[Prince-4ever] RDhull's Blog 4 P's Triple Threat Per4mance ...

Monday, March 30, 2009

Prince: Fucking With Our Heads-L.A. Triple Threat Show

Controversy Hohner did their magic. Showing off one handed playing, shredding in all the right places, and awesome guitar licks all night. The special part was the video screens capturing all those parts so the audience could see his skill.

I didn't go to the Conga Room show. I wish I had tried because as everyone knows it was a special performance. To begin with I'm Yours shows that he really had a plan: to fuck with our heads. If there is a god this performance was recorded because its probably on par purple history-wise as The Undertaker was. I got to meet a lot of fans waiting in line for the final show which is always fun. Meeting new people, meeting up with your purple concert connection people, exchanging stories, and just everybody enjoying the purple buzz as you wait in line together.

The people walking out of the Conga Room show and lining up for the final resting place all seemed like they just had…sex. Their cadence, speech and expressions were of those who have just had sex. They had this glow and look as if they wanted and needed a cigarette, a sandwich, and a Gatorade. If there is such a thing as a contact buzz, speaking to these people gave out a contact orgasm.

The final performance and Club Nokia was a special as the rest as well. His set list included the obscure album deep cuts that you would not expect. And he fucked with our heads in doing so. And the funny thing is, he KNOWS he was going to fuck with our heads by playing these songs at the Club Nokia (and Conga Room). But he was not attempting to fuck with our heads in a bad way lol. I could almost see him giggling inside when after some ethereal instrumentals of Cheery Moon and Dreaming About You he finally came to the mic and began singing "The message your about to hear is not meant for transmission…" and the rest of When I Lay My Hands On You. A nukka (me) died this night. But he was to be resurrected and died like 3 more times this performance.

Due to the problems with the sounds he called mgmt out and stated that if they'd get a decent sound system that "Id be here every week and play for free. But tonight I'll take my 3 million!" And spread his arms out . Everyone cheered and laughed. Another funny moment was when he even stated "I have to go to Kingdom Hall tomorrow but I'm not worried about time tonight". I laughed at least, understanding him again mindfucking with some of us again regarding his JW status. It's awesome to see him make light of the idiotic criticism regarding his religion.

Then he did Journey To The Center Of Your Heart. Another nice mindfuck. Then he has the nerve to do something that sounds so familiar and aha! The Sun, Moon and Stars! He does merengue in the breakdown of it where the studio version has the reggae toasting section. This was made for this! It was like we were in this funked up Twilight Zone all night. He did a jazzy When The Lights go down and took his time with it, letting it breath, shimmying slowly across the stage letting the others musicians shine as he would sing, inspect, play some licks. He was grooving..feeling the music..think of how you groove to When The Lights go down..he was doing the same shimmying.

Then he told us all to hush it down some..to be quiet in a polite manner because we needed to 'hear' the next song. And he began singing I Love You But Don't Trust You Anymore. And he took his time with it. And he 'felt' it too. I was so appreciative that he let us into that song and did it , exposing what the song meant and why it was written. Again not for the casual or superficial or new fan. But to us it was sig-FCUKING-nificant.

So after that 'poignant' performance that needs to be in gods hands, he has the nerve to have the band start up, grabs that metal maraca thingy or doo-dad or whatchamacallit (remember that candy bar? I made a rap about that in 1980 but that's another story), and begins singing "Lana drew a picture in school 2day, one that made her mother cry . A picture of a woman with a drink in her hand…" I said Large Room No Light. You have to be kidding me. And when he began singing these lyrics he had a happy smile to himself. He knew he was fucking with some of us. He just knew it. I was transfixed, elated, bedazzled but never bamboozled. Some watched , a precious few seemed familiar to the song, but it was like wanting to cry and shout out and also to watch and let it be sung. Let this song get out there. Let it be free…err..it was like seeing a unicorn. Yeah that. It was smoking pineapple express. Hearing and watching a unicorn. Some of us were elves in Legend watching the unicorn drink in the river before Darkness, the devil played by Tim Curry comes and makes the forest all gray, rainy and scary. But only a few of us saw the unicorn. Not everyone could see it. Prince put something in our drinks and fucked with our minds. If you were a casual fan you could not see the unicorn.

So after seeing a unicorn, and disbelieving what we just witnessed, Chaka comes down from the tiered seating to join just Prince to do Sweet Thing, and "How sweet it is!"-Jackie Gleason (Fred Flintstones prototype). It was just Prince and Chaka with Prince on geetar, doing his licks as Chaka sang it in a slowed bluesy version. The audience sang the whole song with her. It was so fun. Chaka looked GOOD as well brothas lemme tell you . She got 'her nails done and her hair did' for this one.

Then he had the ending with the panty droppers and lets face it..the boxer/brief droppers. Cause I LOVE He! (lol). Watching this man do his balladry (the bombastic ones now) that gets the ladies excited is to witness all the great singers, matinee idols, and pimps (yes, pimps) rolled into one man. Scandalous live is as good as it gets folks. Understand that the lighting made these songs ever the more dramatic as well.

His rendering of these songs make me appreciate the older songs that I never cared for. The Emancipation era specifically. Also She Spoke To me and When The Lights Go Down "The Vault" release. I can now listen to the songs with a renewed ear. That's the thing. Seeing Prince sing the songs you hear on record bring them alive in a different manner. Now it can also work in reverse as some songs do not transmit well to the live setting. However the songs that he chose to sing this night make me pull out a lot of the old shit. It also made me appreciate his tender side. His tender side, not the ballad bombastic side. I have always loved the latter. But now my ears are opened to the tender songs. And I 'hear' the musicianship in them. Much more then his 'larger' songs if that makes any sense.

Prince knew what he was doing with these songs this night. He was teasing us. Fucking with our heads like when he did Empty Room back a few years ago lol. He knew we would know these songs and be turned inside out. We thank him for that . He is such a mind fucker and we are all the better for it. He can see the faces and reactions (yet he still remains the cool ruler hahah). And when singing these songs there was a confidence in his performance of these significant songs that stated "yeah muthafuckas that's right I'm actually playing this..and to you others who are in the audience wondering what the hell these songs are, never you mind. Me and the others are dealing with this right now. Excuse us."

If you were new or casual fan this show may not have been enjoyable for them especially with some of the logistical problems to be had. Recent Prince virgins who witnessed club shows as their first Prince shows may have been disappointed but they don't understand..it's a purple thang. It makes me think they only see the character. The showman. They don't see the other side It's like Prince magic-eye art prints. Some can see the boat and others cant. Which means heaven for the rest of us.

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Thanks to everyone who was there together for purple history.