jeudi 31 décembre 2015

2015.12.30 Prince à St Barth

Prince arrive à Gouverneur Bay, St Barthélemy pour le réveillon du jour de l'an chez Roman Abramovich

source

jeudi 17 décembre 2015

samedi 12 décembre 2015

2015.12.12 HitNRun - Phase Two

HitNRun - Phase Two est sorti sur Tidal cet après-midi !!!

HitNRun - Phase One

1. Million $ Show 3:10
2. Shut This Down 3:03
3. Ain't About To Stop 3:38
4. Like A Mack 4:04
5. This Could B Us 4:11
6. Fallinlove2nite 3:12
7. X’s Face 2:38
8. Hardrocklover 3:42
9. Mr. Nelson 2:27
10. 1000 X’s & 0’s 4:27
11. June 3:21

HitNRun - PhaseTwo

1. Baltimore 4:33
2. Rocknroll Loveaffair 4:01
3. 2 Y. 2 D. 3:50
4. Look At Me, Look At U 3:27
5. Stare 3:45
6. Xtraloveable 5:00
7. Groovy Potantial 6:16
8. When She Comes 3:45
9. Screwdriver 4:15
10. Black Muse 7:21
11. Revelation 5:21
12. Big City 6:26

mardi 24 novembre 2015

RIP Cynthia Robinson

Cynthia Robinson est décédée ce lundi 23 novembre 2015, à 69 ans, suite à un cancer.

Trompettiste et co-fondatrice du groupe Sly and The Family Stone, elle est née le 12 janvier 1946 à Sacramento, Californie. Elle faisait partie du groupe entre 1967 et 1975; puis a rejoint Graham Central Station en 1974. RIP Miss Cynthia.

lundi 23 novembre 2015

2015.11.22 American Music Awards

Prince présente le meilleur album Soul/R&B de l'année 2015 au Microsoft Theater de Los Angeles lors de la 43ème cérémonie des American Music Awards

The winner is THE WEEKND : Beauty Behind The Madness

Presse

samedi 21 novembre 2015

Mayte and The Twinz on latest Babyface's video

vendredi 20 novembre 2015

Purple Picks of the Week

7 septembre 2015

Stare (Prince)

http://listen.tidal.com/album/50924841

14 septembre 2015

Stones (The Golden Hippie)

http://listen.tidal.com/album/51181972

21 septembre 2015

Breathing Underwater (Hiatus Kaiyote) (pas de participation princière)

http://listen.tidal.com/album/42856346

28 septembre 2015

Free Urself (Prince)

http://listen.tidal.com/album/51844379

5 octobre 2015

Always playlist (compilée par Prince)

http://listen.tidal.com/playlist/f37708 ... f940452168

12 octobre 2015

Colonized Mind (Prince)

http://listen.tidal.com/track/50772181

19 octobre 2015

Pretzelbodylogic Reloaded (Prince and 3rdEyeGirl)

http://listen.tidal.com/album/52546326

26 octobre 2015

Back In Time (Judith Hill)

http://listen.tidal.com/album/52877691

2 novembre 2015

When Will We B Paid ? (Prince)
http://listen.tidal.com/album/53313829

9 novembre 2015

If Eye Could Get Ur Attention (Prince)
http://listen.tidal.com/album/53875648

16 novembre 2015

One Nite Alone (Prince)
http://listen.tidal.com/album/50780961

23 novembre 2015

1000 X's & O's (Prince)
http://listen.tidal.com/track/50767193

30 novembre 2015

The Ladder (Prince and The Revolution)
http://listen.tidal.com/track/50380399

7 Décembre 2015
Turn Up (Judith Hill)
http://listen.tidal.com/track/52877693

14 Décembre 2015

Look at Me, Look at U (Prince)
http://listen.tidal.com/track/55212296

21 Décembre 2015

Big City (Prince)
http://read.tidal.com/article/purple-pick-of-the-week-big-city-share

28 Décembre 2015

Revelation (Prince)
http://read.tidal.com/article/purple-pick-of-the-week-revelation-share

4 Janvier 2016

Hair (Graham Central Station)

jeudi 12 novembre 2015

New pix

mercredi 11 novembre 2015

Spotlight... Prince Piano And A Microphone Tour

Après sa pyjama party du 7 novembre dernier, Prince s'est entretenu avec quelques journalistes européens afin de leur divulguer la nouvelle info princière : une tournée européenne entre le 24 novembre et le 22 décembre - 15 villes / 11 pays.

