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| parmeda |
For SS: I know you detest Rolling Stone magazine...but this was a great article. And...there's also another pic in the magazine showing Prince on-stage with those shoes. Yep, THOSE SHOES! Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the picture ANYWHERE in order to post it. I'll have to scan the damn thing and send it to Voo.
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BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE
Prince has still got that red-hot magic
By Anthony DeCurtis
Photograph by Albert Watson
Hammering! That's the word. That's it!" Prince folds over in laughter and stamps his high-heel boots on the floor. Those heels, as it happens, are clear plastic, and lights twinkle within them. It's a perfect metaphor for the electricity that seems to be coursing through the singer at the moment.
Prince is responding to a description of the torrid version of "D.M.S.R." -- a jam from 1999 touting the virtues of "dance, music, sex, romance" -- that he and his backing band, the New Power Generation, unleashed earlier that evening at the sold-out Gund Arena in Cleveland. It was a full-on funk stomp that got the house up and shaking. Hammering only begins to convey the performance's pulverizing rhythmic assault. "Pulverizing! That's good, too," Prince says, laughing again. "What you see is people responding to what this band is -- and what we're doing."
It's just twenty minutes after the show, and, at a time when most performers would be just beginning to cool down, Prince is utterly composed. He's crisply dressed in a purple tunic and black pants and looks as if he has spent the evening relaxing in his living room rather than burning down a 20,000-seat house. But that's how effortless things seem to be of late for the forty-five-year-old musician. Everybody in the Prince camp -- most definitely beginning with Prince himself -- bristles when anyone suggests that the current wave of Princemania constitutes a "comeback." The official line is that he never went away. From a strictly literal standpoint, of course, that's true. He's been as busy as ever, using his own label and his Web site, the New Power Generation Music Club, to release CDs such as The Rainbow Children (2001) and N.E.W.S (2003), as well as the DVD Prince: Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas.
But whether or not you buy the message that Prince never left, it's clear that many of his millions of fans had gone somewhere in recent years, and now many of them are staging a comeback of their own. Suddenly, liking Prince doesn't feel like such a chore; in fact, it's fun. His stripped-down, pleasingly straightforward new album, Musicology, delivers on the promise of his spellbinding performances earlier this year on the Grammy Awards broadcast and at his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His live shows have become ecstatic parties, sweaty, two-hour romps through the likes of "Controversy," "U Got the Look," "Take Me With U" and a sizzling version of Sam and Dave's classic "Soul Man." Nearly a recluse before, Prince is now all over the media, chatting on talk shows, posing for photographers, being interviewed by reporters.
It's like an old friend has returned. Indeed, the spring of 2004 is beginning to feel like the summer of 1984, when Purple Rain made Prince one of the biggest rock stars in the world. When he sings, "Don't you miss the feeling that music gave you back in the day?" in Musicology," he might as well be speaking about his own music. After abandoning his name for an unpronounceable symbol, after painting the word "slave" on his face as part of a battle with his record label, after disowning decades of his own work, Prince is enjoying himself again. And, as always, his enthusiasm is irresistible.
I had an epiphany last night," Prince says about his appearance in Columbus, Ohio. He's sitting on a couch in his dressing room, shortly before taking the stage in Cleveland. The room is warm and humid, to keep his throat and nasal passages clear and his vocal cords supple. Candles burn on every available surface.
"I was offstage, listening to Michael Phillips take his solo," he continues, alluding to the instrumental portion of the show in which the saxophonist takes a long, atmospheric excursion during "God" while Prince changes clothes and takes a break. "I was thinking, 'Wow, listen to those people responding, and all he's doing is playing a saxophone.' They can feel that what he's doing is real. So many shows now, they have pyrotechnics, pre-taped vocals and musical parts, and it's so dead. But here's one man breathing into an instrument, and the whole room feels alive. It made me want to rise up to that level when I came back onstage."
Part of the goal of the Musicology album and tour is to connect audiences once again to the power of live music. "Take your pick -- turntable or a band?" Prince challenges on the album, and his concerts are like a clinic in inciting the sort of pandemonium that only a band can create. That's true even for the players themselves. "This is school for me," says Phillips, 27. "Every night I watch how he connects his gift to the crowd. I've spoken to him about it. He told me that playing a solo is like making love. You have to pay attention to the things that make your partner respond -- and space them out so they come at exactly the right time. It's one big, long orgasm."
(Excerpted from RS 949, May 27, 2004) |
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| jb |
Mo ises Alou |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
Well, it's nice that Decurtis wrote a nice article about that nice Prince fellow.
But DeCurtis is still a putz and I'm still not gonna buy the damn magazine.
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| jb |
Thanks Pam. |
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| parmeda |
As always, Josh...you are very welcome.
Here's one for ya...
What words do you never want to hear?
" Hello, my name is Moises, and I'll be your server this evening."
...from my favorite bro-in-law. I love him to death, but he has one major flaw. He's a White Sox fan  |
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| polksalad69 |
quote:
parmeda wrote:
...from my favorite bro-in-law. I love him to death, but he has one major flaw. He's a White Sox fan
Hey now. How's that go about I'd rather have a sister in a whorehouse than a brother that was a Cubs fan?
Didja make it to see Charlie Friday night? I went back for Billy Joe Shaver on Sat as well. |
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| luxury1 |
Hey Pam--thanks for posting the interview.
I am sorry to hear about his new-found Jehovah Witness faith. I loved those old dirty songs of his. But Prince has always been "had the faith", so I guess this doesnt surprise me. I will miss him, however, saying "you sexy mother fucker....."
Pam--when is your show??
I am going on July 14th, MSG (it will be throbby's first live Prince experience, my 6th)Wear your dancing shoes.
[Edited by luxury1] |
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| Joey |
Thanks Pam |
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| glencar |
Is his new stuff any good? |
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| parmeda |
quote:
polksalad69 wrote:
Didja make it to see Charlie Friday night? I went back for Billy Joe Shaver on Sat as well.
polk...I was sicker than a dog Friday. I missed Charlie.
But!...he's coming back July 3rd, playing at Buddy Guy's Legends!!! (Get yer tickets early, baby!) Wild horses won't drag me away from THAT show, no siree!
How was Shaver? That ole' coot...God love him!
Lux...June 25th. Can't wait. Gonna dance all week with that one! Really...he's here for 5 shows. I'm trying to swing something to catch another glimpse, lol.
glencar...try it, you might like it |
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| Joey |
" But!...he's coming back July 3rd, playing at Buddy Guy's Legends!!! (Get yer tickets early, baby!) Wild horses won't drag me away from THAT show, no siree! "
Thanks Pam .
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| jb |
Thanks for the heads up Joey! |
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| beer |
Thanks jb and joey for being so thankful.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Thanks again.
P.S. Thanks.
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| Nasty Habits |
Thanks Beer.
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| beer |
Thank you Nasty Habits.
Thankfully, i thank you.
I thank.
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| Joey |
quote:
jb wrote:
Thanks for the heads up Joey!
Thanks Josh .
Thanks Beer .
Thanks Nasty .
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