I've never been a manic Prince fan; familiar with his hits but appreciated the funkier/sexier side of things (see Musicology, Gett Off) more than the poppy stuff. But I'd heard he puts on a good show and figured he's one of those 'must-see' artists so got a ticket ($180 a piece) to his Brisbane show.
The show started nicely with his band the New Power Generation (NPG), consisting of drums, bass and keys (each player a solo professional in their own right), sounding great. Sadly it wasn't the same for Prince's guitar which was muddy and distorted as if it was turned up too loud, but as the show progressed the sound issues were resolved. As for Prince's voice, all I can say is that the brother's got soul. Ripping out the high notes whenever he wanted was not a problem and he wasn't afraid to throw down shapes on the dance floor even in his golden heeled shoes.
The man is a multi-instrumentalist; whether he's using his voice, shredding guitar solos, ripping on the bass (seen later at the after party - see more below), bringing the funk on the synth, or serenading us on the piano you knew you were watching a true artist, or The Artist even!
The setlist contained some of the expected hits such as Lets Go Crazy, Raspberry Beret and Cream with the ocassional cover (Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Everyday People), but it was the deconstructed solo piano tunes such as Diamonds and Pearls and How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore, along with the epic Purple Rain, where Prince really shone for me.
The crowd took a little while to get warmed up and although they never went gangbusters there was still plenty of dancing going on around the venue right up into the cheap seats. The show ended kind of abruptly after the crowd tried to get a second encore but Prince obviously wasn't feeling it. After staying around for about 10 minutes the roadies started taking down the stage setup signalling that was all the Prince this crowd was getting for the evening... that is unless you were going to try for the official after party that had be announced as being hosted at the Hi Fi Bar in West End, basically the other side of town.
I'm not into waiting in long queues. By the time I got to the Hi Fi there was what turned out to be about 400 people in front of me. I joined the line, maybe around midnight, and figured I'd wait it out in the cold until I got jack of it. If you'd asked me then if I would be happy to wait there for two hours before getting in the venue I would've laughed and walked off. But that's how long it did end up taking and I'm glad I stuck it out. Nipping across the road for a kebab and chatting with other fans in line helped kill the time. The line stretched down the block behind me.
Interesting side note about the pricing of the after party:
The Hi Fi sent out an email to the mailing list stating tickets would be available on the door for $100 cash. Whoever sets this price (Prince tour management?) decided to increase it without telling the fans - the first 300 into the venue would pay $100 then the following 300 would pay $150 and the rest would be turned away. Security announce to people in the line that tickets are $150. Everyone thinks WTF and begins to whinge and some people leave. So as I'm getting closer to the entrance there then seems to be a delay with nobody entering for about 5-10 minutes. After a while one of the security guard explains that a group of people are refusing to pay the $150 and are refusing to move unless they can enter for the $100 advertised. Apparently the stand-off worked in their favor and the price got dropped back to $100 (after I believe some others had already paid the $150) for the 600 lucky punters to make the cut, so thanks to whoever was involved in achieving that and a big FU to whoever decided to ream us by increasing the price after advertising it!
Prince and the NPG came on stage about 2:20am and played for a little over an hour. This show was a completely different experience to the stadium show earlier. The funk/soul heavy set with the more intimate atmosphere, coupled with being amongst a throng of fellow groovers amplified the vibe ten-fold. We were treated to soul singing (Brown Skin [India.Arie cover]), slow burning blues (The One), and funk jams (Love Rollercoaster [The Ohio Players cover], Play That Funky Music [Wild Cherry cover]) with every moment and note orchestrated precisly by the master puppeteer himself, Prince. It's these improv shows where you really get to see what Prince is referring to when he talks about being able to change up any song with a simple cue, based on crowd response. Watching back over my videos I began to notice all the little gestures and phrases that he throws in directing the band with such preciseness that it just seems like that was how it was rehearsed. The only flaw in this was the lighting operator either not being part of Prince's crew, or not being familiar with the Hi Fi console because Prince's lighting requests ("turn the lights down, let's make it sexy in here", "turn the house lights on") weren't obeyed with the same grace as the bands actions. For a lot of the show Prince had the lights lowered to the point you could hardly see him if you were at the back of the room.
One of the fans (who had seen him in Melbourne and Sydney as well) I chatted to in the line outside had told me that Prince really feeds off the audience. This was much more apparent at this gig where he was charged with the crowds energy who would happily sing along at the top of their lungs, spontaneously burst into soul claps in the slower tunes and make their geniuine appreciation of an awesome guitar solo obvious in the funkier ones. Prince told us we could go all night if we keep it up but he fell a little short on that promise as the band left the stage around 3:30am. Grinning punters filed out into the night knowing they had just borne witness to one of those legendary gigs that got the man where he is today. I have a new found appreciation for Prince and he introduced me to a few of my new favourite songs of his.
I ended the night walking the streets of West End with some new, old friends and ended up seeing a view of the city I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing before.
And upon returning home at 5am I was greeted with the site of a crescent moon rising over the neon red gateway bridge. Excuse the blur in this shot, I was drunk and cold and tired and it was all Prince's fault, and I don't regret a second of it.