«Why do this now ? For several reasons. For starters it is a challenge. I rarely get bad reviews because this is something that's been perfected for over thirty years. You have to try new things. With the piano it is more naked, more pure. You can see exactly what you get.»

Prince

Confirmé par RTL ce 11 novembre, Prince passera à Paris, à l'Opéra Garnier plus précisément le 11 décembre prochain... pour 2 concerts (un à 18h00 et un autre à 21h00).

Nous ne connaissons pas encore le prix des billets mais ils seront en vente dès le 18 novembre.
Les billets pour les 27, 29 novembre et pour le 1er décembre seront en vente le vendredi 13 novembre à 10h00 (heure locale) ICI; ainsi que le concert autrichien : même jour mais à 9h00 du matin ICI.

• AUSTRIA - Vienna, Konzerthaus - 24th November 2015

• Scotland - Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall - 27th November 2015 (2 Shows at 5:00pm & 9:00pm)

• UK - London, Theatre Royal Drury Lane - 29th November 2015 (2 Shows at 3:00pm & 7:00pm)

• UK - Birmingham, Symphony Hall - 1st December 2015 (2 Shows at 5:00pm & 9:00pm)
• NETHERLANDS - Amsterdam, Koninklijk Theater Carré - 5th December 2015 (at 9:00pm)
• FRANCE - Paris, Opéra Garnier - 11th December 2015 (2 Shows at 6:00pm & 9:00pm)
• SPAIN - Barcelona, Gran Teatre del Liceu - 13th December 2015
• ITALY - Milan, Teatro degli Arcimboldi - 15th December 2015
• BELGIUM - Brussels, Cirque Royal - 22nd December 2015
• UK - Liverpool - Date TBC
• DENMARK - 2 Shows, Venues TBC - Date TBC
• SWEDEN - Venue TBC - Date TBC
• NORWAY - Venue TBC - Date TBC
• SWITZERLAND - Venue TBC - Date TBC
• GERMANY - Venue TBC - Date TBC

Diamonds And Pearls Beginnings (new link)

Retrouvez ici la configuration de l'album Diamonds And Pearls du 27 novembre 1990

LINK

(New link available until 18th november 2015)

1. Something Funky (This House Comes)
2. Daddy Pop (alternate version)
3. Walk Don't Walk (alternate version)
4. Diamonds And Pearls (alternate version without Rosie Gaines)
5. Schoolyard
6. Strollin'
7. Interlude (Joyful Sound)
8. Willing And Able (drum solo intro, Prince background vocals without Tony M.)
9. Insatiable (longer version with extra lyrics)
10. Money Don't Matter 2 Night (alternate mix)
11. Horny Pony (alternate version)
12. Live 4 Love (alternate version)

mardi 10 novembre 2015

IF EYE COULD GET UR ATTENTION

IF EYE COULD GET UR ATTENTION on Tidal

Tamron Hall is on the cover of Prince's new single

Prince announces solo European tour at Paisley Park pajama party

The Current’s exclusive broadcast of “CRAZY 2 COOL,” a live medley recorded by Prince and 3RDEYEGIRL last year in France, turned out to be just the kickoff to a weekend-long Chanhassen party that included a James Bond movie screening and the announcement of a solo European tour.

On Friday and Saturday nights, Prince opened the doors of Paisley Park to host “pajama parties” that started with a listening party for “CRAZY 2 COOL” and became live performances, culminating in a Saturday night screening of the new James Bond movie Spectre at the Chanhassen Cinema—which Prince had rented out for the occasion.

