Long Story Really Long
This part is all about the Prince show. But I think if you didn't care you probably stopped coming back to this thread by now.
Revive
We left Alex not only sated, happy, and a little drunk (N very drunk, she had not had anywhere near that much wine since being pregnant), we were also tired. This was around 10:00 and Prince was not going to take the stage until midnight, so N asked for a nap. I agreed. 30 minutes would be perfect to recharge, let the espresso kick in, and then make our way to the Rio.
As you would expect, the Wynn room staff had done turn down service. The shades were closed, the bed was turned down, and there were chocolates waiting for us. And the TV was back on its mellow screen saver and soothing music. We opened the shades to see the lights of the strip, I set two alarms, and we drifted into sweet sleep.
When the alarm went off, we stretched out, made slight adjustment to our clothes to go from fine dining to club sheik, and left.
Simple cab ride to the Rio, now plastered with signage on the side of the hotel touting Prince at 3121.
<font color="purple">Prince at 3121</font>
Getting in was not easy, but not as difficult as it could have been. I had splurged on VIP seating, but even for that, there was a line. It was shorter than the line for general admission though, and someone was working the line, getting people their tickets in advance of reaching the velvet rope.
Inside, 3121 looked like a large nightclub, which is exactly what it was (Club Rio) before the Prince deal. A large round dance floor in front of the stage, ringed by two elevated sets of tables for the VIP seating. Around the circular wall were a series of video screens.
I tried to tip our escort for better seats, but there was nothing doing. They were assigned, and as much as he liked looking at that folded up bill, he said there was nothing he could do. That was fine, it was good where we were anyway. We were on the lower ring, and if the stage was 12 o'clock, we were about 8 o'clock, with our backs to the wall and the table in front of us - shielded from traffic with a good view, less than 100 feet away.
Before the show, the DJ played a lot of Prince's greatest hits, some 70s funk, some James Brown, and even some concert footage of Prince. It set a mood, and the crowd was digging it, a lot of people dancing already.
The crowd, by the way, was a lot like us - children of the 80s who grew up with Prince and saw this as a way to indulge. There were some younger couples, and a sprinkling of couples in the 50s, too, but for the most part, Gen X central.
The VIP seating came with bottle service, but we had trouble getting a waitress. Finally she came by, and I ordered a bottle of champagne. When she returned, it was not the Veuve Cliquot I thought we were getting, but Tattinger. I said so, and she said "you get two bottles with this label." Well, there was no way I needed two bottles (N was likely not to drink any) but I shrugged it off since I had such trouble getting her in the first place. Still, I gave her a decent tip in case I needed anything else. She poured us each a glass, we toasted and sipped some champagne, bopping along to concert footage of "Musicology."
Just a few minutes later, the music stopped. The crowd noise rose, so did the curtain, and Prince took the stage.
Simple stage. On the left was a black spiral staircase leading to a balcony for the horn section. On the rest of the stage...nothing really. Clearly, the focus was going to be on Prince and the music, not lighting, video screens, props, pyrotechnics.
I did not recognize the first song, but I was focused on Prince anyway. He has presence. There were twin dancers exposing as much leg as possible in a dress, and a female vocalist in a flowing white outfit with a fedora, and the only thing you noticed was Prince, slinking his way through smoke to the front of the stage.
Prince was in some kind of rock 'n roll mood that night, or maybe he just wanted to show his range, because he quickly rattled off Chuck Berry's "Johnny B Good" and then The Beatles' "Come Together" (!?) all with long solo work on his guitar, thrashing out notes.
Next up, a Prince song arranged to also sound like 60s counterculture pop music, followed by a rocking "Anotherloverholenyohead" that finished with a transition to the bass line from "Rock Lobster" which Prince used to unleash a furious whaling on his guitar, during which he walked into our section of the crowd. Seriously, he is a bad mother [censored]. When he ended the solo, guitar lifted to his chest, wah wah pedal stretching out the last notes, he simply tossed the guitar into the audience and walked away.
Aside - you can see Prince do "Johnny B Good" and that same arrangement of "Anotherloverholenyohead" in this video of Prince's appearance at a Superbowl press conference this week. There is also this video with poorer video and sound, but no runner at the bottom of the screen, and also the third song he did at that press conference, "Get On the Boat". Love the horns on that song.
After that we got more of a R&B feel. They did "Musicology", with the horns brought down from the balcony and playing front and center. Prince is not afraid to share the limelight, and he let those guys have the spotlight for a long rendition of that song. The female vocalist also did a song, and Prince got in some of his own with "Black Sweat" off the 3121 album.
Then a lot of hits. "Cream", "U Got the Look", "Let's Go Crazy", mixed in there was "Lolita" off 3121, and finally "Purple Rain" with another screaming guitar solo to end the show. He did some quieting the band at key moments of hits to let the crowd hear itself singing along.
Around this time the waitress came by, and said she was bringing the next bottle of champaign. Meanwhile, we are all standing clapping, looking for an encore. She returns, finds that we still have some in the first bottle (as predicted, N had one glass, I had around 3) and says "Oh, you still have some. OK, I won't open this, just take it with you." W00t w00t!
Prince did come back for an encore, bringing Mavis Staples on stage to sing her hit "I'll Take you There" (at first I thought it was Tina Turner, but believe it or not it was a different 70 year old Motown artist with shocked out blond hair). Then Chaka Kahn's "I Feel For You" with a ton of people from the crowd dancing on stage.
Just a great show. We were up and dancing for a good part of the 90 minutes he played. He has a feel for the dramatic (the multiple exits, the way he works he crowd) and is a hell of a guitar player. And his band is tight.
If you like Prince I highly recommend the show. If you like good music, but aren't sold on Prince, he'll work hard to win you over. Just don't expect to get a cab too easily coming out of there.
Last aside, an L.A. City Beat music writer reviewed the same show I saw in case you want another opinion. We had largely the same conclusions, though.