Prince Live in Montreal at the Theatre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts, Monday March 21, 2016

My story starts on Wednesday evening, March 16th around dinner time. As I have returned home from work and have finished eating my dinner, I am casually browsing through Facebook on my phone as I always do. Then it happens! It has happened like this before and it is the most exhilarating feeling that can be imagined. My heart stops as I see a post that says the next stop on Prince’s Piano & Microphone Tour is Montreal!!! I can’t believe me eyes! I feel that rush of energy inside of me and I start freaking out.

I start shouting out to my husband that Prince is coming OMG!!! He doesn’t really care because he is not a fan but I have dragged him on all of my adventures so he knows that he is going to have to go and support me! I quickly begin scrambling for more information, are there tickets for sale yet? When do they go on sale? Where do I buy them? Too many questions and not very much information to be found. Apparently the way it happened was that Prince’s official twitter tweeted that there would be “PIANO AND A MICROPHONE TOUR NEWS COMING LATER 2DAY!!!” earlier on in the day and then tweeted later “PRINCE fans in MONTREAL.....U got next!!” Along with a tour poster saying that Prince would be playing his Piano & Microphone tour in Montreal at the Place des Arts Theatre Maisonneuve on Monday March 21. And then that was it for the rest on Wednesday night!!! I kept searching and refreshing and looking on the Place des Arts website, but nothing! Then in the evening around 9:30pm I refreshed the Facebook page of Place des Arts and there was finally official word. It was a new tour picture of Prince and it said:

“Prince
Théâtre Maisonneuve
21 mars 2016
Tous les détails dès jeudi matin.
On vous souhaite une excellente nuit!”

And then I had no choice but to wait until the next morning for the rest of the information. I went to sleep (couldn’t stop tossing and turning and worrying about the concert) and hoped that I would be able to get tickets because I had seen that the venue was very small and had only a 1500 person capacity!!! There are many more people in Montreal than 1500!!!

Thursday morning I woke up to go to work and kept checking up on all the sources again but nothing new had been added. Finally a few hours later they had updated their post on the Facebook Place des Arts page to say the details that the tickets would go on sale on Friday at 12:00 noon and that there would not be one show but two!!! Well that was great news so now at least there were more chances and more spaces. A show at 7pm and another at 10pm. Right off I knew I would want to be greedy and go to both shows! I had vowed after I had seen him my first time that I would use every possible opportunity to see him, and I would try my best! But the ticket prices were very high. I asked my husband what he thought, if he really wanted to go or should I go alone? There was also the chance of a club after party which meant we would be staying out all night into the early hours of the morning. I did not work the next day but he did. He immediately said that I could not go alone and that he had to accompany me so that I would be safe! Intriguing! Well, it was settled! So now I could kind of relax for one more day. Again that night I tossed and turned and wished that I would be able to get tickets… but there was nothing left to do except wait!

Friday morning I woke and went to work again and waited patiently for noon to come! I had made a game plan with my helpful coworker that she would help me get tickets with her iPad and we would try at the same time and then it would help increase my chances. I knew that this could go either way, it could either sell out in minutes like it has in other locations in the world, or the high ticket prices would turn the Montreal people off and it wouldn’t sell out quickly at all… but who knew how it would go and I did not want to take any chances.

Noon began approaching and I started refreshing the ticketing website, wondering if they would start the sale at noon on the dot or a bit earlier like some sales I have seen before. The clock struck 12:00 and the sale opened and right away I nabbed some great seats and then proceeded to check out but it was very difficult on a small phone rather than a computer and also the site seemed to be slow because of the high volume of traffic. My coworker nabbed be some great seats for the other show and the both of us quickly raced to enter our information in before the timer ran out. It had given us a fair 10 minutes to do our transaction but with slow servers and lag there was lots of time wasted. Finally my coworker completed her transaction!!! So I would definitely be attending the 7:00pm show!!! But then I kept trying to complete mine and it was frustration because time was ticking and all I had to do was push the final button but I was pressing it countless times and there was no response from the server! There was about 2 minutes left before I would lose my amazing seats and I was panicking. I restarted entering my information and again it was down to clicking the final button. I had about 10 seconds remaining and I was quivering. Just as the clock counted down it went through and thanked me for my purchase! I got them!!! Really? I couldn’t believe it! I was shaking from the adrenaline rush and checked my emails for the confirmation. It was there! It still didn’t seem real to me! I was happy but still thought it was too good to be true! It took a little while for me to accept that it was true and that I would be going to both shows!!!

I made it through the weekend in a breeze, I was glad that Prince’s style is to announce these last minute concerts, I couldn’t imagine waiting months for this! On Sunday evening I found a post on Facebook stating that there would be an official Prince after party at a club called Muzique downtown! Well this is the icing on the cake and the tidbit of information I had been looking forward to! One of my best experiences was when after I had attended Prince’s Bell Centre show in 2011 I had heard the rumor that there would be an after party at a club called Newtown. I had gone just on the rumor and it ended up being a blast, seeing Prince up close and personal in a small atmosphere doing a jam session 20 feet away from me! We had partied all night until 4am! I needed to relive this experience, it was certain. And again I have to stay true to my vow of using every opportunity possible to see Prince! There were very few details about the after party but later on Facebook the venue had answered someone’s question on pricing saying the cover charge would be $25 if there was no performance and $50 with performance… hmmm interesting, no guarantees of course!

