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]
I am extraordinarily envious of you and very happy you got to see him and report.
Insert basketball and pancakes joke here.
A 38-song featuring Larry Graham, five Sly Stone songs, 3 Jacksons covers, “Northside”? I’m not envious at all……..
Here’s another report on the show, from Jim Walsh:
http://www.minnpost.com/jimwalsh/2009/10/26/12822/prince_at_paisley_park_return_of_the_funk_master
Now that I’ve crossed off Kylie and Gavin Friday, Prince is my #1 artist I have to see before I die. SO JEALOUS. “Mountains”? For real? Awesome.
holy f***ing wow, that handily beats every concert I’ve seen him do
Lucas!!!! That is amazing!!! The jealousy I feel is painful but I am so impressed that this was done and that you got to witness it. Just WOW.
@dyfl: I know, “Mountains”! Out of that whole set that’s the one that blows my mind — longtime favorite of mine. To me it’s his most underrated hit, if that makes any sense (as opposed to underrated album cut or whatever).
Lucas: If anyone from our gang had to go and make us all green with envy, glad it’s you.
I’m still trying to imagine Anotherloverholeinyohead segueing into Rock Lobster. I need audio proof!
@casperfandango: I’m gonna be honest and say that I don’t really remember him doing Rock Lobster. If he did it, it was for just a second. He mixed a lot of it together. This setlist should almost look like a flowchart. He wove Controversy in and out. He started “Uptown” and then said he didn’t want to do it anymore after the chorus (don’t know why…it was killing).
Other notes:
–Larry Graham had a mic attached to his bass. He was wearing a white pimp suit. The other bassist played along, so it was a dual bass attack. It sounded amazing. Larry sounds the same, vocally. “Sing A Simple Song” was probably the best of the Sly tracks. Larry continued to play until the end of the set, btw, so I got to see Larry freaking Graham play on a Doobie Brothers song and a couple of Jacksons tunes. Haha. So great. He and Prince played an extended duet that was mind-blowing. Prince asked the audience, “Isn’t this the funkiest thing you’ve ever heard?” I’d say, yes, Prince. Yes it was.
–There really was a set break at the awesome (!) Sarah McLachlan (!) song, and then Prince came back out to play along to a drum loop. That was killer, too, and he did some extended C/W riffs that were amazing. That was on “Forever In My Life”.
–There were really three encores. I’m pretty sure he left after “Cool”, but I can’t totally remember. He broke “Kiss” down to just the essence of it, having the audience clap only on the 2 (he gave very, very explicit clapping instructions), and he just grooved it like I’ve never heard, finally, putting down his guitar and just dancing along to it with these huge on 2 claps. And then POW–on the last 2 the band just stopped and he froze, turned his head, and said something like “I’m too good for y’all” or “Y’all don’t deserve me”. Real playfully. It looked like it was over, but then BOOM Purple Rain.
–He came out and jammed at the beginning, but he had some guitar problems and was visibly frustrated. He left the stage, and I thought, “Oh no! Diva night!” but then he came back with a different guitar, made some monitor adjustments, and then he smiled and said “Now, I’m happy.” And it was liftoff from there.
–He could stop the band at any time with “On the 1″ and they would just stop…pow. I couldn’t believe how tight they were. Sound was dicey early (not a dealbreaker)–the keyboards were a little quiet–but it only marred “Raspberry Beret” a tad bit. He was the only guitarist and was a tad loud, but my left ear was treated to a Prince guitar performance all night, and I loved it. Overall, great sound, though.
–I’m being onomonopiac because that’s how I feel about the show. Pow.
–Can you tell I had a good time? I saw Leonard Cohen and Prince in a week! I love me right now.
You are indeed lucky! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Oh! He played “Off The Wall” in there somewhere. That setlist leaves that out. Interesting to see Prince take up the MJ mantle so strongly.