Prince was introduced to the world in 1978 as a one-man band with a giant Afro on the album "For You."
On Thursday night, Prince finally made his debut as a live one-man band with a sizable Afro at Paisley Park in Chanhassen. It was the most revealing, intimate and personal show he's ever given. Well, the first of two performances was. The second one was more relaxed, emotional and hits-filled. But first things first.
The man in mauve emerged enveloped in stage fog from behind giant doors (covered with his glyph) that parted in the middle. He climbed the stairs to a new small stage and sat at a purple baby-grand piano. He hit one chord on the keyboard and walked away.
The faux false start was intentional because Prince, at 57, was about to present a conceptual musical autobiography. He was a 3-year-old who wanted to play the piano but his dad, a musician, wouldn't let him touch the instrument. So little Prince watched TV, which he indicated by jumping atop the purple piano and miming like he was munching chips while transfixed by the tube.
His parents divorced when he was 7, he said, and thereafter he could play piano anytime he wanted. So he offered a passage and then proclaimed, "I can't play piano like my dad. How does Dad do that?" Then he whipped off a blues-jazz boogie segment and announced: "I wish I could sing." The audience of 1,200 laughed.
Thus began Prince's story, a tale during which he was playful, philosophical and uncharacteristically open. He talked about listening to the radio — naming his favorite Twin Cities DJs — and eventually wanting to write his own songs. He demonstrated how he would vamp on the piano, attempting to craft a tune, and even showed some wrong notes he tried in the composing process.
After that illuminating prelude, he finally launched into something of a chronological tour of his career. He delivered his first hit, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," and confessed that he was trying to figure out who he was and created the Rabelaisian "Dirty Mind" and the provocative "Do Me Baby," but in these solo piano renditions they sounded merely like love letters to make her melt.
Unlike similar shows in which big-name stars expound on what sparked certain songs, Prince was more interested in discussing his motivations and inspirations in general, not in specific. In the middle of "Free," he stopped and gave a shout out to David Bowie, saying what a nice guy Bowie was when they met once. Then Prince resumed the song.