Well the game was set. Monday I worked very hard all day like a dog! I was super busy at work and really scrambling around. Towards the end of the day it quieted down and I finished up, got ready, my husband arrived to meet me at work and we began our drive into downtown Montreal. I wasn’t sure if there would be heavy rush hour traffic but it was a pretty simple drive after all. We arrived at the venue, parked the car and the proceeded to collect our first set of tickets and wristbands for the first show at 7pm. After we ascended to the Theatre Maisonneuve and I saw the small souvenir stand. I had originally wanted to buy the new Prince CD which came out a while ago but is not being sold in stores, only at shows. I was disappointed to see that they were not selling the CD and I ended up not buying anything even though I had wanted to buy the tour book or maybe a poster. But I have enough posters and the tour book was very expensive and I didn’t really want to carry around all this stuff all night so I did not get anything (which I think I really regret now… boooo). We waited to enter to our seating for a while and then they finally allowed everyone in and we descended to our seats down at the front! I got “first row” A tickets which were amazing but it was not the real first row. It was disappointing that there were three rows (AA BB CC) in the front that were not even available to the sale so that is why I received A tickets which was the first normal row. Can’t complain though. Not sure who the seats in the special rows were for, maybe contest winners or big company people. They didn’t look like any special people to me but it’s a shame that those first 3 rows were not available to the public to purchase. Still, we had amazing seats! A 14 & 16 which were slightly to the right side, which would give a great view of Prince’s hands playing his piano.

We entered and saw how close we were to the stage. Prince’s funky purple piano sat centre stage facing the left side. There were some faux candelabras on the sides and that was about it in terms of decor. Very, very simple and straightforward! It would just be him, his piano and microphone, just as advertised. It would be interesting to see him alone in a different setting. He has always really had some sort of surrounding band or entourage in the background. I wondered how the arrangement of a song would sound stripped down from all synthesizers and instruments and just played on a piano. We waited for a little while and the crowd grew with anticipation, they would begin cheering and clapping every so often in an attempt to lure Prince out from behind the curtain.

Finally the background lit up in a purple hue and the silhouette of Prince appeared in all afro goodness! The curtain lifted and he emerged to cheers and applause and began to wave and bow to the crowd. He did a little walk around and waved and said hello to the crowd. Then he went over to his piano bench and kneeled down and offered a pre show prayer in front of the crowd who were brimming with respect for him. After he finished his prayer, he took his place at the piano and began to talk using a voice altering effect making him sound like a robot or something. Then he went right into “Big City” and “Girl” and quickly impressed with the ability to make a cohesive song with different tones and sounds all using a piano on his own. I was pleased to be sitting on the side where I could see his hands playing the piano and seeing the way in which he effortlessly creates music and a beat with his own two hands! Rather that only piano ballads on the piano like most people play, he could make a whole beat of a song! Very nice to see that point of view, but at the same time his back was to us most of a time and I like to see his face too, but I knew that the next show we would be on the other side so I could not complain!

He proceeded to play some slower ballads like “Look at Me, Look at U” and “A Case of You”. Then fired it up with a special arrangement of “U Got The Look”. Then “The Question of U” “Elephants & Flowers” “I Feel For U”.

Then the crowd stood up to dance to “Controversy” Shouting out the word when it would come out in the song! I liked to sing along a bit when it was required! (When he would ask us to sing, otherwise I didn’t want to alienate anyone!). Then it went into “I Would Die 4 U” & “Baby I’m A Star”.

He asked us to please sit down and did a mash up of “Little Red Corvette / Dirty Mind” Then another mashup “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker / 4”. “Take Me With U”.

I was so shocked and impressed to hear him sing “I Love U In Me” a very dirty, sexually implicit song that I did not think he would every sing again, being that he is not very vulgar anymore but I guess the rule is no swearing or bad words but suggestive content is perfectly fine? I am not complaining! I thought it was such a treat to hear this song sung live, so sexy and enticing!!!

Then there was the famous “Raspberry Beret” then “Starfish & Coffee” and “Paisley Park”. After a round of applause he got up and exited the stage. But we knew it was not over!!! We cheered and clapped and screamed for him to come back and then he did! He sat back down at the piano and began “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” a mash up of “Waiting in Vain / If I Was Ur Girlfriend”, “1000 X’s & O’s”, “Somewhere Here On Earth”, “Diamonds & Pearls”.

Then he played on of my favorites “The Beautiful Ones” and I was so happy because it is only of my favorite scenes in Purple Rain when he is singing this song to Apollonia in the club with such emotion and I always wanted to see this myself live, obviously this isn’t a movie so he didn’t sing it exactly the same but it was still a wish come true to hear him belting and wailing it out in his famous way. I was pretending that he was directing the song towards me, haha. Then he struck up “Purple Rain” and the crowd was very pleased.

