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Old-schoolers tune out when he plays his new songs, funk freaks are clueless when he plays a Led Zeppelin cover, rockers sit down when he plays slow jams, and jazz heads scoff at his pop hits, but everyone with ears to listen–and an ass to shake–agrees that there is no one like Prince. Although music critics tried to set him up against Michael Jackson in the eighties, his truer peers are James Brown and David Bowie. Prince is a musical perfectionist and master performer who has reinvented himself over and over. And on top of that, he can play practically every instrument perfectly and has produced himself since the beginning. These days he even releases his own albums and books his own shows. Yes, there’s some punk rock in him, too. But you can’t really get Prince until you see him in concert. Actually, I’m no super fan and I didn’t see him until 2004 after the L.A. Kings flamed out (typically and appropriately) and missed the NHL’s post-season. Instead of getting my money back from Staples Center, I decided to purchase some nosebleed Prince tickets. While wandering the aisles before the show, we were offered to swap our tickets for unsold seats that were super close and… damn. I was surprised and blown away by what seemed like a nonstop guitar solo. So when it was announced that he would play 21 shows in Los Angeles with most tickets going for 25 bucks (including service charge) I had to go. And I wound up attending to three of the shows at The Forum… I apologize in advance if these brief descriptions are too geeky. It would get old if I kept saying how insanely perfect and timeless songs like “Controversy,” “Kiss,” and “D.M.S.R.” are, so I’ll just describe some of the major differences in the sets. My first night was actually the third of the series: Friday, April 22. Not long after the already legendary kick-off show that stretched well past 1:00 a.m. and included seven encores that continued until the Lakers’ old arena was half full with the house lights on, we had huge expectations. But instead of starting off as a crowd pleaser, the evening began with a more experimental slant showcasing Prince on bass (even if the lights were low): “Beginning Endlessly,” “Laydown,” “Endorphinmachine.” Surprise guest Alicia Keys came out to sing “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” while he played keyboard and Cuba Gooding Jr. came onstage to dance for a couple of songs. After two encores, we waited for more than an hour for more and were rewarded by seeing him ride out on a beach cruiser. A weird way to end an odd, somewhat somber (but unique and cool) 90-minute set, now viewable on YouTube. The next Saturday was another sold-out show. I got killer seats for 25 bucks, and this time he played a more crowd-friendly show with five encores. The guest was Gwen Stefani, who came out to sing “So...
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