The One
20th August 2007, 06:11 AM
Prince at the O2: Concert 9 -Proof that God has favourites
Kwame Kwei-Armah has never seen power of the magnitude displayed by Prince at the O2
That a man pushing 50 is able to "boogie" in the fashion that the artist formerly, and now once again, known as Prince does, is proof to me that God has favourites. And after being in his musical presence for two hours you'd be hard-pressed to argue with many of the fans who packed the 02 Arena on Saturday night that the words "Prince" and "God" are not in fact interchangeable.
I love looking at audiences at a live performance, for it is there that one sees the true power great artists have over us mere mortals. But seldom have I seen power of this magnitude displayed. Initial smiles and shouts grew into wild tears of joy as the superstar (and I mean that in its truest sense) ripped through his incredible repertoire of hits.
People of all ages screamed to their companions, "Oh my God, it's…" seldom mentioning the song's title, yet acknowledging that the soundtrack to some hugely important moment in their lives was being played right before their eyes.
But it was seeing the many faces of this genius - balladeer, funkateer, rock god - that made this fan jump and scream. When the history of popular music is taught in 200 years' time, if Prince isn't right up there with the best I'll be back to haunt them. Or at least to introduce them to Purple Rain.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/08/20/nosplit/bmprince120.xml
Kwame Kwei-Armah has never seen power of the magnitude displayed by Prince at the O2
That a man pushing 50 is able to "boogie" in the fashion that the artist formerly, and now once again, known as Prince does, is proof to me that God has favourites. And after being in his musical presence for two hours you'd be hard-pressed to argue with many of the fans who packed the 02 Arena on Saturday night that the words "Prince" and "God" are not in fact interchangeable.
I love looking at audiences at a live performance, for it is there that one sees the true power great artists have over us mere mortals. But seldom have I seen power of this magnitude displayed. Initial smiles and shouts grew into wild tears of joy as the superstar (and I mean that in its truest sense) ripped through his incredible repertoire of hits.
People of all ages screamed to their companions, "Oh my God, it's…" seldom mentioning the song's title, yet acknowledging that the soundtrack to some hugely important moment in their lives was being played right before their eyes.
But it was seeing the many faces of this genius - balladeer, funkateer, rock god - that made this fan jump and scream. When the history of popular music is taught in 200 years' time, if Prince isn't right up there with the best I'll be back to haunt them. Or at least to introduce them to Purple Rain.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/08/20/nosplit/bmprince120.xml