Again, he left and disappeared until the crowds’ cheers brought him back for the last time. He played one of my favorites, “Kiss” and everyone was singing along and having a great time. Then “New Position”, “Purple Music” and “Free Urself” and then with that he thanked us a bid us good night and was gone!!! What a blast!!! We all filed out of the theatre and as we were walking out, what do I see??? They are handing out the CD albums that I wanted to buy to everyone who attended the show!!! I was so happy! I got one, my husband got one, I was pleased. We then proceeded to go back to where we began and waited in line to pick up our second show tickets and bracelets. After a small wait we went back up to the theatre and started our evening all over again! After a wait they let us into the theatre again and we found our seats which were still in the A row but this time on the opposite side. Seats A 9 & 11 more the left side of the stage although I think my seat was almost dead centre stage! I liked this view too because I could see his front on and see his face! I also liked the other view too, seeing his hands, and it was great that I got se experience both views because they were both equally important together.

The vibe from the second group of people was different than the first set of people. The first set, although they loved standing for Prince and shouting and cheering and dancing, this crowd seemed like they were more knowledgeable of the lyrics and singing along and were not as eager to be standing up all the time, most of the show we remained seated, which was ok because I am too short to see properly when everyone stands up at their seats! And funny, the second crowd didn’t cheer for Prince to come out, they just waited patiently for him to come, like I said, different people, different vibe.

Prince’s silhouette appeared again at the start of the show, this time in a yellow hue. He came out and everyone applauded ad cheered and then I geared myself for show #2 at 10pm. He began the same robotic voice into and went into “Joy In Repetition” and “Girl”, then the version of “U Got The Look”. I was happy to see him again but of course some of the songs he would sing would be repeats of the ones he sang at the previous show. But I was still very glad to be there!

Then I got so excited, he sang “Do me, baby” and again I was shocked that he would sing such a suggestive song! It was so amazing to hear and see! Then I was happy to hear “I Wanna Be Your Lover”. This was great! Different show, different setlist!

Then some of the same, “Elephants & Flowers”, “I Feel For U”. I joined in again to help sing “Controversy” Second time around it still as much fun!!! Then “I would Die 4 U”, “Baby I’m a Star” “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker / 4”. And then everyone had a riot singing “Cream”! Even my husband seemed to be enjoying that song. After that Prince exited stage and we cheered and applauded, encouraging him to return!

He came back out and sang a very emotional sounding “Eye Love U But I Don’t Trust U Anymore”. Then “Take Me With U”, “Raspberry Beret”, “Starfish & Coffee”, “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” (Where he had us, his “choir” as he called us, chanting out the hook of the song while he sang), “Waiting in Vain / If I Was Your Girlfriend”. A lot of the same stuff but like I said, just as good the second time around!

Then a very cool rendition of “Black Sweat” which was fun because the normal version of that song is an R&B synthesizer jam but to hear it broken down into a piano jam is very amazing and interesting. Then my jam, “Kiss” was great even 2 times. He left again after that but we knew it couldn’t over! The lights hadn’t turned on. Who knows how long this show can go on, no time restrictions supposedly, but who knows the venue’s policies.

He came back and sang us “Nothing Compares 2 U” and that was great! But then I think he left again or maybe he didn’t but when he started up again he did something I didn’t know he was going to do! His special piano was loaded with audio clips and sound effects and he proceeded to play the beat of “When Doves Cry” and sang that, what a treat!!!! I loved it!!! Then “Hot Thing”, “Sign ‘O The Times”… this was great! Highly unexpected! Then there was the famous “Purple Rain” and everyone was so happy. When It ended, that was it!!! I guess the place has some time restrictions! Oh well, I would be headed out to the after party anyway!

After we began clearing out of the theatre I was shocked that they announced the information about the afterparty over the loud speaker…. well then it must be happening! We exited the theatre and then I began getting directions on my phone on how to get to Club Muzique where the after party would be taking place. I decided that we would walk there because I had my car paid and parked at Place des Arts and wasn’t sure what parking would be like if I moved the car. We exited the building onto the street around 12:15am and my GPS said that it should be about an 18 minute walk away. We began our walk to the club. The streets were pretty empty, with it being a Monday evening… who goes clubbing on a Monday night!!?? We walked and walked until we found the spot and got into line.The line up wasn’t very big and we were in line and it was moving inside slowly but more people were arriving behind us and the line was growing. Funny thing about the after party is that it was announced to begin at 10pm until 3am but seeing as how Prince was playing the second show at 10pm I doubt that anything would be missed out by showing up around 12:30. I know Prince wouldn’t show up right away and I didn’t even know if he would show up at all but anyways… who knows! That’s the magic of the mystery! We got in and right away they wanted us to check in our coats and cell phones!!! Very interesting strategy. I respect the rules, no problem! After checking the coats we went up to get in. The cover charge was $25 a person and then I knew from seeing what they had previously said that if it was cheaper there would be no performance :(
Oh well… who knows what will happen? Never know if you don’t go!

