Red Mosquito

evenslow wrote:

Fuzzcharger wrote:

doone wrote:

evenslow wrote:Makes Petty and Lynne and gang look like a bunch of rank amateurs (and they're the best!). Might be my favorite single musical moment ever...

This. So much.

This is so great. He's definitely playing on a level that transcends the other guys on stage. I love how he walks off-stage by himself without acknowledging the other players too. I can just picture him getting through the curtain to be greeted backstage by a beautiful woman on either side and then stepping out of the building and into a UFO then heading back into space.

I also love that, even while he's blowing everyone away, he still connects with Petty like, "Watch this shit right here."

Can you imagine playing rhythm behind THAT? It's a testament to their professionalism that they all didn't just melt into the floorboards.

Bammer wrote:

evenslow wrote:

Fuzzcharger wrote:

doone wrote:

evenslow wrote:Makes Petty and Lynne and gang look like a bunch of rank amateurs (and they're the best!). Might be my favorite single musical moment ever...

This. So much.

This is so great. He's definitely playing on a level that transcends the other guys on stage. I love how he walks off-stage by himself without acknowledging the other players too. I can just picture him getting through the curtain to be greeted backstage by a beautiful woman on either side and then stepping out of the building and into a UFO then heading back into space.

I also love that, even while he's blowing everyone away, he still connects with Petty like, "Watch this shit right here."

Can you imagine playing rhythm behind THAT? It's a testament to their professionalism that they all didn't just melt into the floorboards.

What y'all are saying about Prince's guitar work here may very well be true, but I don't think it would be fair to understate the fact that this video also includes the single greatest Tambourine & Bongo performance of all time.

evenslow wrote:dime dropped this in the tour thread. was looking everywhere for this last night.

Strat wrote:And you gotta watch this

http://video.startribune.com/video-sing ... 376661591/

gardenparty wrote:by musicians and knowledgable music fans though.

AndySlash wrote:

(fyi, none of these are my photos/videos, just to be clear - i've copied these from startribune.com and youtube)

after i left the office yesterday, i debated heading downtown for the celebration. but as i was getting closer to home, i kept seeing people clad in purple waiting on corners for buses and i just knew i had to get down there and take part in this moment.

the schedule was that the 7th St was to be blocked from 8p-10p with live performances from local stars which included p.o.s. and lizzo, among others. then, at 11p, first ave would open its doors for an all night dance party until 7a.

we didn't get down there until just before 10, which was enough time to catch lizzo performing 'the beautiful ones'...



and then the finale of 'purple rain' with everyone who performed and thousands in the streets...

(warners has already had the one video i saw taken down, but if i find another i'll post it)

i was supposed to meet up with friends to go into the club, but i couldn't get close enough to them, who were already near the doors. here i am with a purple balloon during one of the performances...


...but after the live performances were done i could only make it near the stage area and about 40-50 ft away from the entrance, which wasn't going to open for another 30-45min. this was too crowded/confined for me, and i didn't want all the neccessary pushing and shoving from people trying to get through to get to me and ruin the moment, so i retreated to a bar down the street in hopes that after an hour or two i could make it in.

the bar was hopping, of course, and it was good to commisserate with fellow fans and friends. my friend had one of those apps that could control the jukebox and she cued up prince tunes one after another while we were there. we talked everything prince, relayed stories, and just enjoyed the company of people who also felt the need to come together last minute on a thursday night to celebrate one of our own.

my friends who had gotten in the club came to the bar around 1a and said there was still a good crowd outside first ave waiting to get in. they were heading home, but we decided to head over and just take in the crowd and maybe see if we'd get in eventually. by around 2a there was still a healthy, slow moving line and we decided to call it a night. i was disappointed we didn't actually get into the dance party, but at the same time it was understandable and i am glad i decided to spend my evening with friends sharing in love for one of minnesota's most important people. we'll miss him dearly.

You hear it so often: "It's such a shock." And for once, I truly am [in shock]. It's hard to even believe. I guess it's just a reminder of how fragile we all are and how quick life is. A lot of people have been calling wondering how I feel, like somehow this is going to spill over and I'm going to drop over. Tommy [Stinson] sent me a text that was like, "Holy shit, can you believe Rog is gone?

