prince updates.

I was starting to write what was turning into a lengthy analysis of Prince's 90's career, when I figured "what's the point?". For me, he continues to operate on a creative level that almost any musician would aspire to. His hit-making days may be over, but the man clearly doesn't care. He's in it for the music, which continues to be excellent, and I continue to enjoy. Can't wait to see the tour!

Obviously you haven't yet heard The Rainbow Children. Lucky you.

Prince vs. his fans: fite!

http://princefansunited.com/

She'll want me from my head to my feet

MOUNTAINS EXTENDED MIX

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/10/28/prince.21.nights.ap/index.html

I'm listening to his records obsessively these days.
I even made peace with Lovesexy.

i'm the other way marco.
leading up to one of the 21 nights, i OD'd on his music, and haven't been able to listen to any since.
beginning to think though, that the period of cold turkey has been long enough now.

actually, I didnt listen to him for a long time, but a couple of weeks ago I stumbled on a collection of b-sides and from there I went back to the proper albums. hearing again "parade" after all these years really gave me the goosebumps.

so so sad i couldn't do this

l.a. Times blog

It was two years ago to the Sunday when Prince, under a torrent of rain in the middle of Miami’s Dolphin Stadium at Super Bowl XLI, dazzled the world with a panoramic 12 minutes of his biggest hits next to pumped-up covers of “Proud Mary” and the Foo Fighters’ “Best of You.”

But in the wee hours of Feb. 1 in the opulent basement of his Beverly Hills mansion -- a rec room that boasts a Prince-emblazoned pool table and and an encased "Purple Rain" motorcycle -- Prince played an equally wide-ranging and mind-boggling set for a far more intimate gathering of fewer than 50 people, all of it designed to celebrate the launch of his Website lotusflow3r.com.

After a presentation of the new site, which looks to be an all-encompassing portal to Prince's history as well as a direct line to the three albums he has slated for 2009 (the first being "Lotus Flow3r", the electro-charged '80s flashback "MPLSound" and the debut of his latest protégé Bria Valente), Prince emerged for post-press conference concert with a blistering rendition of the Cars’ 1979 new wave hit “Let’s Go.”

Prince led his lethal band, including the amazingly hard-hitting female drummer Cora Coleman-Dunham, through a nearly two-hour set. It was a rollicking, celebratory affair, and it included takes on the Rolling Stones (“Miss You”), the Doobie Brothers (“Long Train Running”), Mary J. Blige (“Be Happy”) and a Sly & the Family Stone medley.

Among the small but enthusiastic crowd were "Fame's" Debbie Allen and singer Anita Baker, the latter of whom eventually joined the band to trade vocals with Prince and his stellar trio of female vocalists, Liv Warfield, Shelby J and Marva King. When he launched into his own well of hits to churn out his 1981 single “Controversy” and “Feel For You,” the song made famous by Chaka Khan, a small dance floor erupted into what could have been a scene for a surreal music video commemorating the “Electric Slide."

“Y’all done tore up my carpet!” Prince chuckled afterward.

Never one to shy away from music technology, Prince let the band take a breather to perform a solo set on a keyboard sequencer. Vamping along alternately on guitar and drums, he spun out versions of fan favorites like 1982 B-side “Irresistible Bitch” and "Sign o’ the Times"-era nuggets “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” and “Hot Thing.”

When Prince finally ended the show, he played an amiable host in the massive kitchen, flitting around the room in shoes that lighted up with red lights with each step as two cooks prepared an array of food for his guests (yes, the shoes lighted up with each step). Downstairs, DJ Rashida, in front of the original motorcycle from the film "Purple Rain," spun dance hits until a fuse blew.

Chatting up one of Prince's backup singers, Liv Warfield, she suggested I stick around. “There was talk of another set,” she dished. “You always have to be ready at a moment’s notice.”

Not 20 minutes later, Prince strode by purposely. “Come y’all, let’s hit it one more time, real quick,” he said to his band, and soon everyone was back in the basement for Round 2.

The now post-2 a.m. set was a gospel-tinged stroll through classic soul and R&B classics, showcasing his female singers on songs like “When Will We Be Paid” and the Friends of Distinction classic “Going in Circles.”