We paid and got in and then waited around for a long while. The club started really getting tightly packed and I spent the entire time wondering where the best place to stand would be… who knows. I tried inching my way to the front of the crowd but I didn’t try going all the way to the front because I am not pushy enough for this stuff! I spent my time at the front of the DJ booth rocking out to the old skool jams that Prince’s DJ Pam the Funkstress (The tour DJ) was spinning. I gripped onto the railing of the DJ booth for dear life, trying to secure my spot and meanwhile my feet are killing because I am in my high heel wedge boots and my feet are dying. We waited and waited and waited and wondered and I didn’t even know if anything would even happen but I needed to see for myself. Around 2:45am I guess (someone who had a watch said it to their friend and I overheard) the bouncers all started pushing on us and telling us to stop holding on to the DJ booth and leaning on it and they are saying “Move back, move back!” and I am saying hmmmm….. because I am like…. what is going on??? Well believe it or not, they were beginning to clear a path for Prince to walk though as he enters the club….. WHAT? he was going to walk through the club??!!!?!?!!? I was at the forefront of the path that he would be crossing…… PRINCE WAS GOING TO WALK RIGHT PAST ME??? INCHES AWAY FROM ME??? I began having heart palpitations!!! You better believe it!!! Omg this was crazy stuff happening here! I contemplated trying to touch his arm but they were quick to dismiss the idea as the bouncers announced please no touching Prince. Ok, I would respect his wishes :(

We waiting about 15 minutes in desperation, my heart beating out of my chest. Waiting for the moment that he would pass in front of me. At 3am he emerged and quickly with many bodyguards surrounding, HE WALKED RIGHT PAST ME!!! ME???!!! I had definitely somehow inherited the right spot in the club that night for that particular moment….. Prince was an actual human being walking in front of me… not just the superhuman on a pedestal that we’ve always seen!!! This was a dream come true! Patience is a virtue! He whizzed by and went up to the DJ booth to begin saying hello to us and speaking a bit. I was a little upset because a humongous bouncer insisted on standing in front of me, completely blocking my view, it was like standing behind a wall of man! I saw bits and pieces of Prince. He spoke briefly and then said now that he has just arrived he needs to go get something and he will return in 15 minutes…. What!!??? The crowed booed and he said “What? You don’t want me to go? You don’t think I will come back? I promise I will come back in 15 minutes and you will be very happy when I come back, I have a surprise” it’s not a direct quote but it is something along those lines that he said. So we all sighed and he proceeded to walk right past me again as he walked out the path he came in on. As he passed me I squealed “I love you!!!!!!!!” sad to see him go.

We waited again and of course everyone started shifting their position trying to get closer to the “stage” area (It was some sort of blocked off VIP Section with some sort of small block stage I guess, couldn’t really see too well). We knew he was going to walk through the crowd again the same way he did before and we were getting excited. Like I said, everyone had shifted around a lot trying to get to the front and I kind of lost my place that I had before. I was trying to wedge myself in between a super tall guy and this other girl and she was getting mad at me but I didn’t care. They wheeled in a trunk that obviously contained Prince’s keyboard inside! And then they set it up. Prince came back in 15 minutes as he said and passed through us again! He went right to the stage area and then everyone really started cramming to the front of the area, everyone was pushing and shoving trying to get closer somehow. I could hardly see anything! I didn’t even know where Prince was or which area to look. As he spoke I scanned the area, confused as to where I was supposed to be looking. I thought he was far away in the back of the room. Then after a while I realized he was on the block stage about 10 feet in front of me!!!!!!!!!!! Wow this was something special. He started up the synthesizer music to his song “D.M.S.R” and began to perform!!! What a treat! People were really cramming each other I was packed in tightly between everyone, I could barely move an inch. Also it was super hot and everyone was sweaty… ew… It was a bit claustrophobic because I am so short so I could barely see above all the other heads. I kept trying to peek through gaps between heads. I saw glimpses of him here and there but anyways I still had a great time, he also played “Sign ‘O The Times”, “Alphabet Street”, “Hot Thing” and “Housequake”, “A Love Bizarre” and some samples of “Darling Nikki”, “The X’s Face”, “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” and “Nasty Girl” (Where he asked the audience if there are any nasty girls in the club who wanna dance and I jumped up and down pointing at myself repeatedly, but I guess it was only a rhetorical question aww!!!). We were packed in like sardines but we had a blast! He must have played only about half an hour tops but it was amazing and worth it! Who would have thought… a Prince performance for $25!!!??? After that he said he really didn’t want to leave but he had a plane to catch and that he had to go home. He packed up his stuff and with that he passed through us one last time and that was it!!! We had been graced by royalty for a small time. What a night!


These are not my pictures but I found them online.


Picture of the tour poster

Prince Live at the Piano

 

Prince at Muzique club afterparty!

 

The Billboard Music Awards This Sunday!

Billboard.com

Billboard Music Awards Kick-Off Sunday With Prince, Madonna, 
Lil Wayne, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, More

Living music legends Prince and Madonna will be honored at this year's Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, May 19, at 8:00 ET live on ABC.

