Prince Invites Some People Over For A Party

Saturday night, Prince threw open the gates at Minneapolis’ Paisley Park for what he called “The Last Jam Of 2009.” Tickets were cheap–only $40, and $31.21 for members of his online fan club LotusFlow3r—and there was also a coat and canned-food drive for the Minneapolis area’s less fortunate. Idolator’s Lucas Jensen just happened to be in Minneapolis for the weekend, and so he headed out to the show—and got to see a bunch of Jackson 5 covers, a Sly and the Family Stone tribute set featuring Family Stone bassist Larry Graham, and a ton of the Purple One’s hits. Lucas’ iPhoned-in reactions, and the set list, after the jump.)

I’m traveling today, so I can’t say much, but make sure you note that Larry Graham came out for a Sly set and that he covered three Jacksons songs and they played Michael before the concert. His ‘Purple Rain’ at the end was just atomic and the new songs were much better live. I’ve never seen him in such good spirits. And they just killed that Doobies song. Shelby J (his backup singer/rapper) is a powerhouse. To get to see that much Sly stuff…honestly, it was probably better than a real Sly reunion would be, though I missed Gregg D’Errico. That’s not to say the drummer was bad, just different. Actually, she was phenomenal, and I’d say she did one of the most impressive solos I’ve seen in my life. If I hear some jerk spouting of about “girl drummers,” well, now I can undo the damage that Vivian Girls hath wrought in that stupid debate. I have so much to say. I will say that Prince didn’t make it easy. We stayed out in the cold waiting to get in for nearly four hours and we could have just walked in a few minutes before. Ugh. My feet still hurt. Once you bought tickets you couldn’t leave, and you couldn’t use cell phones so a lot of people were stuck there wearing pajamas and workout clothes and stuff. I thought that was kind of fun. We had to work for this one and it was worth it. I’ve never seen Prince before, so getting to see him at Paisley Park, which houses a huge club inside, was something else. Sorry… typing this on iPhone. He’s the best guitarist I’ve ever seen live.

And the set list: 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 One Last Purple Jam For 2009 [Guitars101]