Prince: Welcome 2 America

When I started this blog last month, I was going to write about every show AND concert I saw. Then I didn't write about Wanda Jackson at the Music Hall of Williamsburg because it felt so off-topic. And because I left halfway through the show because I didn't feel well. Then I DID write about Lauryn Hill. So now it's deciding time. Do I write about Prince? Well...why not?

Especially because on the heels of seeing Lauryn Hill, it was nice to see someone I think of as fairly reclusive and a little crazy hit the stage and prove they've still got it! And man, that little man's still got it.

Playing for roughly two and a half hours, tearing through hits from "Raspberry Beret" to "1999" to "Nothing Compares 2 U" before ending the concert in his third encore with covers of some Sly and the Family Stone songs, he was never less than electrifying. Not because he was playing the old stuff. And not just because he still sounds amazing. But because he was clearly have so. Much. Fun.

The setlist, if anyone's curious, is here: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/prince/2011/madison-square-garden-new-york-ny-23d23873.html

Rather than go through song by song, just a few things I found myself dwelling on. First, I don't understand how such a teeny little man with a penchant for sequined pants and high heels never seems to have his sexuality called into question. It seems curiously open-minded of people that it's never really been an issue (at least in my memory). Second, I don't understand how such a teeny tiny man who isn't particularly physically attractive (to my eye) manages to actually be so sexy. I think it must be the combination of those things RuPaul looks for in her drag queen competitors: Charisma. Uniqueness. Nerve. Talent. Also, yes, I was just looking for an excuse to quote Ru on my blog.

Third: so many celebrities in the audience. Well, some celebrities and some "celebrities." Ice-T's wife Coco, Al Sharpton, Austin Scarlett, Chris Rock, Mike Ruiz, ?uestlove, Kim Kardashian. And that's just who I spotted on the big screens!

Lastly, my one quibble is that I realized my favorite Prince era might have been...no one else's. It was about an hour and a half in before I really accepted that the chances I'd hear my favorite Prince songs--7, Gett Off, Sexy MF, Diamonds and Pearls--were incredibly slim. How do more people not love 7?! Regardless, it's not like hearing Purple Rain, Let's Go Crazy, If I Was Your Girlfriend, and Kiss was a downer.