2 Nights in London with Prince

A little prologue on my long term love affair…

Prince currently lies 6th in my ‘Top Artists Overall’ list on Last.fm. Quite an achievement when he was closer to 36th this time last month only wheeled out for a cursory listen of mega rock ballad Purple Rain and a few other choice tracks off Sign ’O’ the times, recommended to me by a well meaning friend but assigned to languish in the lower reaches after failing to ‘click’ with me.

After enjoying the Planet Earth freebie. I downloaded the album Purple Rain and its rawer and rockier sound instantly clicked with me. As his 21 night ’Purple Reign’ drew closer a promotional email from Ticketmaster and a short transaction later I had tickets for the opening night, August 1st. I hurriedly downloaded several choice Prince classics, according to Allmusic at least, and begun my last minute revision of the purple pocket rocker. Once again nothing immediately clicked it would take a mighty opening night performance to earn the 111 listens he’s gotten this week.



August 1st 2007, 02 Arena, London

UK Hall of Fame video intro
01. Purple Rain
02.Girls & Boys (included D.M.S.R. lyrics towards the end)
03. Satisfied
04. Cream
05. U Got The Look
06. Shhh
07. Musicology
08. I Feel For You
09. Controversy
10. What A Wonderful World (Mike Phillips & Renato intermission)
11. Somewhere Here On Earth
12. Lolita
13. Black Sweat
14. Kiss
15. If I Was Your Girlfriend
16. Pink Cashmere (included The One U Wanna C lyrics)
17. 7
18. Come Together
19. Take Me With U
20. Guitar
1st Encore
21. Planet Earth
2nd Encore
22.Crazy
23.Nothing Compares 2 U
24. Let's Go Crazy
3rd Encore (solo Prince on electric guitar)
25. Little Red Corvette
26. Raspberry Beret
27. Sometimes It Snows in April
(band returns)
28. Get On The Boat
29. Sexy Dancer (music) / Le Freak (lyrics)
30. A Love Bizarre


It threatened to be very self congratulatory as the houselights went out and a video ran on the big screens suspended above the stage, featuring various talking heads such as Pharrel, Salma Hayek and Joni Mitchell, all reminding us how innovative and masterful the man is or perhaps was.

Luckily as the opening chords of what could only be Purple Rain rang out and he rose from a lift hidden in the centre of the stage in a cloud of dry ice there was little doubt that he had remembered to bring something for the fans, no matter how ‘hardcore’ or ‘casual’ we were, Prince had brung the hits.

Despite the sound being less than satisfactory, with Prince’s vocals muffled under a droning echoey bass and his trade marking screaming guitar strangled by overbearing keys.

However as is often the case with sterile Arena shows like this the sound quality is only half the battle when winning over the audience. Thankfully Prince at least tonight showed why is he is the gold standard when it comes to live performances even if the sound is a bit crappy. Its hard to take your eyes off a performer once described as making Michael Jackson look ’nailed to the floor’ and he sure was in a jubilant mood tonight, temporarily forgetting the religious scriptures that have arguably made him less provocative as a live performer dancing like no 49 year old should be able to and possibly getting most of the female portion of the audience pregnant in the process he definitely drew enough orgasmic screams from them as he slipped his jacket off his shoulders just for a moment.

Most artists would struggle to keep the attention of their audience after opening with (arguably) their biggest hit. Prince however is not most artists, although ever unpredictable he did seem to try his best to lose the audience with the songs from his more obscure past and his less loved present. Combined with the shaky sound things threatened to turn ugly, luckily throwing in songs like U Got the Look, I Feel for You, Kiss, If I was your Girlfriend, Take me with U and rather oddly covering The Beatles’ Come Together kept the audience on side, entertained and more willing to enjoy his lesser know stuff. Although Prince being Prince he would still be engaging in whatever he does.

Closing the main show with a recent highlight, Guitar, Prince returned for two pre planned encores emerging up the lift to sing the title track off his latest album Planet Earth then returning for a second much more satisfying encore opening with another good but unnecessary cover this time of last years summer hit, Crazy sung at first by a talented ’backing’ singer. Remembering that he does have a fair few hits of his own that he hasn’t yet played he roars through Nothing Compares 2 U and with little rest bite teases the audience with the galvanising line of ’Dearly Beloved’ three times whilst strutting along his stage, demanding and gaining a louder response from his audience each time before tearing into ’Lets Go Crazy’

As the screaming guitar solo dies down and Prince declares his love for London and the audience before descending down his lift in a cloud of dry ice it appears to be all over, people start streaming out under the ugly lights. But those eager to beat the rush will have missed a memorable piece of spontaneity in a venue which hardly encourages it.

A cheer ripples from the far corner of the floor, the venue now half empty with only the slow and the hardcore fans left soon catches on as a parting of the sea of remaining fans takes place as a shell of burly bodyguards make way for the Prince to return to the stage. As if returning to the stage through the common people wasn’t bad enough he also climbs a flight of stairs to take to the stage underlining that this is indeed a spontaneous gesture to celebrate his return.

Anarchy descends upon the venue, people clamber over seats and jump barriers to get a closer look at this event. Once everyone is settled he plays stripped down electric versions of Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret and Sometimes in snows in April which garners a louder response from the lucky few left now the casuals have made a hasty exit. The band also returns and it seems as if its going to turn into the perfect gig as he polishes off the last few major hits left unsung but unfortunately this is not the case as he decides to treat us to one more cover and two more obscure numbers this time with a 70’s theme as the houselights go down once again and are replaced with disco lights as Prince steams through Get on the boat, Le Freak and A Love Bizarre.

