Those 20 minutes of Prince you should watch again
The deluxe edition of “Around the world in a day” will be released on November 21st, the album with which Prince surprised everyone just 15 days after the end of the “Purple rain tour”. 40 years later, “Around the world” returns meticulously remixed in Dolby Atmos by Prince’s protégé, Grammy-nominated sound engineer Chris James, starting from the original multitrack master tapes. An output that on the one hand reminds us of Prince’s greatness but, on the other, It makes us miss him even more. Some old videos, however, come to our aid. Like the one below.
It’s the 1 June 2014. Prince plays at the Zénith in Paris. It will be his last performance in the French capital. The date is part of the “Hit and run part II” European tour and on stage His Royal Badness is accompanied by 3RDEYEGIRLan American funk rock band that will follow him from 2014 until 2016, that is, until the end. Hannah Welton on drums, Donna Grantis on guitar and Ida Kristine Nielsen on bass. A girl power which cannot leave one indifferent – like nothing, after all, leaves one indifferent in Prince’s career and choices. Starting from the giant screens behind him, from the graphics that stand out on them and from the way in which he interacts with those who have the privilege of watching him.
There stage presence it is not a negligible element in his shows. There are artists you listen to in the studio, and that’s okay. There are others that need to be seen, as well as heard. Prince is one of them. Costumes straight out of Hollywood, charisma by the truckload, grip on the public that from zero to one hundred: four hundred and fifty. Especially when he invents evenings like this, with crazy medleys and an energy that can only be explained by the strange alignment of the planets that bewitches the universe before each of his performances – and that science has yet to intercept.
On June 1, 2014, the Minneapolis Folletto mixes “Let’s go crazy”, “Take me with u”, “Raspberry beret”, “U got the look” and, finally, a mashup between “Don’t stop ’til you get enough” by Michael Jackson and “Cool”, the song produced and arranged for The Time. A fluid sequence of iconic songs, with transitions between very different genres, because the intent is clear: to represent as much as possible Prince’s eclecticism in the various nuances of his style, from rock to funk to pop.
Nielsen’s bass is the rhythmic engine that directs and maintains the groove between one arrangement and another; never just an accompaniment but a central element, with its own precise identity. A discussion that must also be extended to Welton and Grantis. Sharp guitars, tight rhythms, incisive bass, energetic drums: 3RDEYEGIR fit perfectly with Prince’s repertoire. Twenty minutes of pure madnessmagic, genius and recklessness. A medley that contains all the spirit of an overly underrated guitarist: musical virtuosity, but never an end in itself, always aimed at the public, to entertain, seduce, hypnotize them; the continuous desire to change, to revolutionize the lineups; the spontaneity that only the craziest improvisation can guarantee; the energy that never wanes, not even for a second, not even by mistake. Always be praised TAFKAPThe Artist Formerly Known As Prince.
