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Old-schoolers tune out when he plays his new songs, funk freaks are clueless when he plays a Led Zeppelin cover, rockers sit down when he plays slow jams, and jazz heads scoff at his pop hits, but everyone with ears to listen–and an ass to shake–agrees that there is no one like Prince. Although music critics tried to set him up against Michael Jackson in the eighties, his truer peers are James Brown and David Bowie. Prince is a musical perfectionist and master performer who has reinvented himself over and over. And on top of that, he can play practically every instrument perfectly and has produced himself since the beginning. These days he even releases his own albums and books his own shows. Yes, there’s some punk rock in him, too. But you can’t really get Prince until you see him in concert. Actually, I’m no super fan and I didn’t see him until 2004 after the L.A. Kings flamed out (typically and appropriately) and missed the NHL’s post-season. Instead of getting my money back from Staples Center, I decided to purchase some nosebleed Prince tickets. While wandering the aisles before the show, we were offered to swap our tickets for unsold seats that were super close and… damn. I was surprised and blown away by what seemed like a nonstop guitar solo. So when it was announced that he would play 21 shows in Los Angeles with most tickets going for 25 bucks (including service charge) I had to go. And I wound up attending to three of the shows at The Forum… I apologize in advance if these brief descriptions are too geeky. It would get old if I kept saying how insanely perfect and timeless songs like “Controversy,” “Kiss,” and “D.M.S.R.” are, so I’ll just describe some of the major differences in the sets. My first night was actually the third of the series: Friday, April 22. Not long after the already legendary kick-off show that stretched well past 1:00 a.m. and included seven encores that continued until the Lakers’ old arena was half full with the house lights on, we had huge expectations. But instead of starting off as a crowd pleaser, the evening began with a more experimental slant showcasing Prince on bass (even if the lights were low): “Beginning Endlessly,” “Laydown,” “Endorphinmachine.” Surprise guest Alicia Keys came out to sing “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” while he played keyboard and Cuba Gooding Jr. came onstage to dance for a couple of songs. After two encores, we waited for more than an hour for more and were rewarded by seeing him ride out on a beach cruiser. A weird way to end an odd, somewhat somber (but unique and cool) 90-minute set, now viewable on YouTube. The next Saturday was another sold-out show. I got killer seats for 25 bucks, and this time he played a more crowd-friendly show with five encores. The guest was Gwen Stefani, who came out to sing “So...
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I don’t get out much, but when I do, it counts. On Saturday night, Asobi Seksu came back to town. You might recall the interview I did a while back… After catching the band at a larger venue like The Troubadour, I was excited to see them at a dive such as The Satellite (ex-Spaceland). On one hand, the vibe was a lot less formal and way more casual, which I prefer. On the other, the sound totally sucked when the first song kicked in! I’m no audiophile and usually don’t even notice stuff like that, but a bitchin’ song like Trails absolutely requires the soaring vocals to balance out the grinding guitars. Fortunately, the mix got worked out sooner than later, and the band ripped through another mind-bending set of their ultra heavy, super dreamy psychedelic rock. They seemed to throw in some more really old stuff during this visit, which was very cool. Next up was Prince, who was finishing up his “21 Night Stand” of  Los Angeles, and this was actually the third show of his visit that I attended. There are only a handful of cases in which I binged on music like this. After being blown away by the Repeater tour when I was in college, every time Fugazi played multiple nights in L.A. I’d attend them all because they’d tweak songs in each performance, creating massively different sets. In total contrast, The Ramones would play the same songs the same way every time, but they did it perfectly and I wouldn’t miss a show of theirs for three years or so after high school. And when the reunited Descendents played a string of shows at the Whisky, I had to catch three of the nights because I didn’t know if I’d ever see them again. Prince… Well, this will require a separate post. Let’s just say no one has mastered or mixed funk, R&B, soul, jazz, and psychedelic rock like the Purple Yoda. And like The Ramones, he has created his own style of music. Like The Descendents, he has spawned, inspired, and even produced an entire scene of related bands. And like Fugazi, he plays each concert differently. Also like Fugazi, he clamped down on ticket prices during this stint… Twice I got killer seats for only 25 bucks including service charges! The three-day, three-show weekend ended in Westwood. When I went to college, I used to skateboard to Rhino Records all the time. I bought a ton of vinyl there, and saw a ton of cool musicians and bands there, too. Once I introduced myself to Mike Watt and then totally fanned out while he was perusing at the wall of used cassettes. Then he asked me to follow him to his van, where he handed me a fIREHOSE 7″ single and signed it for me. They also had free in-stores often, and it’s the first place where I saw Peg-Boy as well as The Hard-Ons. (Of course you rock out to...
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