The Purple One

For one night I was a 13-year-old girl again. Finally, 27 years after first dreaming about it, I experienced my first Prince concert! The Forum in Inglewood was kind of the perfect venue for it - it appears to have never been refurbished and has a real 80's feel. Things started off on the right note when the woman taking our tickets said "You ladies enjoy the show." I was not with a lady. He looks nothing like a lady....but the fact that the ticket-taker called him one was pretty freakin' funny. Thank you, Ticket Woman. Thank you very much.

The start time of the concert printed on the ticket was 7:30pm. And man, does Prince ever know how to create suspense. His opening act, Amel Larrieux, didn't appear until 9pm, and the Purple One made his first appearance a half hour later, lying on the floor. Yes, I screamed. Yes, I got my funk on. Yes, I gave in to wild abandon.

He is just as energetic and agile as he was in 1984. He made us wait for it, but booooy, it was worth it. He tears it up, gives his all....dancing, singing, coaxing the guitar masterfully, and pumping the dramatics like no one else can. My only complaint was that he sang a couple of medleys of his old songs instead of just singing the whole song right through - Let's Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, Raspberry Beret - how I wanted the entire shebang. He went for nearly three hours, though, with two encores. The second one he made us beg for. Seriously. The cheering went on for over five minutes - longer than I've ever seen. They even turned on the lights as if it were over, then....SIKE! He came out and did three more songs and turned the Forum into a giant dance party. Well worth the $25.

Mid-concert I looked around a noticed all of the people who were on the internet or texting. During a Prince concert! Will the madness never end??? I leaned over to G. and asked "Why can't they just be here and enjoy this moment? This is nuts!" A few minutes later Prince glanced over the crowd and urged "Stop tweeting, y'all, and be HERE!" The other thing I loved that he said was "Don't look to me! Look to God." And believe me, it needed to be said given the high number of people hailing him like a deity. While I think he's amazingly talented and great fun, I can't imagine him, or anyone for that matter, as an object of worship.

At one point he pulled a beautiful woman up on stage to dance with him. Oh, how I wished it was me. It took me a second to realize the lucky lass was Halle Berry. And she was getting down, letting her 80's teen hang out, too. Along with Susan Sarandon, Tempestt Bledsoe, and Darryl from The Office. Prince puts a spell on everybody, yo.