Later, news broke that Prince had summoned a group of European journalists to announce a solo tour—featuring only Prince, alone at a piano—that’s tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 21 in Vienna. The tour news was first published in Spain’s El Pais, which reported that before Saturday night’s performance, Prince talked to a small group of European journalists and shared the news that he’ll be visiting 16 European cities on a solo tour unlike any he’s ever done.

A tour itinerary was handed to the journalists, but Prince’s team later clarified that the dates are not confirmed. Working with a Scandinavian promoter (hence the high density of shows in that region), Prince tentatively plans to play shows in the U.K. (Glasgow, Birmingham, London, and Liverpool), Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Spain, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden (where Prince will reportedly play four shows). El Pais reports that a Barcelona show is penciled in for Dec. 13, at the Liceo Theater.

• AUSTRIA - Vienna, Konzerthaus - 21 Novembre
• NETHERLANDS - Amsterdam, Koninklijk Theater Carré - 5 Décembre (2 Shows)
• FRANCE - Paris, Opéra Garnier - 11 Décembre (2 Shows)
• SPAIN - Barcelona, Gran Teatre del Liceu - 13 Décembre
• BELGIUM - Brussels, Cirque Royal - 22 Décembre
• UK - Glasgow - Date TBC
• UK - Liverpool - Date TBC
• UK - Birmingham - Date TBC
• UK - London, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane - Date TBC
• DENMARK - 2 Shows, Venues TBC - Date TBC
• SWEDEN - Venue TBC - Date TBC
• NORWAY - Venue TBC - Date TBC
• SWITZERLAND - Venue TBC - Date TBC
• ITALY - Venue TBC - Date TBC
• GERMANY - Venue TBC - Date TBC

Prince told the journalists that he has “various reasons” for undertaking the tour, among them challenging himself. He added that “with the piano, it’s more stripped down, more pure. You can see exactly what you get.” (Translation, from the Spanish, by Luke Taylor.) On Monday morning, Prince tweeted a link to a French blog post about the tour with a corrected version of another quote: “I rarely get bad reviews because this is something that’s been perfected 4 over thirty years.”

According to the French report, Prince played a solo set that included “Starfish & Coffee,” “Something in the Water (Does Not Compute),” “Raspberry Beret,” and “With You” before bringing his electric band onstage to jam. Recently, Prince has been playing with musicians including 3RDEYEGIRL guitarist Donna Grantis, drummer Kirk Johnson, and bassist Dywane Thomas Jr. (a.k.a. MonoNeon). Here’s a video, shared by Prince, recorded at Paisley Park on Saturday night.

The Current’s Andrea Swensson was at Paisley Park on Saturday, and reports that Prince himself was at the theater to enjoy the film with his guests. She also says that Prince told the audience that the previous night (Friday), after everybody left, he just kept playing for himself for three hours.

“I was in the zone,” Andrea remembers Prince saying. “And you know what put me in the zone? Us.”

source

Presse 1 (Italie)

Presse 2 - 3 (Autriche)

Presse 4 (Pays Bas)

Presse 5 (France)
Presse 6 (Angleterre)

dimanche 8 novembre 2015

CRAZY 2 COOL

‘CRAZY 2 COOL’: The Current to play exclusive live medley by Prince and 3RDEYEGIRL

When we decided to have a little fun this winter and go all-Prince on our Local Current stream as soon as it snows, we had no idea what Prince himself might make of our little stunt. In fact, he loves the idea, and to help everyone get in the Purple spirit, he’s sharing “CRAZY 2 COOL”: an exclusive live recording that The Current will play this Friday.

