Sixty-Fifth

Did I mention that I was seeing Prince in London last night? We've only been back in the house for a couple of hours - both absolutely shattered from the travelling.

One word summation - Awesome.

I'll paste in my quick review/opinion from www.prince.org - enjoy.

Last night was my first time seeing Prince live, since Diamonds & Pearls got me hooked when I was in high school (almost saw him in Glasgow with the Gold tour, but that's another story ) and I was absolutely blown away.

Granted, I don't have anything for direct comparison barring the videos, but I'd wage pounds over pence that even though last night's gig might not have been the best so far in London, it was still an absolute stormer - when the house lights finally dimmed, and 20.000 people all stood as one? I know a shiver went down my spine.

Was the wait between Mya and the main event too long? Yes.
Was the crowd getting restless and a bit too liquored-up? Yes, imho.
Was the gig perfect? No.
Did he play everything I was really hoping to hear? No.
Do I wish he was on a bit longer? Yes.
Am I disappointed? Yes, a tiny bit.

Do any of these points stop the gig from being awesome? Absolutely not.

I thought the set list was great - so glad he opened with 3121, and not Purple Rain, or some other hit. I think the keyboard sampler/medley wasn't so much disappointing, as infuriating - hearing fragments songs that you always wanted to hear? SOTT and Paryman especially - I think the arena would have went into meltdown had be played them in full. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'm kind of glad he didn't give in and roll out the hits all the non-fans know.

I thought the sound quality was excellent - my girlfriend and I were in Block 118 (if you're out there Banana-man, we were just down from you). We had the misfortune to be 3 seats down from some guy who got absolutely hammered and spent the last 15/20 minutes of the show falling over himself and hugging the people he was with, and the two unlucky guys in the row in front of him.
We did have a great view of the stage though, so that easily made up for the distraction

The showmanship was flawless, interaction with the crowd obviously rehearsed, but still cleverly done. I went to bed with my ears ringing, throat raw from singing/screaming/shouting, and my hands stinging from clapping.
My girlfriend was teasing me gently on the train back to our hotel, "You knew every word to every song he sang tonight, didn't you?" I just grinned and nodded.

Back in the hotel, a guy and his wife (I presume) got in the lift with us - my girlfriend spotted the guy had a 'Symbol' pendant (as I did) and she asked him if they'd enjoyed it. His wife (presuming again) turned to him and asked him if he'd enjoyed it as much as the other gigs. He admitted that last night was his fourth. Colour me jealous

My last thought before I drifted off to sleep in our over-priced and under-heated hotel room last night though? "I think I might just be able to die happy now..."