"There is nothing small about this Sunday night’s Billboard Music Awards at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena airing live on ABC at 8 ET hosted by “30 Rock”’s Tracy Morgan. Just consider for a moment the sheer star power of  those appearing: living legends like Prince and Madonna; pop superstars like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne and Bruno Mars; and the next generation of luminaries like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Miguel, the Band Perry and Ed Sheeran, among many others.
Prince, one of the most inspirational and influential musicians of all time, will perform at Sunday’s ceremony and is being honored with Billboard’s prestigious Icon Award. Other performers include Taylor Swift, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Bruno Mars, Miguel, Justin Bieber, Pitbull, Christina Aguilera, Selena Gomez, the Band Perry, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Chris Brown, Ed Sheeran, Akon, Ne-Yo, David Guetta and Icona Pop.
Madonna will be honored with the Top Touring Artist award, an achievement earned by the worldwide success of her MDNA tour which sold out all of its 88 date run and was 2012's top-grossing tour with $305 million. It's the pop icon's latest chart landmark in a career full of them, including records for Hot 100 top 10 singles (38 of her overall 56 Hot 100 hits) and Dance Club Songs No. 1s (43). Her MDNA album bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 -- her eighth trip to the penthouse -- with sales of 359,000.
Bieber, Swift and Mars are also vying for the Milestone Award, a fan-driven honor that one voter will get to present at the show alongside Cee Lo Green.
Swift, fun. and Maroon 5 top the finalists at the 2013 awards, with each included in 11 categories. Rihanna competes in 10 categories, including Top Artist against Swift, Maroon 5, Justin Bieber and One Direction, while a pair of younger artists -- Carly Rae Jepsen and 1D themselves -- are finalists in nine and eight categories, respectively.
Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, VEVO, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements were tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound.
Stay tuned for more special Billboard Music Award announcements this week."

Miguel Peforms on SNL

Miguel performed his songs "Adorn" and "How Many Drinks" on Saturday Night Live last Saturday the 13th. I enjoyed his performances.

Prince Embarks on 28 Show West Coast Tour

Tonight Prince begins his 28 show tour starting in Vancouver, BC. He will visit 7 cities and play 4 shows in each city, 2 each night.

Wish I could attend a show, but they are all too far! I hope he does something in the East soon!

Rihanna's Illness Forces Her To Cancel Concerts

Article.

 "Rihanna was supposed to have a concert in Boston the other night, but unfortunately she's been forced by doctors to cancel it. "Unfortunately, following her sold out concert on Friday, Rihanna has contracted laryngitis and per doctor's instruction is unable to perform this evening.", Live Nation said in a statement this morning writes TMZ.

Rihanna herself is devastated having to cancel the show: "#BOSTON this is t he hardest thing for me to deal with! I feel like we've been waiting on this day forever, and I'm hurt that I let you down", she tweeted last night. The show will be rescheduled, and Rihanna is ordered to rest until she's doing better."

Rihanna performed in my hometown of Montreal Sunday Night, following her bout of laryngitis. I did not attend because I am not a hardcore Rihanna Fan. From the reviews I have read, it was not that great of a show, I heard that she showed up an hour late, meaning that she only took the stage at 10pm. She was still battling her illness so her voice was very weak (weaker than usual lol) and she seemed tired and not up to par. Lucky I didn't waste my money to see her! 

SXSW: Prince Rocks Festival With Marathon of Encores

Article.

"To the show's attendees, it surely felt like the performer's stamina was something out of a book of legends.

About halfway through a marathon series of encores lasting nearly an hour and a half during his show at La Zona Rosa during South By Southwest last night, Prince asked the audience if they were done partying. Of course, they were not. “You know 5-hour Energy,” Minneapolis's favorite son asked, referencing the drink, “my middle name is 11-hour Energy.”

A slight exaggeration, sure, but to the show's attendees, all of whom were rounding out the final night of Austin's non-stop annual music blast, it surely felt like Prince's stamina was something out of a book of legends.

Backed by a 20-something piece band, including a massive, crack horn section that entered through the audience, clad in animal spirit-hoots and playing their hearts out, and a Skrillex-haired female guitarist that Prince referred to only as “Donna”, he kept going and going, energizer-bunny style: a heartfelt, piano ballad here, a punctuated cover of Michael Jackson's “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough” there.

These sorts of shows are always tricky propositions for their performers: the whole thing was an open secret, but most attendees had to enter to win via their Samsung phones (the tech sponsor had a massive presence throughout both the show and the festival, with an enormous video screen blasting its logo and everything from product-demos to tweet-for-a-new-battery activations).

That meant that the audience was full, mostly, of passive Prince fans rather than die-hards; the wrong setlist could mean disapointment, especially from an icon notorious for responding negatively to crowd passivity (openers A Tribe Called Quest smartly fell on the play-the-hits side of the equation, getting nothing but love for hip-hop mainstays like “Bonita Applebaum”).

Though the room shared some members of the audience, by the end of the three-hour-plus show the club still felt full even as it became clear this wasn't going to be a greatest-hits fest. (That said, both “1999” and “Purple Rain” were moving as ever, with Prince letting the audience sing the “whoa-oh-oh-ohs” that close the latter to end the set proper.)

Prince – sadly – never picked up a guitar, letting Donna hit metal-style licks instead; he only sat down at a keyboard for short, measured measures, propping up a typically-funky rager with 16 bars before grabbing the mic, again, James Brown-style, to make it clear he was running the room.

