After two historic concerts at the Jazz Festival, Prince returns to Montreal for another crazy funk fest
I’ve seen many great shows in my life, but none ever came close to the one I saw last June 24 at Métropolis, where Prince played the first of two concerts during the Montreal International Jazz Festival. It was pure bliss to hear such timeless classics as Purple Rain, Let’s Go Crazy, 1999, Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret, Controversy and Cream being played with contagious enthusiasm and boundless energy by this electrifyingly charismatic singer and virtuoso guitar player who, surrounded by the extraordinary current incarnation of the New Power Generation, kept at it for no less than four hours.
"Yes, it was very special," Prince concurs. "It’s rare to see any band play four hours with seven encores. That night was historical for us."
Having apparently enjoyed playing that gig as much as the people who were lucky enough to be there in the audience loved hearing it, His Purpleness is now set to return to Montreal on December 2, when he’ll play on a 360-degree stage in the shape of his signature Love Symbol at the Bell Centre as part of his Welcome 2 Canada tour. Once again, the 53-year-old star hopes to remind people of how great live music can be. "We grew up in the 60s and 70s, which was a golden age for real music," he says. "These days the stylist is more important than whether or not you can really play your instrument."
Even though he has more than enough hits of his own to fill even a four-hour show, Prince often sprinkles his setlists with covers of Sly and the Family Stone, Michael Jackson and others – anything to get the people grooving even more. "We try to create an unforgettable experience that will last a lifetime. Earlier in our career it would be unthinkable to play another band’s material in concert, especially if that band was still vital. Sadly a lot of our peers are no longer touring, so we do our best to keep their music alive by introducing it to a new generation."
"People wonder why we have never changed the name of the band, the New Power Generation," Prince goes on. "The name actually refers to the audience now. The crowds we play in front of now are more diverse than ever. It’s mind-bending actually, when you think about it."
As is often noted, Prince is constantly writing and recording new material, and just in the last two years he’s released the LOtUSFLOW3R triple album and 20Ten. There were rumours that he was in the studio in Switzerland recently, which Prince confirms, but he reveals to us that it was not for his next album but to give a hand to Andy Allo, a Cameroonian singer-songwriter who’s been touring with him and the NPG. "Yes, we were assisting Andy Allo with her latest project," says Prince, "I could tell you how cool Andy and her music are, but I would need a live mic and a sound system to do so."
While there are other artists who’ve been at it for 35-plus years like Prince, few still convey as much passion as he does when he sings and plays guitar. What is it that keeps him going after all these years? Does it have something to do with the spiritual nature of music?
"Good question," Prince ponders. "Music revitalizes the mind, body and spirit instantly. We all need music in our lives. Teachers and musicians are some of our favourite people. Laurence Fishburne was at a party we had where Maceo Parker and his band were playing in our living room. Afterwards, Morpheus said, ‘Thanks. My soul needed that.’ Come December you’ll see what he means."
Prince
At Bell Centre
December 2
14 comments
Thank you for that bit of interview.
We love you Prince, can’t wait to see you in Montreal again! <3
Please STOP with the myth that he plays 4hours long. It is TOTALLY WRONG. I was at the show on june 25th. The setlist was of 28 songs. The first five were from his guitarist, and Prince was not even on stage. So we end up with 23 songs. Lets take an average of 5 minutes per song (and I’m being generous) that would make it 115minutes. Not even 2 hours. On the 25th we had to wait 30minutes for him to come back and play Purple Rain. In the last hour, he played 2 songs. And of the songs he did sing, 2 of them were from The Time, the other band in the movie Purple Rain. So yes, we are in the Metropolis for 4 hours, but almost half of it we spent waiting and hoping he will come back.
Alain, the songs he performed by THE TIME, ,uh those are Prince’s songs..he wrote them. And your timekeeping of his concerts is nitpicky and ridiculous…who the hell keeps track of the time between songs? What, you expect him to go up there and play nonstop with no breaks or pauses….nobody does that. Jackass
I love PrInCe ! & The Revolution! There my Favorite along with his movie “Purple Rain”! My All Time Favorite Movie <3! I Am Going to See You PrInCe bABY THIS November 30TH 2011 @ The Halifax metro cent Er <3 YA for Ever & always!
Corri Chranofsky ~Your Truest & Loyalest #1 Fan XoXoxoOoXOxoXOxoxOxoOXOo
The 4 hour show was the night before yours smart ass. You got served a measly 3 hours of Prince. As for the part about him doing songs by ‘the other band’ in Purple Rain… I’m not even touching that.
“Music revitalizes the mind, body and spirit instantly.”
Oh yeah, then why did he hinder the release and right to work rights of his former associates over BRANDING – ie. The Family aka fDeluxe and the OG7?
Jumping Jehovah, Prince is such a name dropper.
Wish he’d at least HELP Sly from the dire position he’s in.
Overall, the mass media doesn’t know that there is a clear distinction between the old Warner Bros. Records Prince, the pre-Jehovah Witness Prince and the current Legacy Indie Attraction Prince.
When you see that old Prince in those old Prince, thats classic great Prince. This new one? But… hey, enjoy the show!
And if you go the surprise “afterjam” and you want to catch a glimpse of his royalty entering the club from the back entrance, be sure to wear sunglasses, his security shines spot lights in his fans eyes so they don’t see him. No lie.
Hey I missed watching Prince in June when I was visiting Canada, but I’m definitely jealous of all of you who would get a chance to see a legend in action once again.
Though I partly agree with Moogeraires, I would like to point out that there may be more behind ‘The Time’ name controversy than meets the eye. Even otherwise, he may be projected being media shy and having a strange public persona but behind it all I believe he is a simple guy as compared to many of his contemporaries and as we all know he has led the cleanest lives in pop history with only pure talent without the support of intoxicants or drugs.
that’s not true. Prince has done his share of drugs. Back in the day he was just as dirty as the rest of them. Props to him for cleaning up though. With all the skeletons in his closest though, it looks like a mass grave site.
There are 3 artists I still would like to see in concert, Prince, Eric Clapton, and Ringo Starr. You could also throw in Diana Krall too. Like Prince I am also a Minneapolis born music lover. It does heal the mind and soul. Rock on Prince, my funky brother from another mother.
[...] below are some links to recent interviews: the Vancouver Sun Hour Community the Toronto [...]
Read more on Prince Says Welcome 2 Canada « Kat's Culture
Yes I admit that the 24th was a better setlist but still only 25 songs. At 5 minutes a song = 2 hours and 5 minutes. So to make it to 4 hours that measn every song is 10minutes. I doubt it, I was THERE. He takes about 10 minutes in between each encore. 7 encores = over 1 hour of waiting. Let’s be clear, I own all of his early vinyls up to Parade and then CD’s. So I have been a fan for many many years. He is a musical genious. But I have been to many concerts in my life (20 this year alone) and I can be OBJECTIVE about doing a review. I’m not type to listen to a new Madonna album and say it’s genious just because it’s Madonna and everybody says it’s genious. For those of you going, good luck on the setlist and be ready to wait.
I love that Prince is still groovin’. Cool beings!
Alain, learn to spell ..genius..whaaaaa!
Tittyvega, learn how to use proper punctuation! And “whaaaaaa!” isn’t a word.