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L.A. HAS SERIOUS LOVE FOR PRINCE.

Angelenos of all ages and colors came out to see “His Royal Badass” do his thing. All the hype built around this long awaited tour has left me with a bitter (not even bittersweet) taste in my mouth. I have been a Prince Fan since the first time that I heard “Soft & Wet” playing on KDAY when I was in the 5th grade. So it saddens me greatly to review Friday’s lackluster show of Prince’s 21 Nite Stand at The Forum.

I can sum up Prince’s anti-climatic performance with a couple of key grievances:

(1)  The wait between sets were longer than the performance itself! The audience waited until 12 midnight for an encore that never happened. I was told that he had been giving 4-6 encores in his previous shows but last night we barely go two. The security team raised our hope a little when they started clearing the crowd from The Purple Circle, but it was only for Prince to come back out riding a bicycle around the floor of The Forum and leave again. WoW! Really Prince? Was that All? The crowd waited around for an hour– waiting for him to come back out before we began to disperse!

(2)  He teased us with little snippets of all his greatest hits. But we never reached the climax of Princely purple euphoria. that we collectively hoped and paid for. Nobody likes a tease. And Tease us is about all that he did.

(3)  Mint Condition was alright for an opening act. I’m not the biggest R & B fan. The Alicia Keys appearance was nice, but “When U Were Mine” is my favorite Prince song and I would of actually liked to hear him sing it–> not her. 😡

He boasted, “I’ve got so many hits…” Well it would of been nice if you played them your Royal Purpleness.

*Note to older and established artists: The reality is that people come to see you perform the classic hits that made you famous–not your new stuff. Sorry

When I got home my son said to me, “Mom– it sounds as if you had Raised Expectations?!” You’re Damn Right I Do. I have supported him his entire career through the purchase of every album and B-side he has ever made… Sometimes even twice! And let’s not go into merchandise. So Yeah, I know he’s an international superstar and everything but that is no excuse to give the fan base that supports you The Shaft.

My expectation was to enjoy a wonderful evening of the music that I grew up on along with the other fans that are as passionate about the music as I am. What a freaking let down!

Given Prince’s track record for being a flakey, moody “temperamental” artist, I have forgiven his behavior again and again because of his music genius. But when you get gypped/stiffed/ or shafted it is really hard to keep making excuses for someone no matter how much you love their work….