Live Review - Prince @ O2 Arena

Prince might not be the first person you'd expect to see on the pages of Electric Roulette, but when someone gets in touch with a review of the purple sex elf, you'd be a fool not to throw it up... by which I mean publish the review as opposed to vomit in anyway.

So, did Prince wow all with blistering renditions of cherry picked hits from his expansive back catalogue or did he fanny about and show off his notorious stubborn side? Well, Simon Hill found him showing both sides of his character.

"The opportunity for anyone to see their musical heroes before they’re too old, are dead or they reform as a novelty of their former incarnation which you pay through the nose for is every fans fear. Born too young, and you’ve missed perhaps twenty, maybe even thirty years of great music, which recent tours by The Rolling Stones or The Who are no compensation for. With an artist like Prince, though he has never really stopped in nearly thirty years there will be many who have placed him in the scrap heap of musical genius alongside Stevie Wonder."

"While his artistic heyday is some twenty years passed, which has taking even the most devoted fan on a journey from a near peerless eighties back catalogue to the occasional brilliance yet often outright bland studio output since. But to base Prince’s reputation as a live performer on his current output is a grave underestimation of the man. The twenty one date O2 concerts – or Planet Earth Tour to give it its proper name – has rejuvenated the Purple Ones artistic credibility of late, if not his sales. It isn’t to say it wasn’t expected, both his last two albums Musicology and 3121 offered flashes of Prince’s wayward genius. It is now, though for many, that Prince has returned, if though for some it will be via the Mail on Sunday tie in of the current Planet Earth album, an interesting experiment in reducing, if not preventing privacy as much as advertisement for the tour.

"When it comes to the tour, with so many dates and the expectations of an artist with Prince’s status, there is the fear of disappoint and inconsistency. With tonight being number twenty there is the even greater possibility of artistic burnout and attempts to save himself for the final night. Two hours is not enough time to judge a tour – nearer six or seven of the tour would have been sufficient to determine this – though can highlight where an artist is at that moment. Opener ‘Musicology’ is a strong beginning, the quality and freshness writ large, which continues despite the selection of newer material and a cover of Chic’s ‘Le Freak’ early on. As an indication of Prince’s vitality as a live performer it is undeniable, but it can not stop the rot that the more recent songs bring, preventing this being the outright thriller it could be. For a tour billed as Prince’s – perhaps – final greatest hits tour, the night at times seems more an experiment by Prince in challenging the audience’s patience. Another night, another review, Prince tonight with a quality back catalogue so vast seems content to showcase Planet Earth and play this selection of well chosen, but infuriating covers. From the almost never ending guitar solo of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ to the none more tight rendition of The Beatles’ ‘Come Together’ – it is an example of showcasing the talent, rather than the songs.

"While you’d imagine Prince would need to keep these evenings fresh for himself, with the quality of his catalogue, many of them album tracks, the devoted among the crowd would have welcomed his cherry picking of more obscure numbers to compliment the hits. And yet the star will not compliment his audience. Half of you wants to forgive him right away for the being simply entertained, but it is Prince’s frustrating lack of missing so many great songs, especially when the likes of ‘When Doves Cry’ or ‘The Cross’ would have proved so many points, not just as a songwriter, but also to his virtuoso guitar playing. An audience is never going to be completely disappointed when an artist such as Prince is backed by such quality as Maeco Parker, but again and again tonight it still seems like an incomplete version of Prince on stage.

"The genius of Prince was never one recognisable factor; be it with songs, in the studio or live. He could bring so many disparate elements together in musical style, look and subject matter, which is why he became for a time unmatched in craftsmanship, execution and performance of everything he touched. Tonight this is not fully realised as certain songs fall by the wayside, do not appear or in the solo spot lack the spark they require, as they become almost through away as Prince decides to play extracts of many well known songs, rather than redefining them in the new musical setting.

"When the hits finally arrive in greater number, they are very much welcomed and Prince reclaims the audience’s full attention. ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ appears when most are almost prepared to be completely disappointed. As serious and faintly ridiculous as much of the best of Prince, it lives up to what should have been the initial realisation of the crowd’s expectations, it is what would have made the almost perfect opener, if Prince hadn’t written ‘1999’. It hasn’t lost its power to entertain, and when it is followed by ‘Kiss’ the momentum is allowed to build. When the night reaches ‘Purple Rain’ it seems the natural ending of almost every Prince fan’s ideal concert. Eight and half or so minutes of passion and sweat still resonate after twenty three years. With the smoking ban in London it seems the perfect reason for inventing mobile phones, a twenty first century expression to the rock ballad.

"A perfect way to end, though not for Prince himself, who sabotaging the mood attempts to reclaim ‘Nothing Compares To You’ from Sinead O’Connor. The heartfelt yearning she bought to her interpretation is for anyone who has heard the original, surprising, considering few thought it was there. It represents much of Prince’s excesses; while lyrically sublime, musically and in its performance the song is the late night love cliché which often rears its head on Prince’s albums, though we can be thankful that even his judgement is not screwed enough to inflict ‘Most Beautiful Girl In The World’ on the crowd. The overarching sentimentality of the song is a bad habit which undoes much of the rehabilitation the big hits before hand have brought, which at the end should have been reigned in or put to better use. But is it fair to complain? Prince may frustrate more than most, but it is often for good reason. It also makes him more entertaining and while nothing he writes now may rank among his best his performances can. Another night and maybe a different review, though still the same wildly eccentric and expectation altering Prince. Perhaps that is more than enough, because when you don’t get what you want, at least you should be thankful you are getting something."