20 minutes left!,” he declared, five costume changes and at least eight horn solos in, as it was getting near to 3 am. “You think we can make it the best 20 minutes of our lives?” And as the band made its way into Janet Jackson's “What Have You Done For Me Lately,” for the lucky few in the room, there was no question that that goal seemed somewhat achievable – even if their bodies were too tired from a week in Austin to show it as exuberantly as Prince himself."

Prince Apologises For Damaging The Roots Star's Guitar During Tv Set

via contactmusic.com

"Prince stunned fans during an appearance on U.S. chat show Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on Friday (01Mar13) by throwing his guitar to the ground after his performance. The Purple Rain hitmaker had borrowed The Roots' bandmember 'Captain' Kirk Douglas' guitar for his performance of new track Bambi, but instead of handing it back to the musician, he removed the cream guitar from around his neck and tossed it on the floor before walking off stage without a word. Douglas' shocked bandmate Questlove took to Twitter.com after the incident and wrote, "rip to @CaptainKDouglas's Guitar 2009-2011 #Prince"


"The enigmatic Purple Rain hitmaker asked to borrow Douglas' 1961 Epiphone Crestwood ax for his two-song performance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and threw the instrument to the ground before walking off the set.
Douglas, the guitarist in Fallon's house band The Roots, has since posted a photo of the broken guitar on Twitter.com, writing, "Maybe it's because I'm a dad but I think framing the guitar is a little like rewarding bad behavior."
However, he assured fans that Prince is making amends for smashing the guitar. He writes, "His people reached out and made arrangements to take care of damages. Guitar's in the shop."
Ironically, Douglas will be performing as part of a Prince tribute concert, which is scheduled to take place at Carnegie Hall in New York on Thursday night (07Mar13)."

Prince on Jimmy Fallon

Wow! Prince debuted his new all-girl band "3rd Eye Girl" Friday night on Jimmy Fallon's late night talk show. He performed 2 songs, the first was his new song "Screwdriver" and the second was an old song, "Bambi." Prince really rocked it out! I really enjoyed his performances. He's still got it! I hope he does more appearances like that in the future!

Prince to perform on Jimmy fallon 31/13

I am excited to hear that Prince has been named to perform live on Jimmy Fallon's Late Night talk show on Friday which is 31/13... Prince always loves to play with numbers and dates, so it is very fitting! Rumor has it that he will perform 2 songs but another rumor is also that Mariah Carey seems to be a guest on the same episode so unfortunately, Prince is not the only guest that night. Oh well! I am looking forward to this. It is rare to see Prince on tv so when it happens I get nuts! I am definitely taping this one! I wonder what he will sing and what he will wear!

Born This Way Ball Cancelled

It seems that after cancelling the upcoming tour dates the other day, Lady Gaga had tests performed this morning which revealed that she will need surgery on her hip and will need extensive recovery time. Therefore the rest of the Born This Way Ball has been cancelled.
It is upsetting to realize that she had been performing with the injury and pain for the past month and trying to hide it. Hopefully she will have a speedy recovery and will be fine. She must be sad to cancel on her fans. Get well soon, Gaga!

THE BORN THIS WAY BALL!

Yay! I saw Lady Gaga last night in my hometown at her show "The Born This Way Ball"
It is the 4th time I have seen her live but it is the first time I have seen the Born This Way Ball. It was a very good show.

I had to work that day and I wasn't able to leave too early so I got to the show after the doors had already opened. I had floor tickets so by the time I got there, there was no space at the front. I wanted a more calm concert experience anyway because every concert I go to I end up in bad fights with other fans over trying to keep my spot in front so this time I hung out in the back and I did not end up in any altercations!

The website said the show starts at 7:00, the tickets say 7:30 so I didn't know who to believe! But when we got there around 7:00 it was still an opening act on stage. I wasn't really sure who or what it was so I wasn't too interested in watching. Around 7:30 "Madeon" came out, who was another opening act. Madeon is a DJ and he was spinning dance music until around 8:00. I enjoyed this because I love dance music and it was really nice to listen to.

Then we waited and waited and waited for something to happen but it seemed to be taking forever and I was getting annoyed and tired and sore. Gaga finally came on around 9:15 and soon enough I was fully excited!

I wasn't close to the stage so it was kind of hard to see anything but the sound was very nice. Lady Gaga has such a nice, strong voice and she could sing anything and it would sound good.

There was a vendor selling glowing hair bow headbands that change colors and I wanted one so my boyfriend tracked her down as she was walking around and he bought me a glowing hair bow... yay! I wore it the whole concert but it was so tight on my head it was giving me a headache.

All in all, I was pretty happy with the concert. I enjoyed all the songs she sang and they sound pretty good live. Would I see Gaga again? Of course! Can't stop now!

Some pics:

Me and my glowing hairbow

My boyfriend and I

The stage set up

This is ended up being the best picture I took of her... ugh!

Today!!!

!!!

Looky what I just picked up!!! My Lady GaGa tickets for next Monday!!!

Prince to be Honored at Billboard Music Awards - May 19th!

