prince
monday, august 30th, 2004 • key arena, seattle wa • review by karen


review: It's not a mystery that I am the elder on this fabulous website dedicated to bringing you information about all that is important. Well, what a week for those of us in our late 30's (you guess the actual number). This week brought some old favorites to town...sounds of my formative years, if you will. Yes, Prince and The Cure were in town.

Monday was Prince at the ever-annoying Key Arena. My love for the Key only stems from the fact that I can walk there. I believe our city is worthy of a better, more modern venue than that, but I digress...

What can I possibly say about Prince that hasn't already been said? He really is a genius. No opener, just Prince for over two hours. The first hour of the show was unreal! "Dance, Music, Sex, Romance" was nothing short of brilliant! That man is truly ageless and his band was tight! Maceo Parker stole the spotlight on several occassions with some incredible sax solos. Candy Dulfer (yes, that Candy Dulfer) was on horns as well. Nice to see a girl on horns! When she wasn't blowin', she was singin' and holding her own, for sure.

Midway through the show, he pulled out the "solo acoustic moments". He started with "Little Red Corvette". How does that song still get me? Love it --- even better stripped down like that. The rest of the acoustic songs left a bit to be desired. "Raspberry Beret" and "Alphabet Street" should have been done with a full band to really capture the songs.

The crowd was on fire. Great to see Seattle react to a show like this. When it came time for an encore, you couldn't hear the person standing next to you: the applause was deafening. Naturally, he came back and wrapped up the night with "Purple Rain" --- definitely a fan favorite! Most noted omission of the night: "1999". One more side note...shout out to everyone who was dressed up! I mean DRESSED UP! This was not just a show, but an event for many who attended. Go Seattle! Way to impress!

(click here for the next night: The Cure!)