Prince >> and 3rd Eye Girl took stage in Tempe at Marquee Theatre for the 2nd consecutive night and gave the valley an epic performance at an unusually small venue for such a legendary caliber artist. Even in his mid-50's the iconic symbol still got down to the max, demonstrating his powerful range in voice, guitar prowess and tickling the ivories to start and end the show. He even got down nasty on bass a few times proving he could do anything the accompanying trio of sexy females could do and probably better.
As Marquee's new red curtains opened, his grace opened with 'The Breakdown' on piano and behind a translucent wall that projected only his silhouette. Then Prince busted out his beloved electric guitar and performed a half-tempo version of 'Let's Go Crazy' behind an array of blinking, blinding lights that could have put the crowd of fossils into seizures. Though most of those in attendance were probably 20-30 years my senior, they were just as energetic and fun as those at typical shows I go to - except instead of shuffling, moshing or bepop-ing they did the bump and such with much more flailing limbs. Propers to them going crazy for the entire 2-hour performance that also included a double-encore.
Prince followed with a few more of his gems and over the next 30 minutes or so several covers like 'Play That Funky Music' and 'Thank You' which everyone around me sang the wrong words to. The dude from Sly & The Family Stone played and sang alongside Prince for that too. Pretty cool to bring up the creator of that song.
Then Prince dove into a medley of 8 or 10 greats that included 'When Doves Cry', 'Nasty Girl' and 'I Would Die 4 U'. Sadly, this mix did not include 'Raspberry Beret' or 'Little Red Corvette'. Those are definitely 2 of my favorites but his greatness' set list was still put together quite nicely and the medley did end with 'The Most Beautiful Girl In The World' which was super random and I really liked for some reason.
Prince got back on the piano to close out with an extended version of 'Purple Rain' which was also sung by the entire audience at a zillion decibels. The standard encore ensued with a not-so-standard cover of 'Let's Go' by The Cars. Totally badass to sing 'I love the nightlife, baby!' with his royal highness at the top of our lungs. He then told us how much he loved us but not as much as his guitar and and at that point he busted into a song totally dedicated to his guitar. Then the curtains closed and the house lights came on but another encore ensued.
I'm pretty pleased to have been a mere 15 feet away from such a talented and iconic specimen of a man who seemingly has not aged after over 3 decades of magic. That's a bucket list completion for sure. Sorry I have no pics or videos for this event. There were threats of castration and death by firing squad if we even looked at our phones. Use your imagination and it's completely okay to add a unicorn, Sheila E and some pancakes into this performance if you like.
marc
