RTP-area local music and culture

[Rawls <jcmidrange AT yahoo.com>]

>last time (if you recall, Prince hit the stage at an
>obscure joint 
>called Plum Crazy after the show the last time he was
>in town) were so 

    Plum Crazy was obscure?  Various one hit wonder
rap artists of the mid'90's played there...anyways,
I've yet to have a "it was better back in '97"
thought, until this past Friday night's Prince show.

     The RBC Center show was good, but I'm still not
really sold on the new school funk with a brass
section version of his songs (Maceo Parker is in that
brass section, so I realize it sounds foolish on my
part to even try and criticize it). The Charlotte and
Raleigh shows in'97 had a bit more energy, and
definitely more quality. 

     At one point Prince did a solo acoustic set, and
when he played a riff from "Jailhouse Rock" I realized
it did have a '68 Comeback vibe, though Prince was in
all red, not black.

     As for the "after party"...first of all, I wasn't
one of those who was blown away at the Plum Crazy show
in '97 (my attitude then was that it was good, but he
has such a deep vault of originals, why bother with
covers?), and as for the choice of venue, there was
nothing "obscure" about it this time.  It was at the
Office.  It was ridiculously crowded.  Keep in mind
the '97 show was on a Monday night at a club not many
white people frequent, this was a Friday night at
a...you get the idea.

     I got there around 1am and went to the back of a
really long, yet well moving line.  When I got up to
the garage entrance near the main entrance, a tinted
black SUV pulled into the garage and I saw Prince get
out and go into a side entrance of the club.  The band
rode up in an SUV limo.  It was $10 to get in (with a
ticket stub).

     When I actually got into the club, a dvd from the
concert a few hours earlier was playing (I must admit
I'm still not used to this instant archiving, but the
dvd quality seemed really good). The stage/vip area
was curtained off (I overheard many people say music
equipment was "on hand back there if needed").  Every
so often Prince would briefly lift up the curtain.  He
would also occasionally get in the DJ booth...and that
was about all he would do, he did not perform.

     At one point the DJ played "Pussy Control" and I
don't think it was a coincidence that Prince hung
around in the DJ booth a bit more at that point (I
don't think that song's title really fits into his
born again views).

     So, it's a crap shoot you can go to these after
parties and see a good funk band up close, or you can
go to these after parties and feel like a lame star
watcher.  It'd be a lot cooler to know in advance if
he'll actually play, because this experience in no way
made me like Prince more.

     Around 3am once the crowd had thinned out a bit,
it was on the verge of being enjoyable, it was
essentially a dance party where Prince would come in
and out of the DJ booth.  At 3:30am Prince left the
building and I went on to a party at a house near
Krispy Kreme and watched some women make out on the
roof.

                                            Rawls



        
                
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