Wednesday, July 30, 1997 -- The Michigan Daily - 11
C wows Pne KnobVwith emotional concert
By Coin Bartos
and Bryan Lark
Daily Arts Writers
Remember when the Purple One
used to proudly proclaim his risque
identity to a perennially appalled and
intrigued world, dancing in panties
and platforms around scantily clad
protegees and singing, "My name is
ince and I am funky?"
Well, the interchangeable beauties
and pants with the butt cut out are
now only fond
memories and if
you try to call him
Prince, he just
might really go
crazy; but it's
rather obvious that Pine Knob
when it comes to
funk - he's still a
nkie. And so are his fans.
Never mind that tickets were $40
and $85. Never mind almost every-
one had to go through some wacky
ticket ordering system that ended up
being more confusing than anything
even Pearl Jam could ever muster.
Never mind the weather kinda
sucked. None of it mattered. All the
Artist's legions of fans cared about
was that he was here, in Michigan,
d they were one of the lucky
15,000 packed into Pine Knob that
got to see him play.
Detroit has always been one of The
Artist's biggest markets, no matter
how unpopular he may be at the time
throughout the rest of the world. He
even referred to it as his "old stomp-
ing ground." Save a small private
show at the State Theater in January,
the former Prince has not given his
any devoted Michigan fans what
,ey'ye wanted - a full-scale musi-
cal assault on the senses, daring you
)
to groove and demanding you to jam
along with him - since 1991.
For what was only The Artist's sec-
ond amphitheatre appearance ever,
the stage was decorated with a color-
ful backdrop, towers, two gold lion-
like figures, and a purple piano. The
Artist began, aptly, with "Jam of the
Year," off his latest, double-platinum
CD, "Emancipation," during which
he proved that his dance moves still
rival James Brown's.
Next, the stage
was set for the
E V I EW crowd to sing
along, and the
The ArtiSt Artist asked for
some help on the
Music Theatre classic "Purple
July 21, 1997 Rain." When the
crowd responded
with open arms, the Artist broke
down in tears midway through the
song, an almost unprecedented emo-
tional response from a musician.
Even though Pine Knob was sold out
past capacity, audience members felt
like they were right there next to
him.
Performing his signature song so
early on left The Artist with the free-
dom to choose between classic
maneuvers and
unte sted
waters. Rapidly 'How Cn
switching gears
between the old Don't Ca
and the new,
the melodic more:
and the disso-
nant, or the the emoti
whisper and the
scream has of the 2 "
always been the
key to The set,
Artist's appeal.
Still, few
were prepared for The Artist's confi-
dent pairing of the sacred and the
sexual of the explicit, little-known
rant against Warner Bros., "Face
Down" with Joan Osborne's ironic
"One of Us," which in The Artist's
hands became a gospel tour de force,
and the pulsating come-on "Do Me,
Baby" with the haunting and inspira-
tional "The Cross."
The Artist proceeded to exercise
his purple reign over Pine Knob as
he played material from the whole
spectrum of his 20-year career. The
Artist performed roof-raising rendi-
tions of many of his well-known ,
hits: "Little Red Corvette" from
1982's "1999;" "Do Me, Baby" from
1982's "Controversy;" "Sexy MF"
from 1992's Symbol album; and
"The Most Beautiful Girl In The
World" from 1995's "Gold
Experience."
Though this roster of hits was
great for sing-alongs, the true high-
light jams of this year came unex-
pectedly in the form of two nearly
forgotten Prince treasures.
"How Come U Don't Call Me
Anymore," the beloved ballad B-side -
of the "1999" single, became the
emotional core of the 2 1/2-hour set
with its hushed intensity and resonat-
ing piano solos. -
The Artist's playfulness (substitut-
ing "between my legs" for "by my
side") and sincerity both shone on
this intoxicating and harrowing tale
of love gone wrong. He got so
deeply into the song that the crowd "Yes, I am a sensitive '90s man. I cried when the audience sang my songs."
went absolutely nuts, and the Artist
broke down once again into tears,
this time stopping the set altogether the Jam of the Year, seeing that the bringing back a lot of memories that
to collect himself. The crowd tour will continue until that year just haven't surfaced in quite a
seemed floored that their superhero under different monikers, concluding while.
was actually so with a top-secret New Year's Eve This was a spectacular perfor-
moved that he concert where everyone will finally * mance in which the Artist's piano,
ie U couldn't even party like it's ... you know. guitar, bass, emotions and songs
continue. The songs all still sounded as themselves spoke volumes for the
SMe The Artist fresh as the day they came out, man, and left the crowd hungry for
regained his before a lot of the crowd even knew the next time that the Artist might
became composure and what "Prince" was about. Overall, grace Detroit with his presence yet
returned to the the two-hour Pine Knob set con- again.
onal core stage later in a tained a lot more emotion and Until then, Detroiters will have to
new all-white seemed even more intimate than the be complacent with the memory of
L/2-hour outfit and hat show at the State earlier this year, if the jam of this year by TAFKAP, His
for his render- that's possible. The extra 13,000 or Purple Highness, The Artist,
ing of "If I Was so fans who weren't there in January whichever you prefer.
Y o u r may have actually propelled the His name might not be Prince, but
Girlfriend," an Artist to be his old stellar self, he sure is funky.
overlooked mid-'80s dance gem that
got even the stiffest of folks to get- - - - - - - - ----
their respective grooves on.
Building this momentum seemed
to be The Artist's specialty, as he
gave a spoken-word intro of "Girls &
Boys" and "Erotic City," before div-/ Iiti4 jew elry
ing into "Get Yo Groove On" from *
"Emancipation," as well asa bunchKj
of classics, including "Take Me With
You," "Baby I'm A Star," "Raspberry " Departm ent
Beret" and, finally, "1999."
This was an appropriate closer to
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impressive, we needed two reviewera,
to do it justice.
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