Prince @ MSG

The first Prince song I remember hearing is "Little Red Corvette" on AM radio. In junior high, I taped Purple Rain off of a record I checked out of the library. A friend was dating a girl named Nikki, and his friends used to tease him by singing "Darling Nikki" to him. That summer, I wore the tape out.

The first album I bought was Diamonds and Pearls, used, from a record store in New York. I wanted to hear the song "Gett Off" after a friend of mine told me she had done a dance routine to the song in college. By then I knew the hit songs, and knew he wrote "Nothing Compares 2 U" (the number and letter gave it away), but hadn't realized he also had penned Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You."

The first time I saw him in concert, Chaka Khan opened for him; I was surprised to have recognized all of her songs. The show was at Madison Square Garden and he was spectacular. That night I searched on ebay and bid on a lot of 10 of his records. Since then I've collected them all.

The next time I saw him he was playing a club show at the now defunkt Life (it's since become a theater). Doors opened at 9.30 pm. He didn't start performing until quarter to three. By the time I walked out of the club, it was light outside. I climbed into bed just before dawn to wake up two hours later to go to work.

Just before this past birthday, Patty invited me to see him at the House of Blues. Then we learned the show was at two in the morning. She had to work, and I had to catch a train for San Jose. We passed. But in the excitement, I decided I had to see him again. Back in New York I searched for tickets to his sold out show and, surprisingly, found some. He had extended his stay at the Garden from three nights to six. Posters around town crowned it his one week reign (I suppose even God had to rest on the seventh day).

As we made our way into the Garden and up the stairs, ushers handed us copies of his new CD. At 8.20 the lights went off. The band started into the title track and he emerged from the center of the stage. He played for almost three hours. At one point, he paused and smiled at the crowd. "You're never gonna get me out of here," he said, then went back to playing his guitar.

The concert was in the round, the stage a cross in the middle of the Garden. He danced, he strutted, he played his guitar. From a medly of hits, he charged into an extended jam session after changing his clothes. Just past the midway point, his band left the stage, leaving him alone on a stool with an acoustic guitar. He started with "Little Red Corvette" before playing the blues. He played "I will never take the place of your man," surprising me, then played two songs I didn't know, but which the crowd sang word for word. Prince played his guitar and listened. Then said, "Now I'll sing a song for you."

When the band returned they launched into "Seven" before breaking into a ballad from the new album. Then it was into another medly. At one break between segments, Maceo Parker donned a pair of sunglasses and sang "Georgia on my mind."

In the middle of the concert I turned to Simone and said in the future it was no longer a question whether I would want to see him when he came to town. "Do you want to get tickets?" YES!

Before Prince returned for his encore, the crowd was deafening. I've never heard screams so piercing. The people next to Simone left. She shook her head. "They're going to miss 'Purple Rain,'" she said. I don't even remember what he sang when he came back to the stage, but he closed with "Purple Rain." As he came to the end, the crowd sang the vowels. "Oooooo oooooo oooooo. Ooooooo ooooooo oooooo," as Prince cheered us on.

Walking to the subway I passed a car blasting "Musicology" from its speakers. The funk thickened the damp air. "Heard about the party just east of Harlem . . ." In the subway, people clung to their simply packaged copies of the album. As we walked out of the stadium, Simone kept singing the last bit of "Purple Rain." Around us we could hear people continuing to "oooo ooooo ooooo." As if the concert were continuing to echo into the night. Posted by eku at July 14, 2004 12:03 AM