PRINCE at Air Canada Centre, Saturday, November 26. Rating: NNNN
At the second of his two-night stand at the ACC, Prince played a shorter set than the previous night, but still packed in a slew of hits, his own and covers by the likes of Sly and the Family Stone and Tommy James and the Shondells.
Only an artist with Prince’s confidence can throw out a song as powerful (and popular) as Purple Rain at the beginning of a set and not worry that the rest of the show will pale in comparison. But that’s just what he did while showering the audience in purple confetti.
As he said during the later part of the show, he has “too many hits” to be worried about holding anything back. Proving his point, the hits just kept coming, including Raspberry Beret, Controversy, 1999, Little Red Corvette, When Doves Cry and I Would Die 4 U.
Unlike the first night that featured saxophonist Maceo Parker, the band was a simple bass, drums, keyboards and second guitar set-up, with three backing singers dressed like space goddesses working the stage as hard as the man himself.
Running about two-and-a-half hours in length, the performance came to a weirdly truncated conclusion. Disappearing after a high-energy rendition of Kiss that included some stunning choreography, the Purple One disappeared beneath his symbol-shaped stage without saying goodnight.
After a few minutes of people cheering, an announcement was made inviting people to the after-show, where for the admission price of $100 there was a possibility that Prince and the band would play another set.