A special gig to be sure but one with many missed opportunities and unplayed hits (When Doves Cry anyone?). Prince however is an enigmatic performer with or without When Doves Cry and makes the majority of his contemporaries look distinctly average, on the stage at least, even at the age of 49. If this is the last time he is to play his hits (well..some of them) , it is a very fitting farewell. If its only a marketing trick to increase ticket sales the gigs and the media hype around them will secure Prince a whole new generation of fans to see him well into his 60’s.

Planet Earth - Prince

Prince Rodger Nelson the artist formerly know as Prince but now formally know as Prince is back

The music is unpredictable as the man himself ranging from the funk rock of the lead single Guitar, the r’n’b ballad of Future Baby Mama and the fusion of rap and soul in Mr Goodnight.

Also unpredictable is the quality of the tracks themselves, which range from the great to the cringe worthy. The unashamedly funky Chelsea Rodgers with its brilliant baseline providing the foundations for Prince to wax lyrical about arguably his favourite subject, women, with triumphant sounding trumpets thrown into the mix heralding the arrival of another quality Prince track.

Guitar also stands out, comparisons have been made with early U2 but I haven’t heard any early U2 so I couldn’t possibly comment. All I hear is a quality track and a obvious choice for the albums lead single, the melody is simple and immediate unlike most singles it doesn’t get old, no doubt down to the two excellent solos that grace the track and make it clear that Prince does indeed love his guitar and remains us what a underrated guitarist he is.

However the rest of the album does not fair as well, the remainder of the album drifts apathetically between mediocre and cringe worthy, as Prince indulges in some stripped down ballads which only serve to remind you how weak he is lyrically without any funky bass lines or guitar riffs to hide behind.

From Prince hopping on the same eco warrior bandwagon that fellow 58’ babies Madonna and Michael Jackson have long been members of with his Earth Songesque song to save the world Earth, title track Planet Earth. 50 years from now what will they say about us here?
Did we care for the water and the fragile atmosphere? Like Earth Song its come across as quite corny and like Madonna asking Wembley Stadium to “Jump if you want to save the planet” slightly condescending and insincere, nice bit of guitar at the end though..which is nice.

All in All it is another ‘ok’ Prince album, he has definitely recovered from his near suicidal dip in the 90’s and continues to maintain a respectable form since his comeback with Musicology. Had it not been for the masterstroke or ‘sell-out’ depending on how you look at it of taking a lump sum from the Daily Mail to give away this album for free this album would have slipped into the bottom half of the charts with little buzz or interest. The mismatch between Princes music and the profile of the Daily Mail raised a few eyebrows but this album for the most part is quite average easy listening, something that you could imagine the 50 something readership of the Mail enjoying.

Perhaps Prince is feeling his age.

The future of the music industry

All the fuss being made lately over Prince giving away his latest album, Planet Earth, free as a covermount with the Daily Mail of all papers, has made me wonder on the future of the music industry imparticular recorded music. A spokesman for Prince gave reasons for his move on his site...

"Prince feels that charts are just music industry constructions and have little or no relevance to fans or even artists today."

Quite a big statement so will this be the opening salvo in a new battle beteewn 'true' artists and the established record labels? A free music revolution if you will.

It's well known that acts get very little income for themselves from album and single sales, the real money is earned, for the artist at least, through touring and record deals themselves. It is of course not the first time Prince has given away albums for free, he gave away his 2004 release Musicology free at live shows for his lucky fans. Radiohead also famously considered giving away Kid A, when the album was leaked on to Napster weeks before its official release, Thom Yorke commented in an interview with Time magazine. "it encourages enthusiasm for music in a way that the music industry has long forgotten to do."

So...can we expect to see artists giving away their latest album on their offical websites in order to gain as much exposure as possible? Well no not really. The 'big four' and all record labels alike won't have to lose any sleep over some sort of free music revolution lead by artists such as Prince. Big labels are still required for distribution and putting the spotlight on artists, only a few veterans with an already established fanbase could reasonably expect to tell their record label what they intend to do with their latest album. Starbucks aren't going to tell Paul Macartney where to stick it if he decides to give away his next album for free, he is too much of a asset to their brand. The same is true at the other end of the specturm, tiny unknown bands are already giving away their music for free at gigs and on the internet and have been doing for probably decades now that will never change.

It is the staple 'average' reputation bands that would realistically have to demand change for the status quo to change in favour of the artist, but groups like Kasabian, Bloc Party, Arcade Fire and Editors can't propose to give away their latest album with the Daily Mail or they would be out of a job well at least find themselves a few rungs down the ladder with a smaller label. Artists such as these need their music to provide a living unlike unknown bands they dont have a normal 9 to 5 job to fall back on, (And they probably wouldnt want one anymore) unlike Prince/Madonna/The Rolling Stones they haven't accumilated enough money to make money on real estate or have enough reknown to release their own brand of cooking sauces.

So basically in conclusion, nothing will change. Not for the time being at least, the internet has and will continue to shift the power in the recording industry away from the established labels and towards up and coming artists. That is already evident from the number of unmanufactured acts that have rose to prominence over the past few years.

With it being cheaper and cheaper to record music to a decent standard in your bedroom, upload it to your bands myspace and use your mates CD burner to produce a few hundred albums, on some cheap discs you got down Tescos, It has never been a better time to be a new artist.

Music should always be an artform and form of entertainment first but it is unreasonable to expect established acts to sacrifice themselves for this cause, they also need to make a living from their trade. Its unreasonable to expect these artists to 'stick it to the man!', martyr themselves for creative freedom and give away their music for free. Anyone suggesting this makes them sell outs obviously has a very unrealistic view of how music works nowdays. Maybe we will look back on Prince's actions as the start of the free music revolution but more likely we'll look back and see it as another action in giving us cheaper more accessible music.

Which isnt bad is it?