Jericho: His name is Prince, and he IS funky!
Yesterday, an email went out at work. The law firm I work for has a suite at Key Arena that they use for "client entertainment". In other words, they justify going to all kinds of basketball games as business expenses and write them off on their taxes. Being rich is fun!
Anyway, it turns out that now and then they will get tickets, on short notice, for various events. Yesterday, they had eight pairs of tickets to see Prince in concert. Two hundred people requested the tickets, yours truly blew his karma for the year and got one of those pairs of tickets!
Now, I'm not a rabid fan. I don't belong to the NPG Music Club or anything like that. But, I have always liked his music. Steph is big on classic rock and 80's pop, but I wasn't sure how she felt about Prince. We had watched a show on VH1 right after he released Musicology, and we both thought it was a cool show. However, when I told her I had put my name in for the drawing, she didn't seem too thrilled. When I told her I won, her tune completely changed! By 3:30 we were on our way home to shower, change clothes and head back to the concert, set to begin at 7:30. Why so much time? If you have to ask then you know nothing of Seattle traffic - we encountered it on the way out of Downtown and on the way back in.
So, not only did we get tickets to a suite, but we also got free parking. Since we arrived early, we got a great space but we had to wait for them to let us in. No sweat - we watched the freak-show. We were not disappointed. Steph and I have made a habit of pointing out to each other the fashion oppsies of those around us - from badly matched outfits to outfits that just don't work on that particular body (or any body for that matter.) This pastime is certainly increased when watching concert goers - especially funky Prince fans. Eventually, they let us in.
As we walked in, they handed us each a CD with the word "Musicology" on the packaging. I told Steph that I thought it was cool that they were giving out CD singles of the title track - she told me to look at the back. The back of the package listed all the song titles from the album - they were giving out the whole album to everyone in attendance! Pretty cool - I think this is a savvy thing for Prince to do in a music market that has gone haywire. If you don't own the album, like I didn't - well, now I had no excuse. For those that did own the album, you can bet the freebies will go to friends and relatives that don't - spreading the virus. Nicely done - Warner Bros. would never have done that, would they?
The suite was really nice. The seats were comfy, we had a private bathroom, and we were at just about half-court. We had one of the best views of the stage - which was very well laid out. It was basically four cat walks in a cross pattern with smaller stages between the cat walks. Frankly, in a venue like the Key and with that stage, there wasn't a bad seat in the house. Combine that with four huge video monitors, and you could see everything. It was one of the best seats I have ever had at a concert, second only to floor seats at Queensryche.
We waited for the concert to start. The other ticket winners from work showed up. It stinks, but I don't know any of these people by face - I talk to people on the phone. However, I have also given phone training to at least a third if not more of the staff in my building. So, they all know my face and name. I feel like a total heel. Anyway, we all waited and waited, 7:30 came and passed. I'm used to concerts not starting on time, but by 8:00 I was a little annoyed. We found out that they were selling tickets for $30 at the door. If you had bought them ahead of time, they ranged from $100 to $225! At 8pm the seats were just starting to fill. By 8:30, the place was pretty full, the lights went down, people screamed, and Prince rose from the center of the stage!
From there, it was two hours of non-stop music. As in, no stops. It was a freakin' roller coaster! He started off with some old tunes, but with his horn heavy band, they sounded more like jazz than 80's Top Forty. Fine by me. One of the sax players is a very attractive blonde. Female, blonde, attractive, sax player - could that be Candy Dulfer? I know if I was Prince, I'd want the beautiful blonde who can actually play! Sure enough, it was her. I don't know who the other band members were, but they could all PLAY. At one point Prince yelled out "Real music played by real musicians!" - he brings up a point. It was refreshing to see a band with actual musical talent. The Industry seems obsessed with quick bucks made on one hit wonders who can barely play their instruments - or, worse, just rap over samples from other artists. This was very different. At one point, Steph yelled in my ear "This is a (marching) band geek's wet dream!" I think she nailed the feeling perfectly.
They drifted into new material, then some material that isn't known to be Prince's, like "I feel 4 U" - which was popularized by Chaka Khan, but written and originally recorded by Prince. Quite often the music felt like the band was just doing some jazz jamming, riffing on Prince related melodies. But, there were obviously scripted dance routines and comedy bits. The first hour ended and Prince went off stage. The male sax player went into a jazzy rendition of "It's a wonderful world" that had us all cheering. Prince came back on stage with just a stool and an acoustic guitar. Not only is the man musically talented, he's funny, too. When were weren't rocking out to Stones tunes, or cheering as he lashed out at Warner Bros., he had us all rolling to his own brand of humor. The band returned to the stage and they went right back into jazzy, funky rock and roll goodness. By 10:30, they left the stage, but the crowd cheered for more.
Prince finished off the night with a spectacular performance of "Purple Rain." He stood illuminated on the stage in a turquoise suit, holding his purple "TAFKAP" guitar - this was a total Prince moment - just for the fans. Justifiably, they went insane and ate it right up.
