Music Monday 🎶

My Favorite Song by His Royal Purpleness 💟

Mar 24, 2025

Hi readers!

In the comments of last weeks Music Monday, we got into a discussion about the greatness of one Prince Rogers Nelson — aka the Artist.

So this week I decided to regale you with my favorite from his extensive repertoire:

This video is wild and extremely artistic — fitting for His Paisleyness.

I’ve loved this song since the first time I heard it. I think it’s how dramatic it feels — from the gospel vibe in the opening chorus to the creepy laughter to the sounds of the sword and castanets.

A musical masterpiece. GD that man was talented. Gone too soon.

I was going to include a video of what is unquestionably the greatest Super Bowl Halftime Show ever, but the dickheads at the NFL blocked it from being shared on this platform.

It’s available on YouTube.

Non-profit, my ass.

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Phil Plencner

Mar 24

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

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1 reply by HistoricalHolli