By: Will McClain
With tickets under $20, the bill was an impressive who’s who of Prince hired guns, a vivified wax museum of Twin Cities music history. From pioneer Revolution guitarist Dez Dickerson to sax man Eric Leeds and quirky keyboardist Dr. Matt Fink, the stage heaved with the souls who’d rocked us from beneath his purple shadow. From note one, the Prince alum seemed to be having the time of their lives.
The falsetto fun kicked off with a spot-on rendition of the not-so-subtle “Soft and Wet,” transporting more seasoned audience members back to their salad days and giving younger guests a spirited lesson in late-‘70s funk. Four- and five-part vocal harmonies kissed the walls on “I Feel for You” and “Head.”
Between tunes, Prince’s vocal surrogate for the evening, G Sharp, teased the audience. “Where’s Prince?” he taunted. “I just saw him!” While some held out hope—a few die-hards had actually flown in from abroad for the intimate event—others placed the likelihood of the Fussy One strolling into a ramshackle joint like The Cabooze on par with his re-signing to Warner Bros.
Pop gems and drinks flowed as the band marched bravely into the ‘80s with “When Doves Cry” and “Raspberry Beret.” Absent Prince’s guitar chops and explosive footwork, the band was right on. Every bass slap was present, every synth patch accounted for as the musicians—sometimes as many as a dozen—orbited planetoid Michael Bland’s fierce drum grooves.
The multicultural funk fest slid into a second set, featuring the uppity “Cream,” the call-and-response hook of “Take Me With U,” and the cocksure “Sexy M.F.” With each hit, the crowd, a mix of faux breasted ‘80s holdovers and young hipsters, grew louder and more lubricated. At times, the band broke into brief teasers as audience members kept watch for the Purple One. “We can’t do all his shit,” joked G Sharp after nailing a few bars of “When You Were Mine,” “We’d be here all night.”
The party reached its crescendo with the Purple Rain cut “Computer Blue” and the chill-inducing “The Beautiful Ones,” the latter a reverb-drenched slow burn that teleported the sweaty crowd to First Avenue circa 1984. The performance more than made up for the absence of expected closer “Purple Rain,” and stood as G Sharp’s most impressive delivery of the evening. “Do you want him?” he shrieked before falling to his knees, “Or do you want me? Cuz I want you!”
The purple veterans looked 20 years younger as they ended a brief encore with the bubbly “She’s Always in My Hair,” and bounced off stage to passionate applause. Still, the night had come and gone without an appearance by Minneapolis’ prodigal son.
Indeed, a Prince cameo would have seemed out of place, almost unfair, on a night when the musicians who had once helped shape a scene had their well-deserved moment in the spotlight.
Location Info:
Cabooze
Artist Info: Prince Family Reunion
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