[Prince-4ever] Prince: 21 Night Stand Review [allhiphop.com]

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

[Prince-4ever] Prince: 21 Night Stand Review [allhiphop.com]

Prince: 21 Night Stand Review

Friday, April 29, 2011 1:38 PM |

By Octavia Bostick

There isn't much that can be said about Prince that hasn't been said over the span of his over 3 decades of giving eargasm after melodious eargasm of his musicology.

But his run of shows in Los Angeles

aptly title 21 Night Stand is a climactic microcosm of the love he has spewed on his fans over the years. Who has the stamina to perform for hours on end for 21 nights with no less than 3 encore's each show? Yes. Prince. With the first 5 shows under his belt Prince's sole mission is to satisfy and that, he does.

Greeting the crowd in that distinct baritone voice, you hear him before you see him, but upon walking into the Great Western Forum, you immediately feel the presence of the purple one, as the stage was built in the shape of the symbol that substituted as his name from 1993-2000.

With rumors milling around about who the nights surprised guest would be (Alicia Keys

had come the night before) the crowd roared when he introduced the night's surprise opening act would he his sister friend, the incomparable Ms. Chaka Khan. Radiant, stunning and most certainly every woman, the soulful diva belted out her some of her all time greatest hits as a soloist and a member of the group Rufus, including "I Feel For You" "Aint Nobody" "You've Got the Love" "Tell Me Somethin Good" the one that had all the women on their feet and all the men cheering them on "I'm Every Woman," Chaka undeniably set the tone for what would be a night of dancing.

The Great Western Forum was literally electrifying as the audience who was filled with its own crop of Hollywood stars all came out to experience this rare Los Angeles appearance. Actors like Matt Damon, James Denton, and Damon Wayon's were all among the faces in the crowd who couldn't hide their excitement at being up close and personal with the icon. The moment had finally arrived.

Prince emerged from the center of his symbol to arrive center stage in an all white suit with black trim looking as timeless, ageless and classic as his music. Even his highness seemed a little in awe at the energy of the night as he reveled in the past legendary acts who had performed at the legendary arena, which is in financial trouble.

Prince encouraged the crowd to remember the one night stands of concerts past including Earth Wind and Fire, Michael Jackson, James Brown and of course Prince and the Revolution as he made a plea for the crowd to help support the venue so that it doesn't get closed down. And so it began...The funk!

Spitting a freestyle about the institutions that are record labels he showed and proved why he doesn't want or need those relic machines quipping "While all of them get older but I still look the same he proceeded to get his grown man on and move the crowd.

Crazy, sexy, and cool as rain, Prince moved around that stage with the same vigor as he did over 20 years ago. Although his religious beliefs have him a little more subdued, his show and his performance doesn't suffer in the least. He was joined on stage by longtime friend and cohort the flawlessly beautiful Sheila E who beat her way into the rhythm of the night with crowd favorite Glamorous Life. With the help of his amazing femme band NPG He performed everything everyone wanted to hear including: When Doves Cry, Kiss, Lil Red Corvette, Insatiable 1999, Raspberry Beret, Let's Go Crazy, Adore and 3 hours of hits that still didn't include his entire catalogue.

If you only get to experience one show this year, or in your life, it should be Prince. He truly is the performer of the people and he made his 80% of his tickets $25 so that as many fans as possible would be able to come out and join him so DON'T MISS IT!!
http://www.allhiphop.com/stories/reviewsmusic/archive/2011/04/29/22695934.aspx

* I was surfin' one of the many Hip Hop sites just lookin' up N.E.W.S. on Hip Hop and ran across this article, click the link, there's 2 videos *