Billboard Website.
"The 2013 Billboard Music Awards are returning to Las Vegas on Sunday, May 19 and will honor the legendary artist Prince during a live ABC broadcast from the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Prince will be honored with the Billboard Icon Award and is set to deliver what will likely be an unforgettable performance during the broadcast, produced by Don Mischer and sponsored by Chevrolet and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The "Purple Rain" singer-songwriter-musician follows the 2012 Icon recipient, Stevie Wonder, who received a multi-tiered tribute led by Alicia Keys."

So excited for this!!! Can't wait!!!

Prince & The NPG to perform in Minneapolis!

Prince and the NPG are set to have a series of 6 open rehearsals at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis.

The will be 2 open soundchecks Wednesday
2 Jam shows Thursday
and on Friday 2 shows featuring a "Surprise"

This was all announced yesterday. I wish I could attend these performances but I am not able to go to Minneapolis :(

The tickets have sold out in a day anyways!

Prince had promised that 2013 would be a big year and it seems like it will be true! It is only January and already he is playing shows. It is a big change from last year where he had kept himself very quiet and to himself.

All the speculation about who is "3rdeyegirl" is also an ongoing theme lately. A youtube and twitter account named "3rdeyegirl" had been posting unreleased Prince material until they had received a "cease and desist" letter from Prince's lawyers. But it is hard not to think that this is just Prince playing a game with all of us. It is a good marketing ploy to create a buzz and have people talking about what is going on and trying to guess who is behind all of it. It is funny because Prince is said to hate the internet and on an interview even claimed that "the internet is dead." He normally refuses to get involved with Facebook and Twitter and online promotion so this is a fun change and a bit hypocritical!

I think it's all in good fun and pretty excited to see and I can't wait for more. I hope he decides to perform other venues and come around somewhere closer so I can get a chance to go!

Lady Gaga to perform at Presidential Inauguration

Lady Gaga will be performing at President Obama's inauguration ceremony on January 21 along with Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, and more to be announced...

 

1 Year Ago!

Ahh... it is already December. Today is the 2nd of the month and I am heavily reminded of 1 year ago today when I went to see Prince perform live for the 2nd time.

Around the beginning of November 2011, by chance, I happened to see an advertisement for Prince playing live at the Bell Centre. I couldn't believe my eyes because I had been hoping for that for a while. I quickly bought tickets when they went on sale and could not wait until December 2nd, 2011.

Seeing "The Hour" newspaper the week before the concert really made me realize how real this was gettting!!! (I grabbed a bunch to save, of course)

On the day of the concert, my boyfriend and I ate dinner at the mall and then bussed our way downtown (I did not drive at the time!). I wore my Purple Rain shirt that night as I had to the last Prince concert.

We got to the Bell Centre around 7pm and waited around the lobby. Not many people were there at the time. Suddenly I heard some muffled drums and instruments playing from within the building... they were doing a soundcheck. It made me so excited to wonder what was going on behind the scenes.

As the time passed, more and more people kept coming in and then a line was forming along the stairwell. We waited patiently but then it was already 8pm and the concert was supposed to start but we were still waiting around... after a little while the doors began to open and everyone went in.

I quickly went to the merchandise booth to see what was available and I bought a tshirt and a tour book.

We then went to find our seats. I had bought floor seats but I was disappointed when I saw where they were because they were not on the side I had wanted. My friend had made the purchase for me online because I was working when the tickets went for sale and even though I told her the side I wanted, I guess she bought the wrong one.

We sat patiently listening to some background music as the place started to fill up. Around 9:30 the show began and I was so hyped! I was singing and dancing and jumping up and down and having a crazy time... I was probably disturbing every one around me but I didn't care.

The show was a lot of fun and ended around 11:00pm.

I had heard rumors of an afterparty at a downtown club before I had gone to the concert.

Now normally I wouldn't wander around downtown late at night when I have to work the next day but this was an exception... I had a gut feeling that I just had to get myself to this aftershow!!!

So I told my boyfriend that I am going to the aftershow and he can either come with me or go home but I was going for sure. He was mad and tried to persuade me to go home but when I have my mind made up, it is final!

I figured out where the place was downtown. It was a supper club called "Newtown" and supposedly there was a small club in the basement.

There was a line up to get in so we waited in line not even knowing if Prince was there or would be there or if we could get in like that at the door without buying tickets beforehand.

But we paid our entrance fees and got in and settled over at a counter at the back of the room. It was not a very big place and didn't look to fancy or anything. There was a small dancfloor and a little raised stage with some instruments set up on it.

Not many people were there when we arrived at around 11:30pm.

There was a DJ spinning some pretty good music the whole time so at least that was ok. But there was no sign of Prince or anything.

The time passed and then a girl came out and said that Prince would be coming eventually and then she performed some songs and then Prince came into the room and everyone freaked out and pulled out their cameras and phones and started taking pictures of him. A few people were trying to talk to him too. I got a grainy picture of him but it was nothing good. I took this as an opportunity to try to get to the front where he was. I tried pushing my way to the front of the crowd but when I reached the front there was a tall guy in my way and he refused to let me in front of him so I was upset. Prince had gotten freaked out anyways and left. It must not be fun to have people reacting like that to you.

The girl who had performed came back out and said that if we wanted Prince to come back out then we would have to put our cameras and phones away. So everyone did because we were all eager for him to come back.

