Prince – The Earth Tour – 21 Nights In London

Ok, it’s 1PM Saturday morning. I got in at about 04:15 this morning from the Prince gig. I really don’t know what to say. It was awesome. Great venue, great seats, great show, great aftershow !

So, we set off at about 3PM Friday from my partners mums house in Surrey. We had intended to jump on a train and tube it to the Arena, but decided that the cost and timings would be extremely prohibitive, so decided to drive to the event and park. Maybe less eco friendly, but oh so much more convenient and cheaper. The journey across London in Friday rush hour was a joy (not) and we arrived at the O2 at 5:15 ! 40 miles in over 2 hours !! Anyway, there was loads of room at the car park (no surprise at £20 a spot !) I’ve never been to the O2 (Millennium Dome) before and I was mightily impressed by the structure.

I’ve seen some awesome buildings in my time (the Colosseum, Sears Tower, the VAB at Kennedy) and this is pretty cool by comparison. It really is a vast space. Many people slated it as Tony Blair’s biggest failure, but now, in the hands of the new owners, it has been transformed into a massive entertainment complex that combines an outdoor feel in an indoor setting. Loads of stuff surrounds the main arena (pubs, clubs, restaurants, exhibitions, indoor beaches, kids areas, cinema multiplex) and you could easily spend a whole day there.

So, once in, and past the obilgatory security, we decided to explore. You do need a bit of cash to do it properly, but we managed on our tight budget ;o)

Anyway, 6PM came and the Arena doors opened and we formed an orderly queue. Not sure whether it was the Arena or the clientele, but I’ve never seen such a well ordered and polite audience waiting to pass through ticket gates. There were numerous signs and checks for cameras, with one little “Hitler” of a security guard parading up and down, literally threatening visitors if they dared bring in anything resembling a camera and warning that pass outs weren’t allowed.

Once at the gate (with 2 more copies of the “Planet Earth” CD in hand), we proceeded up to the 1st level and availed ourselves of the toilet facilities and then waited for the main Arena doors to open. The Arena is an impressive space. The stage was shaped and in the round and looked the business. Our seats were pretty perfect. Sat about 10 rows up from the floor level, we were just above stage height and facing centre stage front (at the point of the . Close enough to see well, not too close that we were craning our necks like the poor saps on the floor and not struggling to see a 5ft nothing superstar from the balcony !

After what seemed like a long wait, Mya took the stage with her band and rattled off half a dozen numbers. Not being a massive fan of current R&B, I was suitably impressed by her performance, but not so impressed about her contant plugging of her new album.

Once she had gone, the stage was reset and the excitement grew rapidly. As has already been publicised, the show starts with the video created for the US Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction, where many musical luminaries salute Prince and his uncomprable talents. Then the metallic words “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you, I only want to have some fun” boom forth and the unmistakable rhythmic intro to 1999 kicks in and we’re off !

The hits come thick and fast, performed with immaculate precision and verve. He has you eating out of his hand by bar 4 of 1999 and you stay there all night. He breaks into Musicology and then invites audience members up on stage to dance. The band then changes to “Play That Funky Music” and Prince invites one of the girls to sing. Off she goes and does an admirable job, only to discover that it is actress Julia Stiles !

Off he goes to change his clothes whilst the band play “Satisfied” and he returns in new garb and in a sexy mood. More hits and then a keyboard is dropped in stage left (couldn’t make out what it was though). From this he did some solo piano numbers and then started triggering sampled loops from more hits, teasing the crowd. I’ve always wanted to see Prince do “She Is Always In My Hair” Live (I have seen it on DVD from the Rave Un2 The Year 2000 gig), so when he triggered the loop on the keyboard, I knew I wouldn’t see it this time :o(

Great showmanship followed, baiting the crowd and then delivering some of the best guitar work you are ever likely to see, then off to an earth trembling roar. The crowd then just kept going, only relenting when he came back for an encore, kicking off with Let’s Go Crazy.

After a few more classics, he was off and there was no repeat of his impromptu 2nd encore of a week or so ago.

So, off to the club for the Aftershow. As previously blogged by Looneytunes, the queue was mahooooosive !!! But I’d paid £50 for these tickets and wasn’t going to miss it for the world. Soon after the doors opened at 11:30, the queue started to raidly move and by midnight, we were inside. The club is small, but has a great stage. No seats though, unless you’re upstairs in the VIP balcony. No-one knew if he was going to show, but the crowd grew and went wild when the NPG came on stage, cracking off some jazz funk numbers. The musical skills of this band are just astounding. I was blown away by drummer CC Dunham. As Prince said, “Not bad for a girl !” This woman is a drumming goddess. Quite unbelievable. But then Prince always uses fine drummers. Sheila E, Kirk Johnson, John Blackwell and the awesome Michael Bland.

Lots of numbers rolled out, including Amy Winehouse’s “Love Is A Losing Game” and they finished up with an ass whupping version of Gnarls Berkely’s “Crazy”. Sadly, Prince didn’t show :o( I could’ve sworn I heard his voice in the backstage warm up, but there was no sign. Shame, but I don’t feel at all cheated.

An awesome night and I could go on about the characters we saw there and the sound quality (not as bad as some have mentioned) but I’ll save that for another post after I’ve caught up on my sleep.