PRINCE IN A BOX : LIVE AT THE VENUE FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE MILLENIUM DOME PT2

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Category: LIKE A BALLERINA Music

THE MAIN EVENT??

PRINCE IN A BOX : LIVE @ THE VENUE FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE MILLENIUM DOME PT2



So, I left you as the box containing His Majesty is run in, the compliment buildup is working it's magic on the big vid screens, the crowd are screaming and cheering, the whole thing is building....

Meanwhile, I, PG3, am standing on my chair clapping and whopping like a teenager.

This doesn't normally happen....

No Boss, Giovanni 3rd AKA Pippy the Muskrat Muso Journalist never looses his cool in public. Hell he's a serious and earnest music hack - he doesn't get involved, he remains calm and aloof in order to study and watch...

But not this time. Nope, I can't ever remember behaving this way at a concert and certainly not before an act I'm new to have even started playing....!

What the hell is going on??

Well, I'm drunk, but then I'm always drunk - Have I been converted?? Is this a religious moment?? What can follow??

Well, you know what? I can't remember the first track. All I remember is the lights bombed down and there was an either audible or BANG!! of huge expectation and off he went...

Now, having checked the Prince Forums, I know he started with Lets Go Crazy/1999. I also remember MY NAME IS PRINCE (oops - see comments below), and others, but I'm no good, or too caring with set lists. I want to talk about the emotion and the power and the sensation. Set lists are for the collectors and the fanatics...

Well, suffice to say, the set was laced with the promised hits. Prince ably moved between the dancing, the singing, the guitar and the keyboards. He multi tasked betwixt and between the lot like only he effectively can. He also fitted in at least one good change of clothes (from a red and black to a white suit)...

Close to an hour in, there was a Sax solo, whilst he returned to his box to change. I nipped to the bog and returned just in time for it's end. (This was no reflection on the solo itself - it sounded great, I just had to go...)

I liked the freedom of this and indeed the whole set up a great deal - it was an interval without the silence. You could move in and out of it or stay and enjoy the solo...

And like I say, I found a surprising and nice degree of freedom about the venue in general. Because it's not as in your face as a smaller gig, there are mini worlds going on within, the whole set up has a different feel. At times I found I could turn off, at times it seemed like TV, or like a huge great holographic projection. There's a lot of space around you, I'd catch an eyeful of what other people were doing ...

So, by this halfway point, my own activity had calmed a little, and I was mostly preoccupied with what was inside that box. I mean we're not talking any ordinary packing crate here are we?? Hell no, that would have been one decent luxed up box he had there. If anyone knows more about it, please do tell...

Anyway. the second half was more of the same. More hits, set off by a long reign on the piano/keyboard, followed by a hearty strut around.

A long blast of Purple Rain complete with Purple confetti rain and mammoth guitar solo came near the end. The crowd continued to have it, Prince strolled and strutted around his symbol shaped stage with all kinds of intent, and I began to plan a new career exclusively concerned with watching and commenting on huge pop stadium shows...

Paul Giovanni selling out? Hell yes, just make me a good offer! I'm interested in brilliance big or small...

There was an encore. I don't remember it, well I remember it happenned but not the tunes that were played...

And that was largely that, the box was run out again, the band made their own way back down the curving runway, stopping for a handshake or two and then quiet....


So: Marks out of 10??

A BIG FAT 10!!

10 because it was my first huge non-festival gig, because it was Prince, because he's not shy of playing his hits, because he was funky, because he arrived in a box and because the iffy sound quality of the VFKATMD didn't seriously affect my enjoyment in anyway...

Which leaves me to say, he's playing till Sept 21st - You know what you have to do.....

OK...Given it was a 10, that would have been enough to please me, and indeed it was for the vast bulk of the crowd, but for the dedicated, the unemployed, the rich, the fanatics and the gamblers, there was the Aftershow and that is what's coming next....


PS: I've just read that MIA supported. We were making the most of the bars outside at that point. I remember hearing some booming indifferent music. The Prince fans hated it and uber trendy MIA were apparently booed off after 3 or 4 songs..

I have no idea about this act at the moment. I can't decide if they're cleverly marketed tuneless shoreditch shit, or half good and on the way. I'll report again when things are clearer...

Currently listening : [Symbol] By Prince Release date: By 05 January, 2001

3:35 AM - 9 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

	Ivana Puke	In a box?? Do you mean standing ON a box?? Posted by Ivana Puke on August 31, 2007 - Friday at 1:50 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	No he was transported to the stage INSIDE a large box pushed by a large bunch of burltastic men.... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on August 31, 2007 - Friday at 1:52 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Naomi	He didn't play MY NAME IS PRINCE, Paul. I would actually have exploded had that happened. It's probably one of the songs which is too extreme for the new door-knocking, Watchtower-touting, Jehovah's Witness model Prince. Posted by Naomi on August 31, 2007 - Friday at 2:10 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Oh shit, I was sure he did and Mrs G seemed to think so. That bit must have happenned in our heads - though i've been playing it a great deal these last 2 days and that'd probably clouded my memory... Maybe MY NAME is off the list, but I don't see it as being that iffy. For that matter, I dont really understand the relgious rules as to what's in and out. I guess MY NAME IS is a touch arrogant, but other than that?? I'm fascinated by how all the Jehovahs thing works anyway. Has there been a huge rise in Prince fans joining his branch of the church? And what the hell must it be like to open your door with the bucket of water at the ready, only to find Prince standing there??? Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on August 31, 2007 - Friday at 2:37 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	mark	i would still shut the door after politely explaining i wasn't interested Posted by mark on August 31, 2007 - Friday at 9:32 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	I would certainly go for some chat. During this, I'd basically use every manipulative trick I know to try and steer him away from his religious beliefs onto some music talk... I guess this must happen a lot. Indeed, he could well be the only JW who slams the door in peoples faces.... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on August 31, 2007 - Friday at 10:44 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Colossus	From what I can tell Mia are a bit of both. Both cleverly marketted and half decent. What I want to know is are they upfront about the marketing or are they one of those bands that complain about being given a hance to shine. I hope they arn't the latter. Spider of COLOSSUS x P.S I knew nothing about Prince until I went to see him. Imagine how my CONVERSION to Princedom went? PRINCE IS CLOSE TO GOD DAMN IT! Posted by Colossus on August 31, 2007 - Friday at 1:21 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Yeah, from what I can tell so far there's something there with MIA, but I have some instinct against them that could be completely irrational or based on something I haven't quite grasped yet... I've always liked the way Queen have dealt with the promo media side of things. They work it very well without being contrived or conceited.. I think when you see someone of the calibre of Prince you realise alot about the importance and longevity of many other acts and just HOW BIG HE IS!!! Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on August 31, 2007 - Friday at 1:40 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Colossus

We're on the same page. Mia are very technicolour and have a mix and match approach to the tunes as well. I commend them for the experimental connotations but there is something a lil bit desperate in the sound. Mabye cos She is so up for being seen as a popstar with a fearless Madonna attitude that rubs me up the wrong way? Mabye the music is a grower? Either way they have my attention. When u review them I'll be here to muse upon thier shit after more consideration. If only Michael Jackson could forget about recording his 'comeback' album and just tour big AND intimate venues. I want the gap between Prince and MJ to close again. Get me? I miss that moonwalking guy and his wierdness. Posted by Colossus on August 31, 2007 - Friday at 4:49 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]