In August 2007 Prince began a series of 21 concerts at the newly opened O2 Arena that would restore his status as the greatest performer and guitarist working today. From August 1 to September 21, Prince and his band New Power Generation played for approximately 37 hours, encompassing numerous surprise encores (long after the lights had come up) not to mention regular two-hour, late night,sets at the venue's intimate IndigO2 room for the lucky few who'd purchased tickets.
Fans had been promised these would be Greatest Hits shows and they weren't disappointed. The opening night alone included such classics as 'Purple Rain', 'U Got The Look', 'I Feel For You', 'Kiss', 'Take Me With U', 'Let's Go Crazy', 'Little Red Corvette' and 'Raspberry Beret'. Not bad for an artist who'd become renowned for filling his shows with seemingly endless (albeit exemplary) funk jams. But it was in the choice of cover versions that Prince truly surprised. Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy' received regular airings, often mixed with Funkadelic's 'One Nation Under A Groove'. 'Anotherloverholeinyourhead' morphed into the B52s' 'Rock Lobster'. 'Play that Funky Music' by Wild Cherry was another regular, with an audience member being invited to sing on one occasion, and 'Bourne Ultimatum' actress Julia Styles on another.
Several Beatles and Rolling Stones songs also received the NPG treatment and at the aftershows Prince's own '3121' featured riffs from 'The Sailor's Horn Pipe', 'The Entertainer' and even the Benny Hill theme tune. One song dominated the exclusive nightly jams and that was Amy Winehouse's 'Love Is A Losing Game', with Prince ringing beautiful, sustained notes from his guitar, but the final night saw Amy herself nervously take lead vocals to amazed screams from the audience. Although even she couldn't eclipse the sight of Elton John hugging the "tiny dancer" after their duet on 'Long & Winding Road'.
Performing in the round every night (or in the symbol shape, at least) the 49-year-old star displayed almost superhuman energy levels and never appeared to sweat as he proved to the 420,000 people who witnessed these historic gigs that his name is still Prince and he is most definitely still funky.
Hear for yourself on 'Ultimate Prince'.
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