04.04.17 Gund Arena (Cleveland, OH)

Prince:

 The setup:

I'd always wanted to see Prince.  I've been a fan since 85' when Purple Rain came out.  Embarrassingly enough I remember being in the 5^th grade and thinking the girls in the class were starting to look a little less infected with the cooties that had kept me away until that point and they all loved Prince. I remember thinking hey if they like Prince and I like Prince then we have something in common. Pretty smart right? So I started to listen to Prince and eventually realized he was more than a “say my name” screamin’ hump the floor kinda performer. This guy is amazing he plays every instrument on his first album and is just killer on the guitar. Sure for a while he went by a symbol but do you think that might have had something to do with the record company owning his name?    Anyway, I’ve been diggin’ the man for over 20 years now (20 huh?) and was really psyched to find out he was playing a short 4 hour drive away.

Prince had just been inducted into the Rock n' roll Hall of Fame earlier in the week so we were figuring the show would be pretty heady. Everyone had tickets and we headed out in 2 carloads of tickets. The crew consisted of Gary, Matt “Big Cat”, “guns n’ Roses” Nick, his then girlfriend, Mike Koshiel, Kristy and me. 

We headed to the Hall of fame to check out the latest exhibit. I’d never been before but I caution you with this should you plan on going don’t trust the map quest directions. They end up sending you to a residential area and you’ll inevitably end up at the gas station we did and getting directions from them. Heed the warning and buy a map or call ahead. So we get to the hall and check it out, pretty sweet. One thing I thought was pretty strange though was a lack of SRV memorabilia. I mean the guy was a rockin’ legend and there’s nothing representing the man. Don’t worry though Devo is strongly represented. I must have seen at least 30 pieces of freakin’ Devo memorabilia. I mean sure we all love Whip it but these guys are represented like they’re the Beatles, but I digress.

The show:

First off when we entered the show we were given his new album in its entirety. I’ve been to a ton of shows but nobody has ever given me a full album. Sweet. Then the crowd, what a mix. There were all types there, this is the beauty of a draw like Prince you have purple shoed and suited men next to heads like me and normals like my brother and his friends. There was one thing in common though, the swooning women. Prince had just walked on stage and was fine tuning his guitar and an audible sigh could be heard throughout the arena. Who am I kidding though, the man made my panties melt.

   The stage was a square in the center of the arena. A lit up cross in the middle extending all the way to the end of the stage in all directions was where the man was to perform. In the blacked out corners was the band.  He worked the 4 sides of the cross arousing the crowd in each area. There was floor humpin’ and name screamin’ he was really working us and we were loving it. 

            The second set began solo acoustic. He sat in a rotating chair and played acoustic blues songs. Sick! I wish I could remember which songs were played, he played the big ones and surprisingly not too many from the new album. Toward the end of the show he called up to the stage just about every woman on the floor to come up and dance with him onstage. There must have been 150-200 women up there. Unfortunately, for Kristy though we were not on the floor for this show. Probably for the best, or I wouldn’t be engaged today. 

 I’ll have to dig into forbidden box of mystery to see if I can dig up a set list, I can’t imagine not keeping one. There’s so much more worth saying here, but blast my feeble mind I can’t remember. If you were there or with me help me out by listing anything you remember.