Later on, members of Prince's band came out and started playing instruments and jamming and then even Prince came out but he was hiding behind members of his band and didn't want anyone to see him. He played a little bit of music with the band but had his back turned to the crowd most of the time.

The band raved that they were going to party all night with us and it really seemed like they would because it was almost 4am. But at 4am they stopped and left and that was it! I couldn't believe I had stayed out so late and was worried about getting home because I had to take the buses and most of them stop running past a certain time.

I checked the bus schedules and it seemed like if we tried hard, we could make the last bus. We made it and I was so happy. We got home around 5:30 I think and I went to bed for a little bit but then I had to get up to go to work... was it all worth it??!! YES!!! Would I do it all again?? Yes!!! Can't wait until my next concert experience. Now that I have a car, everything will be a lot more simple than that.


The sad part about the concert and the night is that they were very strict about taking photography and no one was allowed to take any pictures or videos at the concert or they would get kicked out. There was security all around the whole time, patrolling and making sure no one was taking pictures or they would confiscate your electronics or kick you out. It's a shame because I love taking pictures and videos at all the concerts I go to so I could keep the memories for the future. When I look at pictures of past concerts I am reminded of all the great times. It bothers me that I hardly have anything of my own from the night. I only have pictures that were taken professionally from the night.

These are not my pictures but they do remind me of the concert!

This is not my picture either, I found it on facebook, but it brings back great memories of when Prince performed "Purple Rain" and at the end of the song, confetti flew out from large cannons and lit up the air with purple and gold... it was such a great sight to see... I even picked up a few and framed them.

This is my framed collage that I made to hold my tickets and confetti from this concert and the other Prince concert I attended.

I keep hoping to hear that Prince is coming back to Montreal but it hasn't happened yet... I will just keep my fingers crossed and I guess he will announce it when I least expect it, just like the other times!

Review of the 2012 AMA's

The 2012 American Music Awards took place on November 18th.

Usher opened the show with a medley of songs including "Numb" and "Climax." It was ok and on par with other Usher performances but not the best show opener.

I can't believe that Justin Bieber won best male against Flo Rida, Pitbull, and Usher. I thought Usher would win.

When they announced Best Country Female I knew that Taylor Swift would win. Only days before she had swept away all the awards at the EMA's so it was no surprise there.

Carly Rae Jepson's performance was tolerable because I like her song "This Kiss" but the performance was not very good because she didn't do anything really. She just stood around singing and it was boring to watch.

Kelly Clarkson's medley performance was amazing, she has really come a long way in the last 10 years. Her voice has become so strong and I really enjoyed hearing her sing.

I was happy that Nicki Minaj won for best rap artist and I really loved her outfit, she looked so much like a barbie doll.

Kesha's performance was very good and so was No Doubt's.

I usually don't like when Taylor Swift performs but when she sang "I Knew You Were Trouble" from her new album "Red" I was completely shocked because it is such a pop song that sound like the current music, rather than the boring country songs she always makes.

I was excited for Nicki Minaj to perform but she sang one her new songs that I did not know, rather than any of her great songs from "Roman Reloaded" so I was a little disappointed. I still love her though and thought the song was very powerful with all the choir singers joining in at the end.

I like Pink's new song "Try" and I couldn't believe that she would reenact the music video for her live performance. I have never really seen anyone do that before. The music video is so different to begin with so it was crazy to see that, and she did a great job.

I am shocked that Carly Rae Jepson won the Best New Artist award instead of One Direction because One Direction are so huge right now.

I really liked Justin Bieber's acoustic performance on "As Long As You Love Me" with only the guitar. His voice is getting better and he is on the right track. When it broke into "Beauty and a Beat" it wasn't as special anymore and he was lip syncing the chorus.

I was excited to see Christina Aguilera perform because I love her new song "Your Body" but of course she did not sing it! She sang some other new songs from her new album but I wasn't familiar with them so I didn't really care about the performance.

Pitbull's performance was ok, his songs are always good anyways.

I really loved Jenny Mccarthy's outfit, she looked great.

When Justin Bieber won the award for Artist of the Year and dragged his mom up to the stage with him I didn't even realize it was his mom at first. She is so young that I thought she might be his new girlfriend or something! But it was nice of him to thank her up on stage in front of everyone like that. She must be very proud.

The closing number of the show, "Gangnam Style" by Psy was the icing on the cake. I really like that song and it always excites me to hear it and when they had M.C. Hammer come out and they mashed it up with "Too Legit to Quit" it was just so electrifying. And that Hammer can still dance like he's a young guy!

Overall, I enjoyed the show.



Favorite Outfits

And this was pretty funny!

Justin Bieber

Don't know if you have all seen this yet, but this is pretty funny and gross. Justin Bieber is "singing" at his concert (yeah right) and all of a sudden throws up.... was he feeling sick or was he drunk???

Welcome 2 Chicago Merchandise

I really want to get my hands on a copy of the Welcome 2 Chicago tourbook from Prince's concert of last month because the pictures inside are so amazing. I've been checking eBay a lot and found one for sale that is pretty expensive... we will see what happens. The person is also selling a tour shirt... why must I want such expensive stuff???

Photos and Scans of the tourbook... one day it will be mine!