Small world! Who knew we all had the same affection/obsession for Prince?!
Showtime
Chaka Khan opened for Prince and we got there in time to hear her last few songs (she only played about half an hour and traffic was a beast getting in to the show). She rocked "I'm Every Woman" and we were starting to get in the mood for the big show. Holli and Meegan had both seen Prince before and they were so excited to see the look on my face when he first stepped on stage.
The music started playing. D.M.S.R. (Dance. Music. Sex. Romance.). Suddenly he popped centerstage through an elevator and starting singing and dancing and I almost lost my mind! We each had hoped to hear our FAVORITE Prince song: Holli -- "Adore," Meegan -- "When Doves Cry," Me -- "Delirious." He played so many of his popular songs and yes, we each heard our favorite! I knew he wouldn't play some of his famous songs simply because since converting to a Jehovah's Witness, he doesn't curse anymore and well, that takes out a lot of his raunchy (and some would say, awesome) songs. He did manage to sing a couple of those songs by changing one line of the lyrics here and there. I'll take that.
I think we made eye contact with him several times during the show since we were seated so close. The most memorable for me was when after singing "When Doves Cry" he stopped and turned to face us while the crowd was going crazy. He looked right at me and I screamed like a teenager at a Beatles or Elvis concert. You know the ones that scream and cry and sometimes faint? That's what I looked like. The only difference in my experience and those back in the 1950s or 60s is that I was taking a cell phone video of that moment and when he looked at ME, you can hear me scream a high-pitched squeal and see the video get REALLY shaky. It's a moment that I'll never forget and I'm glad to have it on video.
To be fair I wasn't the only one feeling overwhelmed by the live experience of Prince. The two women next to us were sobbing when he played "Adore" as his final song. Not just crying. Sobbing.
I was a little worried that this concert wouldn't live up to my expectations. I've been anticipating it for more than 15 years. That's a lot of build up. He BLEW me away. His voice was perfect -- complete with the high-pitch, classic Prince sounds, his guitar playing was sensational and his dancing (including him slowly slithering across the stage to "Little Red Corvette") was exactly what you would expect from Prince. This was a concert of a lifetime for me and I'm so happy that I got to experience it. Best. Concert. Ever.
Setlist
Here's the full setlist thanks to some awesome website that keeps track.
1. D.M.S.R. (Dance. Music. Sex. Romance.)
2. Pop Life
3. Musicology
4. Don't Stop Til You Get Enough (a Michael Jackson cover when he pulled a lady in her 50s on stage to dance. Awesome.)
5. Cool (a cover of a Time song)
6. U Got the Look
7. Misty Blue
8. Rasberry Beret
9. Take Me With U
10. She's Always in My Hair
11. Controversy
12. Housequake
13. The Cross
14. Let's Go Crazy
15. Delirious
16. 1999
17. Little Red Corvette
18. Purple Rain (complete with purple confetti exploding in the air to give us all purple rain while the crowd sung along for what felt like 20 minutes. Beautiful. Amazing. Moving.)
Encore:
19. When Doves Cry
20. Nasty Girl
21. Darlin Nikki (it would have made Tipper Gore lose her mind)
22. Sign "O" the Times
23. Alphabet Street
24. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
25. The Bird (another Time cover -- you remember, Morris Day and the Time from the movie Purple Rain?)
Encore 2:
26. Jungle Love (the Time cover)
27. Love Rollercoaster (cover)
28. Play That Funky Music (AWESOME cover)
29. Which Way is Up
30. Kiss
31. If I Was Your Girlfriend (he sang this while dancing on top of the purple piano which was about 10 feet from our seats. A-maz-ing.)
32. Insatiable
33. Scandalous
34. Adore (Again, sung from on top of the piano right in front of us)
