His royal purpleness II

So off I went to the O2 again last night (thinking of getting a season ticket at this rate). I was strangley nervous which is an odd sensation before a concert but I just didn’t want to not enjoy it as much as last week (do I tie myself up in knots over the stupidest things or what?).

I needn’t have worried.

Strangely though the concert was completely different. Don’t know whether that was because last Wednesday was the first night or because we were sat in different seats (in the gods, luckily we remembered the binoculars) but everything – from the songs to the costumes; from the atmosphere to Prince’s whole demeanour. Last week he seemed to be cheeky and up for a party; last night he was the consummate showman.

Much fewer Planet Earth tracks, many more “classics” including some long-forgotten (on my part) numbers. He started with last week’s encore – an acoustic medley of Little Red Corvette, Raspberry Beret, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, Alphabet Street and Sometimes it Snows in April. Then into funky rock pop show spectacular (although no glitter or confetti this week) then just Prince and the piano which was new and fabulous – at last I got to hear Diamonds and Pearls having been teased both last week and at the One Night Alone gig in Hammersmith in 2002. He put Purple Rain back in a more expected place as an encore song – although what is an encore and what is “Prince just popping off for a quick rubdown” is very unclear.

I got most excited when he performed Do Me Baby which had been a real snogfest track when I was at college. In fact I would hazard a guess that a reasonably large percentage of girls I knew were ‘persuaded’ to take the lyrics quite literally by some young men who modelled themselves on the ultra Prince fan in my year* and was known for his incredible success with the prettiest laydeez. I would hasten to point out that I did not partake in this sort of activity.

Unfortunately I think I have exhausted the possibilities of any more nights with Prince (sell out between now and me going away) but I urge you to beg, borrow or steal to get a ticket if you can.

* The ultra prince fan in my year at college was Calum Bain, a wee Scottish chap who found himself marooned in Southampton (a come down belive me). We had our ups and downs (he dated several of my friends and broke their hearts etc) but he was a really nice guy. He disappeared in 1991 and my thoughts are with his family who must suffer on a daily basis. Wherever he is, let’s hope he’s enjoying the purple rain.