Thursday 28 July 2011

Magic With Prince



Whenever Prince is playing a concert there's always the possibility for an intimate surprise show in a small club. And so every time he's playing there's a lot of speculation on whether this show will take place and where. When his shows in Oslo got cancelled because of the dramatic events over there, Prince and his band travelled to The Netherlands sooner than planned and decided to throw two surprise gigs.

Prince at Melkweg Amsterdam, 25 July 2011 (Ronald Says 10 out of 10)

The first surprise show on Sunday was announced early in the evening. The second one on Monday was announced by Prince himself during that same gig. I heard about the gigs on Monday morning and the big queue of people on Sunday night. I didn't want to stand in line for a few hours and wait another few hours inside before Prince would start playing so I decided not to go. But I did follow things on Twitter to see how the queue was proceeding. When the Melkweg announced the line had disappeared and there were still plenty of tickets left I hopped on my bike and within 20 minutes I made it inside the venue.



Prince and his band show up on stage only an hour later. They start off with 'What's My Name?' that includes lots of electronics and spacy jams. It doesn't take long for them to pick things up though with a great 'Guitar' and 'Kiss' including lots of solos and jams. Prince leaves plenty of room for his band to show what they got and of course these great musicians have no problems with that. "The Purple One" is all over the stage and they are enjoying it a lot. These musicians are doing what they like doing most: play music. Prince himself is no exception. Again I'm amazed with his charisma and his incredible talent. It all looks so natural to him and it probably is.



The set list which is totally different from the night before is full of covers like we're used of him. Also included are songs that Prince wrote but were performed by others like a great 'Chocolate' (The Time) and an interactive 'Mutiny' (The Family). 'Controversy' starts with the familiar intro but is then slowed down to a very groovy version and again to normal speed later. From my position behind the mix table I can see that the band's set list also includes 'Purple Rain' but apparently Prince decided to change things a bit and so we don't get to hear it. This magical night ends with two encores and a vivid 'Play That Funky Music'. "His Royal Badness" is saying good night after a two and a half hour performance. Magical indeed.

Since Prince requested not to take pictures or video's I didn't take any and all video's on YouTube by others have been removed again. So I added some pictures of the show in Gelredome. You can find all those pictures over here.

Prince on Spotify

Set List:
1. What's My Name?
2. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
3. Beautiful Strange
4. Guitar
5. Kiss
6. Chocolate (The Time cover)
7. Mutiny (The Family cover)
8. When We're Dancing Close and Slow
9. I Like It There
10. Bambi
11. Colonized Mind
12. Outstanding (The Gap Band cover)
13. Flash Light (Parliament cover)
14. What's My Name? (reprise)

Encore:
15. Strange Relationship
16. If I Was Your Girlfriend

Encore 2:
17. Controversy
18. Sexy Dancer
19. Le Freak (Chic cover)
20. Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry cover)

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review; Yay! for twitter otherwise you would have missed out on a great show. Superb setlist.

    Is it true that in Europe the best Prince fans are the Dutch?

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  2. Yay for Twitter indeed! I know Prince really loves the fans in The Netherlands. I won't disagree with that

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