Undeniably one of the best shows I have ever seen. Certainly the best perk I am likely to get out of work this year!
Anyway, it turns out that now and then they will get tickets, on short notice, for various events. Yesterday, they had eight pairs of tickets to see Prince in concert. Two hundred people requested the tickets, yours truly blew his karma for the year and got one of those pairs of tickets!
Now, I'm not a rabid fan. I don't belong to the NPG Music Club or anything like that. But, I have always liked his music. Steph is big on classic rock and 80's pop, but I wasn't sure how she felt about Prince. We had watched a show on VH1 right after he released Musicology, and we both thought it was a cool show. However, when I told her I had put my name in for the drawing, she didn't seem too thrilled. When I told her I won, her tune completely changed! By 3:30 we were on our way home to shower, change clothes and head back to the concert, set to begin at 7:30. Why so much time? If you have to ask then you know nothing of Seattle traffic - we encountered it on the way out of Downtown and on the way back in.
So, not only did we get tickets to a suite, but we also got free parking. Since we arrived early, we got a great space but we had to wait for them to let us in. No sweat - we watched the freak-show. We were not disappointed. Steph and I have made a habit of pointing out to each other the fashion oppsies of those around us - from badly matched outfits to outfits that just don't work on that particular body (or any body for that matter.) This pastime is certainly increased when watching concert goers - especially funky Prince fans. Eventually, they let us in.
As we walked in, they handed us each a CD with the word "Musicology" on the packaging. I told Steph that I thought it was cool that they were giving out CD singles of the title track - she told me to look at the back. The back of the package listed all the song titles from the album - they were giving out the whole album to everyone in attendance! Pretty cool - I think this is a savvy thing for Prince to do in a music market that has gone haywire. If you don't own the album, like I didn't - well, now I had no excuse. For those that did own the album, you can bet the freebies will go to friends and relatives that don't - spreading the virus. Nicely done - Warner Bros. would never have done that, would they?
The suite was really nice. The seats were comfy, we had a private bathroom, and we were at just about half-court. We had one of the best views of the stage - which was very well laid out. It was basically four cat walks in a cross pattern with smaller stages between the cat walks. Frankly, in a venue like the Key and with that stage, there wasn't a bad seat in the house. Combine that with four huge video monitors, and you could see everything. It was one of the best seats I have ever had at a concert, second only to floor seats at Queensryche.
We waited for the concert to start. The other ticket winners from work showed up. It stinks, but I don't know any of these people by face - I talk to people on the phone. However, I have also given phone training to at least a third if not more of the staff in my building. So, they all know my face and name. I feel like a total heel. Anyway, we all waited and waited, 7:30 came and passed. I'm used to concerts not starting on time, but by 8:00 I was a little annoyed. We found out that they were selling tickets for $30 at the door. If you had bought them ahead of time, they ranged from $100 to $225! At 8pm the seats were just starting to fill. By 8:30, the place was pretty full, the lights went down, people screamed, and Prince rose from the center of the stage!
From there, it was two hours of non-stop music. As in, no stops. It was a freakin' roller coaster! He started off with some old tunes, but with his horn heavy band, they sounded more like jazz than 80's Top Forty. Fine by me. One of the sax players is a very attractive blonde. Female, blonde, attractive, sax player - could that be Candy Dulfer? I know if I was Prince, I'd want the beautiful blonde who can actually play! Sure enough, it was her. I don't know who the other band members were, but they could all PLAY. At one point Prince yelled out "Real music played by real musicians!" - he brings up a point. It was refreshing to see a band with actual musical talent. The Industry seems obsessed with quick bucks made on one hit wonders who can barely play their instruments - or, worse, just rap over samples from other artists. This was very different. At one point, Steph yelled in my ear "This is a (marching) band geek's wet dream!" I think she nailed the feeling perfectly.
They drifted into new material, then some material that isn't known to be Prince's, like "I feel 4 U" - which was popularized by Chaka Khan, but written and originally recorded by Prince. Quite often the music felt like the band was just doing some jazz jamming, riffing on Prince related melodies. But, there were obviously scripted dance routines and comedy bits. The first hour ended and Prince went off stage. The male sax player went into a jazzy rendition of "It's a wonderful world" that had us all cheering. Prince came back on stage with just a stool and an acoustic guitar. Not only is the man musically talented, he's funny, too. When were weren't rocking out to Stones tunes, or cheering as he lashed out at Warner Bros., he had us all rolling to his own brand of humor. The band returned to the stage and they went right back into jazzy, funky rock and roll goodness. By 10:30, they left the stage, but the crowd cheered for more.
Prince finished off the night with a spectacular performance of "Purple Rain." He stood illuminated on the stage in a turquoise suit, holding his purple "TAFKAP" guitar - this was a total Prince moment - just for the fans. Justifiably, they went insane and ate it right up.
Undeniably one of the best shows I have ever seen. Certainly the best perk I am likely to get out of work this year!
posted by Jericho Brown at 9/01/2004 11:54:00 AM
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