Prince @ the Forum: AFTERJAM | May 14, 2011

Through the kindness of a friend with connections, I found myself in the Forum Club for the afterparty once again. Although by the time I got in, the crowd at the stage was at least 8-9 people deep. There was NO WAY I was going to get to the front.

DJ Rashida was spinning the tunes as everyone waited in anticipation to see if Prince would play. At one point, I squeezed towards the front/side by her DJ booth and I was able to see the instruments all set up. But as yet, nothing was happening. Some of the crew got up on stage to take away some of the equipment and a lot of the crowd assumed that meant nothing was going to happen. So the masses cleared out quite a bit. Being in heels that night, the "dogs were barking" so I decided to wander over to the bar with my friend to see if we could sit while waiting for something to happen.

While at the bar, I stopped to chat for a bit with Dr. Funkenberry and a few other friends. And as we were standing there, Prince (flanked by security) floated by towards the club interior. Shortly thereafter, Janelle went by with her own entourage, and I took this as my cue to head back in.

Again, the crowd had gotten thick, and I kind of lost my friend in the mess too, so --- being 4'12" and unable to see shit, even in heels, I decided to find a place sit and listen to the jam session. As it turned out Prince didn't really play --- opting to enjoy from the sidelines while he let Janelle's band jam. I found a spot in the very back of the club on one of the comfy couches and sat to listen to the music. It was actually really great to sit and relax for a while.

After regaining the feeling in my toes, I wandered back towards the crowd as I heard OUTSTANDING by the Gap Band being played. I was dancing toward the back of the crowd when I saw Pej off to the side by DJ Rashida. He motioned for me to come over and when I did, he positioned me in front of him so I could see a clear shot of Prince — looking gorgeous and tight in his baby blue suit — jamming with Janelle and Cassandra on the keys. (Thank you, Pej!)

So Prince didn't play. And Janelle didn't really play much either. It was really just a jam session by the band members. Shelby got up to sing, as did Liv...and lead the crowd in a few chants. Prince was in a playful mood getting up on the mic to say, "We all need to say a prayer for sister Shelby's mom. She fell asleep with a candy necklace on and the ants got her." Overall, it was a cool ending to a great night. And we get to do it all again "later".

And there's that little bit mo'. Good times...
:)