The 20-minute recording is a searing medley performed by Prince and 3RDEYEGIRL, recorded on June 1, 2014 at Le Zenith in Paris. The Current’s airing of the medley will be the world premiere of this authorized live recording that contains – as Paisley Park puts it – a raucous selection of “hits and surprises.” We’ll play it at 5:00 p.m. CT, and then again at 10:00 CT, this coming Friday, Nov. 6. Fans in our broadcast area can tune in on the radio, and everyone in Minnesota and beyond will also be able to hear the broadcast streaming online. Here’s a sneak preview:

Prince has also announced that on Saturday, he’ll share a live acoustic performance called OUI CAN LUV recorded at Paisley Park. The performance centers on Andy Allo, with Prince filling in as “special guest guitarist.” OUI CAN LUV will stream exclusively on Tidal from 7:00 p.m. CT Saturday night through 7:00 a.m. CT the following morning. Allo’s 2012 album Superconductor, co-produced by Prince, will also be made available on Tidal to coincide with the OUI CAN LUV stream.
Meanwhile, we’ll continue to watch the skies! When MPR News meteorologist Paul Huttner certifies that one inch of snow has officially accumulated at Paisley Park, we’ll pull the Prince lever and go all-Prince on our Local Current stream of Minnesota music—available via our website, via the free MPR Radio app for iPhones and Androids, and broadcast via 89.3 HD2 in the Twin Cities. To be alerted via e-mail as soon as we’re ready to go purple, sign up for our Purple Alert.

source

Paisley Park Afterdark

Prince organise une soirée afterdark à $40 dans la journée du 6 novembre 2015.

Mot d'ordre : venez en pyjama !!

Après avoir passé l'enregistrement du CRAZY 2 COOL (Paris, Le Zénith du 1er juin 2014 - show #2), diffusé sur la radio The Current 89.3; Prince est monté sur scène avec on groupe (Kirk Johnson à la batterie, Mononeon à la basse, Donna Grantis à la guitare et Adrian Crutchfield au saxophone) pour y interpréter entre autres :

Chanhassen, Paisley Park

6th november 2015

Let's Go Crazy
The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker (incl. Four)
Xpectation
Use Me
In Time
You Can Make It If You Try
You're The One For Me
Days Of Wild

Prince a invité les spectateurs à venir voir le dernier James Bond, Spectre au cinéma.

Chanhassen, Paisley Park
7th november 2015

If I Could Get Your Attention
Raspberry Beret
Starfish And Coffee
With You (instrumental)
Diamonds And Pearls
Sweet Thing
Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)
Girls & Boys
♥ Or $
When Will We B Paid
Stratus

jeudi 5 novembre 2015

Prince on drums

Andy Allo Hello Tour Dates

Andy Allo se produira, entre autres, au New Morning le 18 novembre prochain.

mercredi 4 novembre 2015

If Eye Could Get Ur Attention snippet

Prince met en ligne un snippet de If Eye Could Get Ur Attention de 21 secondes via son compte Soundcloud. Le titre sera bientôt disponible en entier sur Tidal. La chanson a été écrite par Prince pour le premier album éponyme de Taja Sevelle en 1987;

et reprise par Mayté en 1993.

dimanche 1 novembre 2015

New tour ?

mercredi 28 octobre 2015

Beyoncé and Nicky Minaj sing Darling Nikki

mardi 27 octobre 2015

New snippets on Princestagram

Time (live)

And some new jams... HERE

dimanche 25 octobre 2015

2015.10.24 'Back In Time' ParTY

Chanhassen, Paisley Park

24th october 2015

Soirée organisée à Paisley Park célébrant la sortie de l'album de Judith Hill, Back In Time

As Trains Go By (by Judith Hill)

Cry, Cry, Cry (by Judith Hill)

All The Critics Love U In Minneapolis (incl. A Love Bizarre & The Glamorous Life)
Stratus
My People (by Judith Hill)
Use Me
New song
Million $ Show (with Judith Hill)
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (incl. Shut This Down lyrics)
Alphabet St.
Sign "☮" The Times*
777-9311 (Prince on drums)
Hot Thing*

[* Sampler Set]

vendredi 23 octobre 2015

PRINCESTAGRAM is back !!!

