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heres a review on princes concert times colonist
Prince, making his first appearance in Victoria at the end of his 11-date Welcome 2 Canada tour, showed he was worth the wait.
Photograph by: ., AFP-Getty Images
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REVIEW
What: Prince an the New Power Generation
When: Saturday
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre
Rating: Five stars (out of five)
This just in: At precisely 8:35 p.m. on Saturday, the lives of nearly 6,800 Victoria funk fans were likely changed forever.
That is the exact minute Prince strode on to his lighted Love Symbol stage, grooving and gyrating to the red-hot funk of 1982’s D.M.S.R., and dressed in what appeared to be a white faux fur coat.
It took the 53 year-old Minneapolis native seconds to light up the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre like it was a Presto log. His was an entrance fit for a king.
“I bring to you real music by real musicians,” Prince said before tearing into the night’s second song, Musicology. “Y’all don’t understand, this band is tight!”
Prince didn’t stop talking, singing, and strutting during what was the final stop on his 11-date Welcome 2 Canada tour, the biggest of its kind for Prince in a decade and the first of its kind by Prince in Victoria.
He was worth the wait. Prince is the closest thing there is to James Brown at the moment, a timely assessment given that his right-hand man is sax king Maceo Parker, the former go-to guy for the Godfather of Soul himself.
Parker and Prince weren’t the only legends putting in major moves on this night. As per his previous assessment, the entire New Power Generation was in career-capping form, dropping bombs that would even the most accomplished musicians run for cover.
“Y'all like real music? Then you better call your radio station in protest!” Prince shouted after one particularly expressive passage, the type of red-hot jam that typified the night.
It wasn’t just a sold-out concert. It was a night-long stretch of songs delivered in a hockey rink transformed into church, with the main attraction testifying from the pulpit of pop. There’s no one like Prince — we knew that going in. But after this concert, I’d have to see tangible proof that there’s going to be anyone better in years to come.
Not only is he a fantastic singer, dancer and entertainer, he’s an absolutely amazing guitarist.
He let some licks fly early during a medley of Let’s Go Crazy and Delirious, only a few second’s worth, but it was the type of expressive playing that doesn’t come around very often.
When he reprised his riffing a few minutes later, during Little Red Corvette, it was like Hendrix had chosen Victoria as the spot for his resurrection. He continued along the same path with a cover of The Cars’ Let’s Go and 1999, which didn’t stop until the wheels fell off.
Prince and his band broke the momentum precisely once during the first hour, a time-out that took barely a few seconds. The group is so seasoned, so well choreographed, that his two-hour show passed by like three minutes.
Not only did they tackle a wide range of Prince material, they gave fans a healthy dollop of covers. Sly and the Family Stone’s Everyday People was a highlight, as it gave back-up singers Shelby J., Liv, Elisa plenty of stage time to show their talents — which are considerable.
“If it was good then, it’s still good,” Prince said of Stone, one of his childhood idols.
The same could be said of Prince, who at one point was surrounded on stage by plumes of smoke. I couldn’t tell if it was man-made or the result of some spontaneous combustion occurring under his fleet feet.
“We’ll be here all night,” he said at one point. “You know how many hits I got?”
He’s got plenty. And he was indeed going on all night, as confirmed by his numerous mentions of his post-concert after-party at Sugar later Saturday. “If we’re going home tomorrow we’ve got to have an after-party tonight!” Prince said.
During the non-stop Controversy, an early hit from 1981, Prince could barely contain himself. “Is it funky y’all?” he screamed, his volume matched by a roar from the crowd.
“You like funky music here, is that true? I don’t believe you.”
Believe it, Prince. During a medley of The Time’s The Bird and Jungle Love, both of which he wrote, he brought 25 fans on stage who got off on the good foot while Prince and Co. brought the Paisley Park funk.
Just like Prince, I could go on all night with praise. And while I’m sure I’m breaking some journalistic ethics by doing so, I have to say that in my quarter-century as a concert-goer, in addition to my 15 years covering them in a professional capacity, I’ve never seen a crowd in Victoria go off the way it did Saturday night.
Nor have I witnessed a performer parlay his craft with such tenacity. It wasn’t one for the here and now. It was one for all-time. For what it’s worth, Prince’s debut in Victoria was the best concert I’ve ever seen, by a long shot.
I’m almost positive I won’t be alone in that assessment.
SET LIST
1. DMSR
2. Pop Life
3. Musicology
4. The One
5. Let's Go Crazy/Delerious
6. 1999.
7. Let's Go (The Cars cover)
8. Take Me With U
9. Raspberry Beret
10. Cream
11. Everyday People (Sly and the Family Stone cover)/ I Want to Take You Higher (Sly and the Family Stone cover
12. Controversy
13. Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan cover)
14. Purple Rain
ENCORE
15. When Doves Cry
16. Nasty Girl/Sign O' the Times
17. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
18. The Rest of My Life
19. Hot Thing
20. Darling Nikki/I Would Die 4 U
21. Kiss
22. The Bird
Attendance: 6,753
mdevlin@timescolonist.com
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