Ending with a spirited rendition of “Love Bizarre," which segued into a live mash-up of the lyrics to Rick James’ “Give It to Me Baby” matched with Prince's own “Let’s Work,” the singer, who by the way does a hilarious Kat Williams impression, seemed impressed with the endurance of the dozen or so die-hards that stayed until the end, which was sometime past 3 a.m.

Sending guests on their way with a click of his illuminated heels, Prince once again proved his status as one of America’s premier musical icons. The only thing missing was pancakes.

-Scott Sterling

yeah, sorry, i had to take off from that private party at prince's house, just couldn't stay up until 3.

fuck prince....i had a ticket for his dublin show....56,000 out of 80,000 sold....pissy little purple blooded lothario cancelled....'less than expected' ticket sales. Fuck.

80,000?!

80,000 indeed

faints @ the tracklist for that show

yeah, sorry, i had to take off from that private party at prince's house, just couldn't stay up until 3.

FUCK ME SIDEWAYS I WOULD HAVE TAKEN SOMEONE'S SPOT AT THAT FUCKING HOUSE.

'when will we be paid', woah

Yeah, that's a dope tune, too bad it was never released anywhere except as a B-side to a single few people bought.

Prince led his lethal band, including the amazingly hard-hitting female drummer Cora Coleman-Dunham, through a nearly two-hour set. It was a rollicking, celebratory affair, and it included takes on the Rolling Stones (“Miss You”), the Doobie Brothers (“Long Train Running”), the female artist Mary J. Blige (“Be Happy”) and a Sly & the Family Stone medley.

Among the small but enthusiastic crowd were "Fame's" female Debbie Allen and female singer Anita Baker, the latter of whom eventually joined the band to trade vocals with Prince and his stellar trio of female vocalists, Liv Warfield, Shelby J and Marva King. When he launched into his own well of hits to churn out his 1981 single “Controversy” and “Feel For You,” the song made famous by female artist Chaka Khan, a small dance floor erupted into what could have been a scene for a surreal music video commemorating the “Electric Slide."

Wow.

Hey, since the party was there to promoto lotusflow3r, maybe there will be footage from it on there.

are the songs on that site supposed to represent the three different albums? too bad "discojellyfish" is an instrumental.

Hell of a setlist:

No More Candy 4 U
Old Skool Company (Purple Rain Intro)
Stand (Sly & the Family Stone)
Turn Me Loose
I Want You Back (Jackson 5)
Dance 4 Me
1999
I Feel 4 U
Controversy
All Day, All Night chant
Sexy Dancer - Le Freak (Chic)
Northside
Why U Wanna Treat Me So Bad ?
Take Me With U
Anotherloverholenyohead / Rock Lobster (The B-52’s)
Guitar
Raspberry Beret
Arms of the Angel (Sarah McLachlan) (sung by Shelby J)
Forever In My Life
Everyday People (Sly & the Family Stone)
I Want To Take You Higher (Sly & the Family Stone)
Thank You (Falettinme be mice elf agin) (Sly & the Family Stone)
Dancin’ Machine (The Jacksons)
Sing A Simple Song (Sly & the Family Stone)
If You Want Me To Stay (Sly & the Family Stone)
Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry)
Mountains
Shake Your Body (The Jacksons)
Long Train Runnin’ (Doobie Brothers)

Encore #1
Uptown
Let’s Work
Cool
Sometimes It Snows In April
The Bird
Jungle Love
The Glamorous Life
Kiss

Encore #2
Purple Rain

With Larry Graham on the Sly stuff. Cool.

Are the Jacksons / Jackson 5 tunes in memory of Michael? Can't imagine Prince giving MJ such a tribute before his death.

I didn't think he and Michael Jackson liked each other.

Maybe it was just a professional rivalry, but I know I read something about this.

Anotherloverholenyohead / Rock Lobster (The B-52’s)

!

damn i would kill to have been there

i dont know that much about the prince mj relationship but i didnt think it was straight up animosity just a little bit of wilson v mccartney style professional rivalry/jealousy

wow

Wow - this sounds like so much fun. The Bird into Jungle Love in the encore must've been a blast. Wonder if Morris & Jerome were there.

i love that he does these things -- that he just enjoys playing that much. and that he does it for his hometown.