PRINCESTAGRAM

dimanche 18 octobre 2015

2016.10.15, 16 (am) aFtER sHoW dAnCE ParTY

Chanhassen, Paisley Park

15th october 2015 (am)

Léquipe de basketball Minnesota Linx gagne le championnat WNBA alors Prince propose une soirée à Paisley Park. Toutes les raisons sont bonnes pour faire la fête...

Prince - vox, keyboard, guitar
Kirk Johnson - drums
MonoNeon - bass
Donna Grantis - guitar

Joshua Welton - keyboards

Liv Warfield - vox

Ashley Jayy - vox

Purple Rain
Let's Go Crazy (incl. Frankenstein)
Kiss
When Doves Cry*
Sign "☮" The Times*
Hot Thing*
Cool (incl. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough by Liv Warfield & Ashley Jayy)
Guitar
1000 X's & O's
Stare
Use Me / Yes We Can Can

Shut This Down
X's Face
You Got The Love
Alphabet St.*
The Gold Standard*
If I Was Your Girlfriend*

[* Sampler Set]

Chanhassen, Paisley Park

15th october 2015 (am)

Prévue comme une soirée célébrant l'apparition télévisée de Judith Hill à The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Prince a décidé que ce serait une répétition.

Prince - vox, keyboard, guitar
Kirk Johnson - drums
MonoNeon - bass
Donna Grantis - guitar

Joshua Welton - keyboards

Liv Warfield - vox

Ashley Jayy - vox

You Got The Love vs As Trains Go By (instrumental) (by Liv Warfield)

Paisley Park (with Liv Warfield, Ashley Jayy)

Stratus

My People

Sweet Thing (by Liv Warfield)

Purple Rain

Stare

Let's Go Crazy (incl. Frankenstein)

Guitar

Plectrumelectrum

Instrumental Jam

2015.10.16 Judith Hill on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert - Cry, Cry, Cry

And on Night 2 at Paisley Park, Prince invited the public, saluted the WNBA champion Lynx in conversation and declared this last-minute $50-a-ticket performance a rehearsal.

He put the same band he had for Wednesday’s 3-hour Lynx victory party through its paces for 100 minutes late Thursday night running through songs, working out arrangements with instructions and just jamming -- till 3:05 in the morning.

“Y’all mind if we do a rehearsal right now?” the Purple One told the sparse crowd of about 35 people after Liv Warfield and Ashley Minnieweather sang “You Got the Love,” which was faster than Wednesday’s slow-jam reading but still not as up-tempo as Chaka Khan’s original version. “That way we don’t have to get up at 9 in the morning.”

Indeed, Prince was in a playful mood. At one point, he asked how many people had been at Paisley for the Lynx celebration the night before. Um, about two of us. “Those girls not only play basketball, but they dance,” he declared. “See all those scuff marks onstage.”

They were from Madonna, a fan shouted, referring to Madge’s appearance at Paisley to see Prince the week before.

“We cleaned them up from last week,” the Paisley potentate explained. “These are new scuff marks.”

Thursday was actually an unusual occurrence in Prince’s world in that he invited fans to a rehearsal – an intimate opportunity to see his working process in the NPG Music Club room at Paisley Park.

Wearing a striped yellow, red and black stocking cap with a matching top, Prince was accompanied by a revamped group – guitarist Donna Grantis from 3rdEyeGirl, drummer Kirk Johnson who used to be in the New Power Generation, bassist Mono Neon and the two aforementioned backup singers.

Take their treatment of “Purple Rain,” for example.

Prince started the song on electric piano, with a light churchy touch. After he ran through a verse, a chorus and some whew-whews, he called “background,” meaning the singers should do the whew-whews.

“That’s your part, ready?” They sang and he reacted with a “whoa!” He asked them to do it again. “Don’t start looking at each other,” he urged. “C’mon.”

