My only complaint about the December 18th Prince show at Madison Square Garden was how short it felt. It was under two hours. I would have gladly taken three. I thought for sure we'd get a nice chunk of extra songs in the 2nd encore, but instead we only got a nice chunk of extra celebrities. Not that watching Sherri Sheppard of the View, Whoopi Goldberg (also on the View), opener Sinbad, Spike Lee, Spike Lee's son, Jamie Foxx, Naomi Campbell, Alicia Keys, Professor Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, opener Larry Graham (who also had his bass), Questlove (who also drummed) (and whose afro and tweeting were unmissable from where I was sitting before he left his seat to get on stage), Busta Rhymes, John Leguizamo (who I also saw on the will call line when I walked in), Sheila E (who was already up there performing), Prince's amazing band and backup singers and others dancing around on the love symbol-shaped stage wasn't fun, but I would have gladly traded it for a few more songs.

And speaking of Larry Graham whose band Graham Central Station opened, he was very worth getting there early for. Graham was the bass player for Sly & the Family Stone, and he paid that band tribute with a five-song medly that Prince himself came out to play on. For an opener, the energy in the half-packed room was huge.

Sheila E's appearance during Prince's set, especially her performance of her hit song The Glamorous Life was another serious highlight, though unlike as advertised, it wasn't the only show on the "tour" she showed up for. She didn't play at the 12/15 Izod Center show, but she did play during the second of three encores (yes, they got three) at the 12/17 Izod show, and it has been announced she will play with Prince again at MSG tonight (12/29). The full lineup for tonight's show is: 7:30 - Mint Condition, 8:15 - Janelle Monae, 9:00 - PRINCE (w/ Sheila E). UPDATE: She didn't actually play with Prince on 12/29.

If you miss tonight's show, you still have one more chance on 1/18. Tickets are still on sale for that one (no openers have been announced yet though, that I know of). Janelle Monae and Prince were both spotted at Lauryn Hill last night, and will probably collaborate on stage tonight.

A few more mostly-encore pictures from the 12/18 MSG show, and some videos and the setlists from the last 2 shows, below...

Continue reading "Prince played Izod Center & MSG w/ lots of friends, plays MSG again tonight (pics, setlists & stuff)"

Alejandro Escovedo at City Winery (more by Chris La Putt)

Alejandro Escovedo is spending the days leading up to Christmas on the road. He'll be in Norfolk, CT tonight (12/15) as part of a string of dates that will lead him to The Rubin Museum of Art on Friday (12/17). Tickets are still available. From there Escovedo will head to north to Woodstock to play a sold out show at Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble on 12/18, and hopefully Helm will be in attendance:

Levon Helm, the longtime Woodstock resident, former drummer for The Band and two-time Grammy winner, has been hospitalized but is expected to make a full recovery.

Helm's manager, Barbara O'Brien, told the sold-out crowd at Saturday night's (12/12) Midnight Ramble house concert at Levon Helm Studios that the 70-year-old Arkansas native has been hospitalized in New York City. The show went on, with Levon Helm Studios Chief Engineer Justin Guip filling in on drums. Guip often sits in on a few tunes at each Ramble, the Saturday night shows Helm holds at his home studio several times a month.

"Levon came down with a little bit of a cold this week and because he's got COPD, a little bit of a cold to you and me is a lot more serious for him," O' Brien said. "...We took him to the hospital today. He's going to be fine. He's in the city. He's with his specialist, but he's not going to be here tonight....He is so upset that he can't be here." [Poughkeepsie Journal]

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope Levon gets well soon!

On a related or should I say relative note, Alejandro Escovedo's neice Sheila E will be in NYC the day after Escovedo (on 12/18 while he is upstate) to play with her old friend Prince at the sold-out Madison Square Garden. Prince kicks off his NYC area run tonight (12/15) at the Izod Center in NJ. Tickets are still available.

Alejandro Escovedo dates and some videos below.

Continue reading "Alejandro Escovedo on tour, Levon Helm hospitalized but ok"

As previously mentioned, Cassandra Wilson announced she would be playing with Prince on 12/15 only, and it was unclear if Janelle Monae would actually be at more than one show. She won't...

Prince has announced his guests for the first four dates of his highly anticipated "Welcome 2 America" performances. Joining him for his first performance on December 15th at the Izod Center will be jazz bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding and R&B artist Lalah Hathaway. Also at Izod, Prince will be joined by Grammy winning jazz performer Cassandra Wilson and funk saxophonist Maceo Parker on December 17th. For the first performance at Madison Square Garden on December 18th, comedian Sinbad and famed bassist Larry Graham and his band Graham Central Station. That night only, Sheila E will join Prince on stage. On December 29th at MSG, fans will be treated to Twin City legends Mint Condition and recent double-Grammy nominee Janelle Monae.

Due to overwhelming demand, Prince recently announced an additional date at Madison Square Garden on January 18th, the guests for this show have yet to be announced.

