An evening with Prince Rogers Nelson

If you know me you're probably aware that I'm something of a Prince fan. Since about 1983 I've loved his music and became a true fanatic one Thursday evening in 1984. As I was half-watching "Top of the Pops" the show reached its "top 40 breakers" section. In amongst the clips they played a song called "When Doves Cry". I stopped whatever it was that I was doing and stared at the screen. I'd never heard anything like this and I was stunned. From that moment on I was a huge fan, and from that moment until around 1989 it was one hell of a ride, fantastic album after fantastic album. Since then they've been - to put it diplomatically - nowhere near as good.

I first saw him play live the day before my 19th birthday. 29th June 1990 I drove to Birmingham with a friend from college and we saw his "Nude" tour at the NEC. Since then I've seen him eight more times, the most recent being three shows in his 21 night residency at London's O2 (the second, third and last nights) and as his tours seemed to move further from Europe I feared I'd never see him again.

His recent shows in London began and for a rare moment I wished I lived in London. I didn't like the system for buying tickets though - concert announced on twitter, rush to the venue, queue for hours, and possibly get in. It didn't seem entirely fair to those who worked, and those who have jobs. Still, they were in London and I wasn't.

Word got out that he was going to be playing dates in my home town of Manchester on 21st and 22nd February. Would I be able to get to the venue and join the queue? Sadly I was teaching on Friday and as my job makes it more or less impossible to get time off without giving several months notice I was resigned to the likelihood I'd probably not get a ticket. As I drove to and from work my iPod - permanently on shuffle and full of random songs - seemed to have decided to wind me up and it played Prince song after Prince song. I wanted to smash my iPod more than ever.

Wednesday night. I watched Prince present an award on the Brits. I was making our evening meal, and as I was dishing up my tablet bleeped. I picked it up. My friend Kirsty had sent me a message containing a URL and nothing else. I tapped the link and was taken to the Ticketline website, specifically to a page for booking Prince tickets, for Manchester, Friday 21st February at Academy 1.  My tea went cold. Lou was shouting. I couldn't speak or enter my credit card details. A confirmation page was displayed. An email arrived. I was going to see Prince. 

(Picture taken at Academy 1 on Friday but not by me.)

We arrived in Manchester, parked at G-Mex, and walked to the Academy - a fair hike but safer than parking near the Academy anyway. As we reached Manchester Museum we saw the Academy lit up in purple about 200 metres in the distance, and a long line of people - the queue to get in. We stood In the cold and rain for just under an hour. At one point a late middle-aged man walked up to us. "Is this the queue for The Strypes?" he asked. No - it's for Prince. "Prince? PRINCE?" He apparently had no idea.

Academy 1 is a small and unattractive venue - a black-painted sports hall holding up to 2000 people. We found a spot at the front corner of the sound desk and had a good view until the traditional Tall Man In A Puffa Jacket arrived, stood in front of us, and didn't move for ages, until he was replaced by the equally traditional Tall Man In A White T-shirt Who Sways. We couldn't see much apart from his back.

8.40 pm. Prince's band, 3rd Eye Girl arrived on stage and asked us to enjoy the show but please don't take photos or try to record it. Everyone cheered. The lights went out. The show began.

It started in a disappointingly murky way. They opened with Funk & Roll, a new song and not a terribly good one. Prince looked tremendous when I could see him, his hair held by a sweatband around his head, a black & gold waistcoat and black trousers. There were no frills to the show, no costume changes, no elaborate light show. During the first track he shouted instructions to the sound desk, asked for the lights to be turned off, and played in virtual darkness. At one point he brought half a dozen people from the audience onto the stage to dance with him. Then, as the song ended he shouted "soundcheck over," he picked up a guitar, and launched into Endorphinemachine from the almost overlooked The Gold Experience album.

I'd always wanted to see Prince play more guitar and last night he didn't let me down. Most of the show he played unbelievably, be it guitar or bass or keyboards. He sang, he played with the audience. There were songs I'd always wanted to hear him play live but had never had the fortune to hear until last night, when he played full versions of Sign O The Times and When Doves Cry.

His new band are excellent, loud - almost punishingly so - and they look & sound tremendous. Prince is clearly loving playing with them, and he seemed reluctant to leave the stage. Sadly, over two and a half hours after he arrived, he left. We drifted from the Academy and walked the long walk back to the car.

Regrets: I'm not going tonight. 

Hopes: that I'll see him again and soon.

Set list...

Funk & Roll
Endorphinemachine
Screwdriver
She's Always In My Hair
I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man (slow)
Guitar
Plectrum Electrum 

Stratus
Fix Your Life Up
Forever In My Life
A Love Bizarre (Sheila E cover)
When Doves Cry
Sign O The Times
Hot Thing
The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
I Would Die 4U
Purple Rain

Let's Go Crazy
U Got The Look
Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry cover)
The Love We Make 

Liathach / Cause And Effect
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
Musicology
Train In Vain (The Clash cover)
Crimson and Clover (Tommy James & the Shondells cover)
Bambi