He liked what they did and declared “yeah. One more time.” Then he played the famous “Purple Rain” guitar solo on piano, with a pronounced gospel tinge.

When he finished, he announced: “We’re going to take an offering right now.”

Sometimes the band just jammed. And Prince explained what they were trying to do in a cryptic way.

“We keep messing around with it till we can yank the guts out of it,” he told the fans. “Till we can find out where the funk is.”

He’d call out for a bass solo, a drum solo or horns (which were synthesized – not like at a true gig where he insists on real instruments played by musicians).

He’d call for a new song. Or ask a singer if it was the right key for her.

At one point, he went over to Grantis and demonstrated a riff on her guitar so she would know how he wanted it.

She didn’t need any tips during their jam on “Guitar,” a strutting rocker that sounded like a mashup of the Stones, the Who and the New York Dolls. It was part of the second half of Thursday’s session, which featured some ferocious guitar fireworks by Prince and Grantis on heavy funk-rock workouts.

At other times, things were subtle. On one jam, Prince on piano playfully traded licks with drummer Johnson, even boiling it down to single-note exchanges.

What was clear from this public rehearsal is that the maestro has strong feelings about arrangements but obviously respects his colleagues enough to let their instincts and artistry surface. Even if the stage was dark (lit only by rope lighting in the bass drum), this was a rare and illuminating peek behind the Purple curtain.

(source)

vendredi 9 octobre 2015

2015.10.09 (am) fREE uRSELF pARTY

Free Urself

Madonna est passé au Xcel Energy Center de St. Paul jeudi 8 octobre lors de son Rebel Heart Tour et a dédié La Vie En Rose (Edith Piaff) à Prince... et lui l'a tout simplement invitée à la fREE uRSELF dANCE pARTY organisée le jour même à Paisley Park.

La Vie En Rose

Prince a chanté quelques titres de son dernier album HITnRUN - Phase One et quelques reprises pendant un peu plus d'une heure. Hardrocklover était prévu sur la setlist mais n'a pas été joué. Contenu du concert très intéressant pour ma part...

Prince - vox, keyboard, guitar
Kirk Johnson - drums
MonoNeon - bass
Donna Grantis - guitar