Tickets are still available to the two NJ shows and the January MSG show. The list of dates with openers, and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Prince MSG & Izod Center show opener & special guest info (Sheila E @ MSG included)"

Janelle Monae @ Terminal 5 (more by Matthew Eisman)

With the dates announced for Prince's Welcome 2 America Tour, one of the touring acts, Janelle Monáe, spoke to MTV News about hitting the road with the legendary musician. To sum it up, she's pretty stoked to tour with someone as iconic as Prince.

"Well, I'm excited. We're great friends," Monáe told MTV News on Monday at the Glamour Women of the Year event in New York City. "I'm honored that he had chosen me to be a part of the tour."

Monáe may be somewhat of a rookie compared to Prince, but long before stardom came her way, touring with him was on her to-do list.

"It's definitely one of the things that I wanted to do in my career, is tour with him," she shared. "And it just means a lot that he's a mentor to me and he loves the stuff that we're doing and he's going to help out every way he can to make the show phenomenal."

So, will fans see some collaborations between Monáe and Prince? "We may [collaborate], we may," she teased, adding that she doesn't have a favorite Prince song. "And when that happens, I'll be sure to let you guys know." [MTV News]

Though not much is really known about these shows, Prince did promise the following list of openers/collaborators when he first announced: Maceo Parker, Janelle Monae, Mint Condition, Esperanza Spalding, Cassandra Wilson, Lalah Hathaway and Sheila E. Cassandra Wilson released a statement that was slightly more specific than Janelle. She said that she, herself, Cassandra, "will be joining Prince on stage at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ on December 17th." Maybe Janelle will be at all the shows, or only one too? Prince did say the shows would be different each night.

Tickets for the recently added Prince show at MSG go on sale at noon.

And in slightly related news, being picked to play with Prince isn't the only thing Lalah Hathaway and Janelle Monàe have in common. They're both also, like Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, on the For Colored Girls soundtrack.

Janelle and Esperanza Spalding also have at least one prior connection. They, along with Patti Labelle and Alicia Keys, paid tribute to Prince on the 2010 BET Awards. Video of that and the full For Colored Girls soundtrack tracklisting below...

Continue reading "Janelle Monae paid tribute to Prince & happy to be playing with him (MSG tickets on sale)"

Prince on stage @ the Apollo, October 14, 2010 (Stephen Hill)

Today, Prince headed to Harlem to the iconic Apollo Theater to announce he would be serving as Master of Ceremonies for a new concert series called 'Welcome To America,' which will be kicking off this December.

Though he was mum on details like dates and tour stops, the 52 year-old singer/songwriter told the crowd that 'Welcome to America' will showcase some of his favorite artists including Maceo Parker, Janelle Monae, Mint Condition, Esperanza Spalding, Cassandra Wilson, Lalah Hathaway and Sheila E.

The Minnesota native also confirmed that he and the New Power Generation would also perform nightly alongside featured acts.

"If you've been to one of my shows, then you know what time it is," the usually media shy artist joked. "You need to come early and come often because every time we play it's always something new. I got a lot of hits. Bring friends, bring children, and bring foot spray because it's gonna be funky."

"I didn't want to talk too much but how many have seen 'Waiting for Superman,' " he asked before bringing out Harlem Children's Zone head Geoffrey Canada who also spoke briefly about how grateful he is Prince chose Harlem as the venue to announce the series.

Prince will play a special guitar for the duration of the concert series and then auction off the guitar for the benefit of Harlem Children's Zone. [Prince.org]

I don't know if "concert series" means he'll play one venue multiple times, or if this is just a regular tour with openers. Details are sparse, but I'm excited either way. Stay tuned for more as it's announced.

photos by Ryan Muir

The main stage at Coachella Saturday night went Kraftwerk --> Portishead --> Prince. That single four hour period makes me wish I wasn't just watching Coachella from my computer.

The Prince portion of the show already has a discussion going. Now here's the rest of the pictures (Morris Day & Sheila E included). Video and setlist (Radiohead cover included) below too.....

Continue reading "Prince @ Coachella, Indio, CA - pics, video & setlist"

Prince @ the Coachella Music Festival - April 26, 2008

You are the coolest place on earth right now!" Prince declared to a sea of tens of thousands.

Prince, who had been sought out to perform at Coachella since the festival was founded nine years ago, told the crowd that when he agreed to perform, he informed the organizers that he would not only play, but party too.

True to his word, Prince then launched his band -- complete with a horn section and background singers -- into "Jungle Love." Morris Day came out to sing his song, while Prince strolled around the stage with his guitar.

For the beginning of the show, Prince preferred to let his guitar do the talking. He also welcomed the singer and drummer Sheila E, who took the lead for a song and then joined Prince in an extended jam.

Finally, Prince satisfied the crowd with a celebratory performance of "1999." His classic "Little Red Corvette" soon followed. [AP]

The rest of Ryan Muir's photos from the evening are HERE.

Check out the rest of our Coachella coverage HERE.

Check out video of Prince on Leno, HERE.

Check out video of Radiohead on Conan, HERE.

Continue reading "Prince played Coachella (pictures), covered Radiohead"