"Anotherloverholenyohead / Rock Lobster (The B-52’s)"

Was actually just him running thru the RL riff when he changed guitars mid-song. Awesome show though, and seriously underattended!

Only time I've ever heard a performer announce "we could be here all night!" and thought it was actually a possibility.

underattended?! i heard it was advertised in the paper, can't believe it wouldn't have been sold out?

these kinds of shows are just normal though. prince is always playing these songs and for long stretches. its not a rarity anymore. its pretty much the normal prince show!

i mean, youd think he might have a new repertoire of sly songs by now. hes been doing those same old classics for about 10 years.

Not even close to sold out. I'd say 3/5 full at most.

It's not "just normal" if you've never been to one!!

and he hadn't played paisley park in years, right?

HOW CAN THAT SHIT BE 2/5 EMPTY?!?!/1?1?

AND WHY DON'T I LIVE IN STPLMPLS ANYMORE ;_;

if prince did some modern covers or some covers i wouldnt expect him to do id be more excited.

that "encore #1" set is straight fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB5_yGttaw8

haha @ "Sometimes It Snows In April" right in the middle of all these funk jams

apparently he sat in at bunker's last week (prior to the paisley park show)

Wake me up when he puts out something as good as Purple Rain again!! I do love him though.

get used to that snooze button

Get the japan-only Purple Rain remaster, srsly it's like falling in love all over again.

or, you know, get ANY of the albums he released between 1984 and 1995

http://blogs.centrictv.com/music/soulsessions/behind-the-groove-prince-reveals-dates-for-%E2%80%9Cwelcome-2-america%E2%80%9D-tour/

special guests ranging from Janelle Monae to Sheila E to Mint Condition to Esperanza Spalding and kicks off in December.

So if for some reason you are interested, Target is now selling the 3-disc LotusFlow3r package for $5.99. Its definitely worth it for that price.

Ha, I just revived a separate thread on something else...but hey, might as well post it here too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETbXkTqUzpg

that was weird the simultaneous unrelated prince revives, i was like is this guy dead

So if for some reason you are interested, Target is now selling the 3-disc LotusFlow3r package for $5.99. Its definitely worth it for that price.

― one pretty obvious guy in the obvious (jon /via/ chi 2.0)

I think it's been like that for a while now. I picked it up at that price earlier in the year.

that was weird the simultaneous unrelated prince revives, i was like is this guy dead

― ice cr?m, Sunday, December 5, 2010 11:00 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

yeah that freaked me out for a sec

Sorry, I just wasn't sure which thread to put that in.

i put together a prince tribute band for a one-time thing this weekend, it was one of the most fun gigs i've ever had: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJFgtMgGlkI

^^ A+++ :-D

Nice!!!

^^ A+++ :-D

^hoos

also lol at Purple Veins, and guitarist is lovechild of chak1 and lj

so great. that's too good to be a one gig deal!

yeah that was awes

Take that on the road, dammit.

aww thanks guys. i only wish there was more video, esp of the super heavy funk.

that song above started a medley that was something like i wanna be your lover > controversy > love bizarre > cream > u got the look > head > d.m.s.r. > sexy m.f.. there were a bunch more mini-medleys too (erotic city > when doves cry).

i wanna be your lover > controversy > love bizarre > cream > u got the look > head > d.m.s.r. > sexy m.f..

Is there not even SOME recording of that? Audio only at least?

:(

oh hey, i found another video, but the sound is really distorted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZtFNzF-fD4

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/click-track/post/a-peek-inside-prince-inside-the-music-and-the-masks/2011/10/20/gIQAb31P3L_blog.html

That's a post about a new book about Prince by Dr. Dre biographer Ronin Ro,

Revive in anticipation of the upcoming "Welcome 2 Canada" tour. What can I expect from a latter day Prince performance? Does he play Black Sweat live?

no. you can expect it to be amazing.

he does this thing now where he comes out in a cape made of human skin, it's pretty cool. but don't ask him to play "cold sweat" or he will ritually disembowel one of his backup singers.

Has Prince started allowing boots of his live shows to circulate? Seems like they are much more freely available these days

where?

I read a reference somewhere that I can't find that Prince has been facilitating the circulation of recent live shows...not studio material or older live stuff. And at Bigozine2 there are numerous recent Prince shows available...

he released one soundboard a few months ago on soundcloud