Stare

Shut This Down
Guitar
Use Me

Stratus
Ain’t About To Stop
1000 X’s And O’x
X’s Face

Free Urself

Sign "☮" The Times
Work To Do

Thirty-three civilians showed up to Paisley Park late last night. I know there were 33 of us because I ended up having plenty of time to count each and every one of us from left to right, then again from right to left and all the way up to the stage, which was littered with dozens of guitar pedals, two keyboard rigs, a drum set, and Prince’s signature glyph microphone.
I had shown up to Paisley Park around 11:30 p.m., having been summoned there only hours earlier with the promise that something “extra-special” might go down. As the 33 of us who were gathered there did our best to stay upright, sway to DJ KISS’s mix of Prince and ’80s pop tunes, and keep our wits about us, and as the clock crept past 1:30 a.m., I was just about to start counting the crowd again and contemplating the strength of that word might when a flurry of security guards with walkie-talkies started buzzing around and a door next to the stage swung open.
A steady stream of people started filing into the venue, and it took me a couple of blinks to realize that the first woman and the head of the pack was Madonna. She is a petite little powerhouse of a figure, and was dressed in a sharp navy trench coat-style cape with her hair neatly woven into a braid that fell down her right shoulder, like a pop star’s rendition of Little Red Riding Hood. Her bright lipstick and dark eyeliner appeared flawless, and as she scanned the strange scene—33 civilians dancing haphazardly, undoubtedly looking tired from all the waiting and the late hour, and her own hits blasting over the sound system—she looked so calm and coiffed that you would have never guessed that she had just finished performing a two-hour show in front of a sold-out crowd at the Xcel Energy Center.
It turns out that injecting Madonna’s entire professional dance troupe into a party is a surefire way to liven it up, and as more and more of the pop icon’s touring crew filtered in, a fully choreographed dance party soon broke out in the middle of the room. It was incredibly surreal standing on the sidelines attempting to groove to the music while what looked like a professional music video shoot sprawled out before us, but all of a sudden the energy in the place had been cranked to 11 and it was all we could do to try to soak up the crew’s ecstatic vibe.
Madonna was ushered into a roped-off section of the room and then disappeared, undoubtedly to have a few private moments with Prince while her team blew off a little steam on the dance floor. By 2:15 a.m. she had returned to the scene and was followed in short order by Prince, who stood near the back of the dance floor draped in a floor-length hooded sweater and smirked at the energetic dancers who were frolicking around the room.
As soon as Prince appeared the small crowd started pressing toward the stage, and even after Madonna’s tour buses had all been unloaded into Paisley Park there were still only roughly 60 people there to take in the impending show. Most of the people in attendance were standing within a couple yards of the band, and Prince seemed a little uncomfortable playing to such an intimate audience.
“You better keep dancing,” he instructed us, sitting at an organ and leading a new configuration of his band through a swampy, funky new song. 3RDEYEGIRL guitarist Donna Grantis was joined by a drummer Kirk Johnson and bassist Dwayne MonoNeon Thomas, Jr., who had more jazz and funk sensibilities than Grantis’s more hard-driving 3RDEYEGIRL bandmates Ida Neilsen and Hannah Ford Welton (who was dancing in the audience with her husband, Josh). The change in musicianship allowed Prince to deconstruct his songs into more complex, moody arrangements, tracing back to his roots in late ’70s jazz and funk.
As if to show off the band’s newly discovered chemistry, Prince followed up a rip-roaring rendition of “Guitar” with a lengthy, solo-filled jam to the Bill Withers song “Use Me Up.” After giving Grantis and his new bassist a turn at soloing, Prince slowed the song down and morphed it into a spacey, dreamy interlude, then tore through an impressive and complex piano solo that sounded like it was inspired in equal measure by Thelonious Monk and Jimi Hendrix.
When Prince launched into the next song, “Ain’t About to Stop,” off his latest album HITNRUN Phase One, I decided to try to discretely scan the room to see where Madonna was taking in the show. I had expected her to hang back a bit, or maybe sitting in her roped-off area, but once I stepped a little closer to the stage I realized that she was not only in the front row, but had perched on the edge of the stage at Prince’s feet, looking up at him adoringly as he sang.
There is a face that people make when they are watching Prince play guitar; it’s a gleeful expression that combines the joy of going down a roller coaster with the realization that you are witnessing a moment that might never be recreated by another being that lives on this beautiful Earth. It turns out Madonna also makes that face when she is watching Prince play. As the band stretched out into another jam and Prince ripped into a soul-levitating guitar solo, her mouth relaxed into an awestruck gape, revealing a shiny gold grill underneath her perfect red lipstick.
Prince, too, seemed a little awestruck by Madge, appearing nervous as he flitted around the stage to different instruments and taking great care to get the lighting, sound, and chord changes just right. It completely shifted the energy at the Park, which usually pulls like a magnet toward Prince’s spot in the room, and it was a rare chance to see two megastars share an intimate moment and a series of knowing smiles.
After the sixth song of the set, Prince leaned down and whispered something back and forth with Madonna, and then hopped back up to his keyboards and simply said, “Cool.” With that, Madonna made her way out of the building and Prince was left alone with his band and small group of adoring fans, and he delivered simmering renditions of “1000 X’s and O’s” and “X’s Face” before hopping off stage and handing things back to the DJ.
Sensing that we were well past 3 a.m. at that point, I started to make my way toward the door, but my friend and #1 Prince fan Heidi Vader later informed me that Prince returned to play two more short sets and even invited some of his fans up on stage to sing and dance along. Or did any of that really happen? On nights like these, it’s hard to tell.

by Andrea Swensson (source)

Keys solo