Prince @ The Forum: Nuit Dix-Huit

[SET LIST — PRINCE @ the Forum | May 27, 2011]


Opening ::: NIKKA COSTA!!!!
833pm
LIKE A FEATHER
NYLONS IN A RIP
KEEP PUSHIN'
EVERYBODY'S GOT THEIR SOMETHIN
CAN'T PLEASE EVERYBODY

923
Lights come down...new lightning sequence on stage Prince solo entrance, goes directly to the piano for...
Sample Teaser Medley:
WHEN DOVES CRY (whole song)/NASTY GIRL/SIGN OF THE TIMES/TMBGITW/ALPHABET ST./4EVER IN MY LIFE - full first verse and chorus/DARLING NIKKI/HOT THING (messup on lyrics)/I WOULD DIE 4 U


DMSR
POP LIFE (Renato on keys... Band costume change)
MUSICOLOGY/PRINCE & THE BAND (Prince rips shirt open!!! Woot!!!) Maceo Parker on horns!!!!
SHHH (prince hasn't picked up guitar yet) into U WILL B WITH ME back into SHHH extended

Renato on the THE LOVE WE MAKE piano into --- Prince on guitar (finally) --- into TAKE ME WITH YOU
ANOTHERLOVERHOLEINYOHEAD/ROCK LOBSTER ext. ending
PEACH!!!! (Where's my Miko at?? LOL)
(Special Forum talk) into 1999
COOL (Girls sing Don't Stop Till U Get Enough - homage to MJ)
LET'S WORK
U GOT THE LOOK

Break :::
MAKE U FEEL MY LOVE (all girls)
PURPLE RAIN (10 mins long)


ENCORE :::
NIKKA!!!
Beat to CONTROVERSY into LOVE BIZARRE w/ NIKKA and MACEO
CONTROVERSY/HQ chant
Prince pulls an older lady up to dance -- Can U say "GlamSlam Granny???" --- no hotpants, but she was rockin' a leopard print dress!

Celeb sightings --- from crowd pulled onto the stage:::
Holly Robinson Pete
Lisa Kudrow
Celestina -- the Dancer from Musicology & Black Sweat videos --- she was WORKING IT!!!

ENCORE :::
DISCO HEAT
BABY IMA STAR!!! (freaking FINALLY)
KISS


ENCORE 2 :::
NOTHING COMPARES 2 U (with Shelby J)

-------

On NIKKA:
FINALLY!!! After weeks of rumors, she opens for Prince. I happen to LOVE Nikka. Truly, she's the only other artist out there that I would follow like I follow Prince. She's quite a bit easier to "follow" since her diehard fans are faithful, but few compared to Princely standards. I don't have to wait in line for hours on end to get into a venue or to see her take the stage. It was quite exciting to see her in "Prince's House" although a bit bizarre to see her hauling ass across such a huge stage. At one point, as she was strutting down the long catwalk that makes up the bottom of Prince's symbol, she realized that she still had another 50 feet to go and she says into the mic, "Hang on babies, mama's comin!!!" LOL I actually prefer her in a more intimate venue --- especially since the people surrounding me had no idea who she was. "Please stop asking me who she is. Her name is NIKKA COSTA. Google it when you get home."


On MACEO:
Maceo is a legend. And it's always great to see him. Although the addition of him and Mike Phillips late into the LA run was very reminiscent of the MUSICOLOGY tour.

On the AFTERJAM:
I was once again blessed with the opportunity to get into the club. But the crowd was rather large and the afterjam was already underway by the time I got in. Nikka was playing sans Prince and she was rocking the joint. The sound was particularly bad tonight in the club. I'm not sure if it was always this bad, or it just sounded that way because I was way in the back dancing by myself. About 3 songs or so in, Prince sweeps in, flanked by security...sweeps back out after about 2 minutes...and then the show stops abruptly and DJ Rashida starts spinning again. Not sure what happened there, but I'm guessing Prince decided to move the jam session to his house. After dancing for another hour, the club started clearing out and we called it a night.

