So school is out and to celebrate we went to see a few shows.

On Friday, we went to Rogers Arena and saw Prince and the New Power Generation. There was no opener and he came on a little bit late (according to the schedule). But holy man did me make up for it. He played for almost 3 hours and it was a funk, r &b and soul show. It was great. We didnt really know what to expect but it was a great time. The best part was he and the band walked away down the tunnel to the dressing room, the house lights came on, the electronic advertising came back on, the music came back on but the fans didn’t want to leave. We cheered for a good 10 minutes and Prince obliged and came back for an encore. Whether it was part of show or not, I’m not sure but it certainly was an excellent show. It was almost like being at a gospel show (so I was told). Did I mention that he is a killer guitar player too. And finally, looking at set list, his show is varied every night with different songs from his long catalogue. To me that is impressive, when you can play different songs depending on the crowd, you know that you are seeing the real deal!

setlist

thunderstorm show intro
Gold
Purple Rain
Let’s Go Crazy
Delirious
Let’s Go Crazy
1999
Shhh
Mountains
Come Together (The Beatles cover)
Everyday People (Sly & The Family Stone cover)
Long Train Runnin’ (The Doobie Brothers cover)
Alphabet St.
Angel (Sarah McLachlan cover)
Controversy
Love Rollercoaster (tease); (Ohio Players cover)
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
Cream
Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough
Cool
Encore:
If I Was Your Girlfriend
Kiss
Nothing Compares 2 U
Encore 2:
(sampler set)(?The Dance Electric (instrumental)
Hot Thing
When Doves Cry
Nasty Girl (instrumental) *
Sign “O” the Times
Darling Nikki (instrumental) *
The Most Beautiful Girl in the World
I Would Die 4 U
Dance (Disco Heat) (Sylvester cover)
Baby I’m a Star

It was a great start to the weekend. And the finale of the weekend was going to see the Watch The Throne tour with Kanye West and Jay Z. We have been lucky enough to see the both of them before and they killed it each time. I don’t know if it was an indication of the evening but in the line up, we had the biggest d-bag lined up behind us talking all kinds of crazy smack and the two dudes in front of us were heated out about where to put their doobs.

Once we got inside, the ladies behind us were talking about where they were going to puke because we were in the no drinking area (oxymoron right? at concert!) and slammed their coolers. Fine. As long as the don’t puke on us. Then the ladies beside me had no concept of personal space. At least if they were good dancers I could of tolerated it a little more but OMG they were were terrible. The one closest to me flailed about never moving with the beat or the rhythm and thought she was all gangsta. I imagined that gangsta’s would each bitches like her alive! Her only move was to push and pull her arm in front of her like she was trying to close the freezer door getting her rocky road on!

Okay, enough, what about the show. The show was great, they came out on two separate stages that rose in the air and they played nothing but hits for over two hours. All the songs you know and what to hear were played. And for the encore, they played N*gg*s In Paris ten times. Apparently that feat is only matched by the LA show. It was an unreal experience to watch the ending unfold. Admittedly, I didnt know that last song and was puzzled why they kept playing it over and over but by the end I started to get into the fact that they kept playing it over and over again. I started to realize that was something that I would never ever see again, a ten same song encore. Crazy way to end a show for sure.

Set List

Throne Music
H.A.M.
Who Gon’ Stop Me
Try a Little Tenderness
(Otis Redding song)
Otis
Welcome to the Jungle
Gotta Have It
Where I’m From
Jigga What, Jigga Who (Originator ’99)
Can’t Tell Me Nothing
All Falls Down
Flashing Lights
Jesus Walks
Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)
Public Service Announcement (Interlude)
U Don’t Know
Run This Town
Monster
Power/Power Remix
Made in America
New Day
Hard Knock Life (The Ghetto Anthem)
Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
New York, New York
(Frank Sinatra song)
Empire State of Mind
Runaway
Heartless
Stronger
D.A.N.C.E. (Justice song)
On to the Next One
Dirt Off Your Shoulder
I Just Wanna Love U (Give it to Me)
That’s My Bitch
P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) (Michael Jackson song)
Good Life
Touch the Sky
All of the Lights
Big Pimpin’
Gold Digger
99 Problems
What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong song)
No Church in the Wild
Lift Off (Interlude)
Niggas In Paris
Niggas In Paris
Niggas In Paris
Niggas In Paris
Niggas In Paris
Niggas In Paris
Niggas In Paris
Niggas in Paris
Niggas in Paris
Niggas in Paris