Prince: Still awesome

With mrsdiscopop and I getting engaged after seeing Prince in 2002, and last night being our fourth wedding anniversary - it seemed like a good idea to catch Prince's final concert at London's O2 arena.

We were right.

By my calculations, he got through 21 (a coincidence?) of his singles, plus a huge swathe of fan favourites like The Beautiful Ones, and teases of the "ones-he-shall never-play-again-because-of-his-religious-beliefs-or-something" like Darling Nikki and Gett Off. If I hadn't been there to celebrate my marriage, I would have married Prince instead.

Or as well. I'm sure mrsdiscopop wouldn't have minded.

The whole arena was awash with purple glowsticks from the minute the show started and, at the end of Sometimes It Snows In April, he changed the lyrics to say "As much as I wanna stay... All good things, they say, never last."

The aftershow was apparently amazing, too. We didn't go (too late to get tickets, and the ones on eBay were changing hands for silly money) but by all accounts it would have been a perfect end to the night. During the course of a three-hour set, he covered Rock Lobster - which is the tune we played while walking down the aisle in 2003 - and Amy Winehouse turned up to perform Love Is A Losing Game. Eeek!

I've already done a review of the 4th August show here, and The Daily Telegraph has sent someone along to every night of the 21-date run... Here are links to all of the ones available online:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21


Meanwhile, if you missed the shows, Prince has started putting up videos on his official website. Fingers crossed for a DVD release, then!

Setlist - Main Show I Feel 4 U Controversy Musicology Chelsea Rogers Le Freak/Sexy Dancer Somewhere Here on Earth Cream U Got The Look Prince at the piano I Would die 4 U I Wanna Be Your Lover Diamonds and Pearls Little Red Corvette The Beautiful Ones Under The Cherry Moon (instrumental) The Most Beautiful Girl In The World Sometimes It Snows In April Purple Rain Take Me With U Guitar Kiss Let's Go Crazy Nothing Compares 2 U 1999 Prince at the piano (part ii) Sign O The Times When Doves Cry Darling Nikki Alphabet St Gett Off (Housestyle) Irresistible Bitch Delirious The Ballad of Dorothy Parker Rasberry Beret Encore When U Were Mine Girls & Boys

Setlist - Aftershow Love Is A Losing Game with Amy Winehouse 7 Come Together (Beatles) Honky Tonk Woman (Rolling Stones) Rock Steady (Aretha Franklin) with Beverley Knight Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin) Shhh... All The Critics Love U In London Le Freak (Chic) / Sexy dancer / Movin' Chelsea Rodgers Misty blue (Eddy Arnold) Baby love (Mother's Finest) Kiss / Alphabet St Instrumental Get On The Boat Love Rollercoaster (Ohio Players) Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry) Anotherloverholenyohead Rock Lobster (B-52's) Villanova Junction (Jimi Hendrix) Peach / Rock Me Baby (BB King) Stratus (Billy Cobham) The Question Of U / The One What Have You Done For Me Lately? (Janet Jackson) Partyman It's alright (Graham Central Station)

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