Prince Turns House of Blues Into House of MPLS FUNK | Nuits Quinze, Seize, et Dix-Sept

Photo Courtesy of Dr.Funkenberry.com/Cody Breedlove

[PRINCE @ the House of Blues | May 25, 2011]

Upon returning to Southern California, Prince threw us his LA fans yet another zinger, by booking three shows in one night — Wednesday 5/25 — at an undisclosed club location. When tickets for all three shows went on sale via Ticketmaster on Tuesday 5/24, fans could still only speculate on where they would be going for the performances. Questions and rumors volleyed about as we tried to solve the big mystery. Would there be three separate locations? Would all three take place at one venue? Are there any venues that have three separate areas?

All the chaos was reminiscent of the LA Live Trifecta back in 2009 — Prince did an unprecedented three shows in one night: The first at Nokia Theater, the second at Conga Room, and the third at Club Nokia — all at the LA Live/Staples Center complex. However, knowing that Prince had since severed ties with AEG — the organization that promotes events at LA Live — we assumed a replay of that unbelievable night was not a possibility.

The only real clue we had was that the second show was said to be in a "Jazz Cafe." So of course, most of us scoured the internet for any venue either named "Jazz Cafe" and any venue within reasonable distance nearby where the 1st or 3rd shows may be. All this being said, ONLY PRINCE FANS would purchase tickets for his shows and NOT EVEN KNOW WHERE THEY ARE. LOL!!!

The location was finally revealed at 3pm on the day of the shows --- THE HOUSE OF BLUES.
The first show ($200) would take place in the main room. The second show ($100) would take place in the restaurant redubbed "The Jazz Cafe". And the third show would be a charity event with an auction-only ticket (starting at $500) in the Foundation Room.

———
On Monday night, after getting my gameplan settled on buying tickets the next morning, I was all excited. But as the rest of the evening wore on, I started to have second thoughts about spending the money. This is my usual M.O. --- I tend to get "Buyer's Remorse" even before I do any "buying." And what's worse, I'd gotten laid off from my job earlier that day (more on that in a later post)...so I started thinking about how much more limited my funds suddenly were...and did I really want to pay $100 for a jazz set?? Even though it's Prince, and I don't like to second-guess myself, I had to talk myself down off the ledge and make the decision NOT to go to the shows. After paying $25 plus parking for multiple shows at the Forum, and even though I had promised myself after the Troubadour that I'd "treat myself" to another club date if he decided to do another on, and even though I LOVE the House of Blues and have had many a great Prince memory there, I had to be responsible and opt out. Damn, I hate being a grown up sometimes.

Once again, I had to live vicariously through my Prince family. But strangely enough, I haven't been able to get a clear setlist for the first or the third shows. But here's the set list from the 2nd show (via setlist.com):

1. Blues Jam ("Jose Can You See")/Star Spangled Banner (instrumental intro) 

2. I Like It There 

3. Endorphinmachine (instrumental intro)/Villanova Junction 
(Jimi Hendrix cover)
4. The Question Of U (instrumental)/The Gingerbread Man/The One 

5. Dreamer 

6. Welcome 2 America/America (instrumental) 

7. She's Always In My Hair 

8. Bambi
9. Colonized Mind 

10. Brown Skin (Shelby J. on vocals)
11. Little Red Corvette (Montreux Jazz version)

LA Gets a Weeklong Break From The Purple Madness

Amidst rumors of a fallout between Prince and Live Nation - the promoters for the tour, and double booking at the Forum (Rammstein was already scheduled to play on Friday, 5/20),
Prince's 21-Night Stand in Los Angeles took a short hiatus.

During the weeklong "break," Prince decided to take his show up the coast and treated Fresno, San Jose, and Sacramento to some MPLS Funk. I spent most of the weekend reading Tweets and Facebook updates from my Bay Area friends who were able to get tickets for the shows. I don't have set lists for these shows, but I suspect, based on what I was told from those who did attend the shows, that he played mostly hits. From what I hear, Fresno only got a 90-minute show. (WTH???) And some further north, while happy to have the "Purple Yoda" all to themselves again, were disappointed that there were no afterparties or afterjams to get into.

As deduced in the past, Los Angeles fans have been treated and spoiled. And speaking for myself and my closest friends, WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE IT.