I immediately went back to the first times we saw him and all the times we sort of grew up around him. He went to school five, six blocks away from where I was born. So we walked the same streets. But I didn't know about him until he was already the man. It was probably just right before the Replacements, right as we were getting together. I think it was his first hit, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which ironically, was never a hit here at home. I remember reading about it, that there was a guy from Minneapolis who had a huge hit. But it wasn't played here. I must have been about 19 at the time, and I bought the record and I loved it. It was like everything that we weren't doing. You know, melodies, and slick and simple and perfect. We were full of the punk stuff at the time. It sort of put us in perspective, like, "OK, we'll go as far as we can with our limited talent, but this is the real deal. This guy is the real shit." He would be playing First Avenue when we would be playing the Seventh Street Entry, the little 100-capacity club that connected, and he was in the big room with 900 people. It was night and day. We had our little thing, but occasionally, when we were playing, and he would come in the room for three seconds, walk out and the entire room would empty, following him. I hope he did it on purpose. I think maybe he did. Hey, he was a star. There was no doubt about it.

My first recollection of seeing him was a dress rehearsal for one of his early tours. I was next to another musician, a couple other guys that were up-and-comers and that thought they were hot shit, and we were watching Prince. The guy turned to me and said, "I'm fucking embarrassed to be alive." And that's how I felt. He was so good. It was like, "What are we doing? This guy is, like, on a different planet than we are." It was showmanship, it was rock & roll, it was fun, it was great. I think it helped everyone around. It made us all think that Minneapolis wasn't the dour town that we tried to pretend it was. He was like a ray of light in a very cautious place. He was a star. He made no bones about it. He was glitz to a place that wasn't used to it. I remember a little scuffle broke out in front of the stage one night and Prince said, "Stop fighting, you'll mess up your clothes."

"He may have been a little more normal than he would've liked people to know."
The first time I met him was at a urinal at a nightclub in St. Paul. There he was, and I said, "Hey, what's up?" And he answered, "Life." One word: "life." And I can't say that we went on to be pals. But we did record a lot at Paisley Park, and he became comfortable enough to grace us with his presence, not bejeweled and not dressed up. He'd be wearing maybe his jammies and sweat pants or maybe a pear of jeans and sneakers. He could sort of just hang out. He may have been a little more normal than he would've liked people to know. That's the treasure that we got, to be able to sit in the big atrium where you're taking a break and Prince shuffles by in his slippers and makes some popcorn in the microwave. My sister's a disc jockey, and he would pass by and say, "Tell your sister hi for me." People like to paint him as a reclusive this or that; I think he was genuinely truly, truly shy. But one thing says a lot about him: I was there making a solo record a few years later, and I got a message that said that my friend had just died. I was truly rattled, and the next time I went back into the studio, he had filled it up with balloons. Now I'm gonna cry.

I've spent more time with Bob Dylan, and I've got to say that I was more in awe of Prince. I can't think of anyone better – an all-around composer, musician, guitarist, star, showman, the whole package, anyone better. If Elvis wrote all of his songs and played guitar, it still wouldn't quite be there. He'd play Jimi Hendrix-style, between his legs and behind his back. And then he'd do the splits. He could put the guitar down, and Jimi would become James Brown. He could hold the crowd like Mick Jagger, but could Mick Jagger play the piano like that? And then, lyrically, there's something like, "When Doves Cry." There's obviously more going on there than meets the booty.

When I got word today, I was trying to write a song. I put it down. I found myself walking up to the store, and I bought myself a handful of colorful clothes. I was just drawn to do something that he would have done.

gardenparty wrote:Can somebody else please post the video of Prince playing at the Rock & roll Hall of Fame Event and mention how he was an "underrated guitarist"?

I will miss him and his music dearly but

I do believe he was a very highly rated guitarist/musician by musicians and knowledgable music fans though. Am I wrong?

Birds in Hell wrote:

gardenparty wrote:Can somebody else please post the video of Prince playing at the Rock & roll Hall of Fame Event and mention how he was an "underrated guitarist"?

I will miss him and his music dearly but

I do believe he was a very highly rated guitarist/musician by musicians and knowledgable music fans though. Am I wrong?

In general I find the whole public grieving and excessive eulogising that comes with the death of a prominent musician slightly bizarre and quite off-putting.