Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Phil Plencner's avatar

I'm a huge Prince fan!! His Super Bowl halftime show is undoubtedly one of the best of all-time.

One of the best concerts I ever saw was a Prince "aftershow". It was part of his "Hit N' Run" tour in 2000. It was so called because each show in the tour was announced a week or less beforehand. He had recently separated from Warner Brothers and was back to using the name "Prince" and playing a bunch of old songs he had not played for many years. A huge deal.

I didn't see the regular concert. I already had tickets to see Macy Gray and Common that night...

The Macy Gray show was at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. A block away from that venue was The Riviera Theater where Prince was playing. In between the two was a tiny "Mr Submarine" sandwich shop. I stopped in there for a bite to eat before my concert. While I was eating I overheard two people talking about how Prince was going to play an aftershow at The Metro (small club near Wrigley Field) after his regular concert. I wondered if it was true and was determined to find out.

After the Macy Gray / Common show (which was great) I high-tailed it down to The Metro. There was a line outside it several blocks long and the marquee had a question mark on it. It was edging midnight, so a line outside this venue (known for its all-ages rock shows) at this time was very unusual.

I got in line.

Eventually we were let in. Pretty sure the cover was less than $20 cash for entry.

Prince hit the stage close to 2:00am. He sang, played guitar, played piano. His band was red-hot. Macy Gray and Common appeared on stage with him as guests and sang as well. They didn't play many of Prince's hits (I distinctly remember "Adore" though. Incredible!). It was a lot of cool covers and funk jams.

The show ended close to 4:00am. I went out for pancakes afterwards at a 24-hour IHOP, watching the sun rise. I could not believe what I just witnessed.

The setlist of the show is available online:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/prince/2000/metro-chicago-il-1bd9a160.html

There's also a bootleg recording of it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljT_gJjewIc

Expand full comment
Wyrd Smythe's avatar

Truly one of the greats, a rare combination of talent, creativity, style, and substance.

Two of my favorites; first the triumphant scene from Purple Rain (where he does the title tune):

https://youtu.be/TvnYmWpD_T8

And I've always loved the whimsical nature of Raspberry Beret:

https://youtu.be/l7vRSu_wsNc

FWIW, his YT channel has a comprehensive playlist of music videos:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrwXzbX3SWnu1H2yesZA0-28anAKGK6ZE

Has some very interesting rehearsal sessions he taped.

Expand full comment
2 more comments...

No posts