Autism
Rocks – Tribute To Prince.
Hammersmith
Odeon,
Saturday
25 June, 7pm until we departed ( see review)
The
word came through social media: Morris Day & The Time and Larry Graham with
Graham Central Station were performing at that Cathedral of Music, The
Hammersmith Odeon along with Ceelo Green and a DJ set from Mark Ronson. A spare
ticket was mine if I so desired.
As a
fan of Prince ( & the “Minneapolis Sound” ) I was up for it.
The
journey to the Apollo was mundane after threats of disrupted service (no Circle
line, District line on a major sulk, Brexitiers and Remainders littering the
streets, Pride marches and Glastofan barriers littering the way all proved to
be like pre electoral promises, conspicuous by the lack of truth or validity)
We had
arranged to meet at “Bill’s” restaurant, one so easy to find that even I
managed it without having to ask a local!
The 4 survivors of the Funk wars regrouped,
fortified by the food and drinks and friendly service ,we caught up, swapped
anecdotes and spent a very civilised pre gig occasion putting the world to
rights.
In
fact , we were probably typical of any group there that night, the start of a
shaggy dog story- “An Englishman, An Irishman, his wife and an American walk
into a bar”… They weren’t looking where they were going.
This
disparate group were thrown together through a Prince Fan forum many years ago
and have stayed in touch through the years. Between us, we had seen the Purple
one more times than an outsider would consider possible, We’ve done big shows,
little shows, after shows, outdoor shows and the legendary secret shows.
Tonight
was to be something very different.
Walking
into the Hammersmith Odeon was a strange feeling as I’d been away from it for
nearly 25 years. Then , it seemed a vast cathedral of darkness, with the stage
a blip on the horizon and populated by mythical beasts – Whitesnake when they
played blues, Marillion with Fish, Robert Cray and the best memory of all,
Twelfth Night and Pallas double headlining gig where I achieved the pinnacle of
gig going cool – on the guest list at the Odeon!
But,
that was then and this is now.
We
walk in, the first thing that registers is that the stage is closer than memory
portrays and that the lighting rig has undergone an evolutionary step change.
The backline is dominated by a humungous TV screen like beast that moves with
the music, colours and shapes flying around like Tron on acid…
Larry
Graham is first up, bringing his timeless take on the funk to London. The band
was tight, not flashy and played with real soul if you’ll pardon the pun. The
set was a mix of Prince Classics, played Larry style, with call and response,
and between song anecdotes about Prince and the fun times they had. Only Prince
could persuade a group of Californian hippies to go live in the depths of a
Minnesota winter! He was witty, sincere and full of love for the dearly
departed.
Next
up was Ceelo Green.
This
was going to be interesting. I’m not a novice to live music, have seen all
sorts over the years in terms of musician sartorial elegance and stage dress
but he and his companions managed to get a double take from me.
Now,
I’m no classical beauty or statuesque figure, being a lanky git with a mess of
hair, but the first impression was that he’d lost his clothes mid Atlantic and
had only his hotel room to rustle up an outfit - he appeared to be dressed in satin white loungewear
with tinsel around his neck !
The band
was equally adventurous in their attire. The Saxophonist sported white
trousers, gold shoes and a gold lame wrap around jacket accessorised with a
pair of sunglasses.
The
female percussionist was wearing a white ensemble; all we could see was hair
and a blur of arms as she rattled out rim shots, fills and drumbeats adding to
the music crashing over us.
We
were stage right in the stalls, so the
artist on our side was hidden by the PA stack ,so their fashion vibe was always
an enigma, but the keyboard player on stag left was able to borrow a swimsuit
from a fellow guest as that was her choice of keyboard playing attire…
They
looked arresting, and although visually stunning, musically they didn’t engage
me fully.
The
sound was harsh and his voice was lost in the mix, the layers of keyboards and
percussion served to compress the sound and it all was a bit shouty.
Surprisingly,
for a charity / tribute gig, Ceelo felt the need to play us a track from his
new album, which failed to engage my feet or my head.
He did
“Crazy” , and the crowd loved it. “F- You” was the uncensored version, which,
given Prince’s views on profanity over the last 10 years, was an interesting
move from a self confessed fan.
However,
despite my reservations and the muddy sound where we were, the crowd at the
front were enjoying the event. The lighting and backdrop added an extra
dimension that the lack of tunes, in my opinion threatened to dampen the party. But
he can sing, albeit a bit shouty and a good sound mix would have lifted the
performance higher and higher.
Next
up, the biggest cheer of the night is for a video of Prince and 3rd
Eye Girl live in Manchester on the Hit N Run tour. I was lucky in that I was at
the Shepherd’s Bush Empire date of that tour where we were treated to 3 hours
of hard rocking funk, the best gig of my life so far. The atmosphere was
electric from then on as the stalls filled in anticipation of, for us, the main
event.
Morris
Day & the Time: Legendary funk survivors, sparring partners to Prince &
The Revolution. The coolest man in the room, live in front of us.
The
band whipped up a double espresso of funk, with dexterity and precision, not
dropping a note as they danced across the stage, synchronised and syncopated.
They
did the mirror sketch, funked their way into our hearts, played “The Bird”, had
us all bouncing along with them.
This
was a tribute! People that grew up with Prince, playing the music they loved
and loving it.
My
notes, scribbled onto a dying phone on the train afterwards sum it up:-
Morris
day was uber cool
Did
all the dance moves he did in Purple Rain
And
had the audience in his hand
For
the whole set
The
stage was cleared ready for the headliner, but before that, Price’s symbol mike
stand was put centre stage , bathed in purple light and the music came floating
out of the dark. A simple, fitting moment of reflection and remembrance,
uniting all in a moment .
The
artists appeared, visibly moved by the moment and paid respect and homage to
the symbol.
It was
a very moving and touching moment as we all were one, stronger together, united
and proud.
My
notes were thus:-
Mark Ronson.
Pressed
buttons on his lap top
Played
Uptown Funk-which lasted 10 minutes
Then
Kiss by Prince.
School
disco !
So I thought I'd rather the joy of British rail
But
was very pretty
The
lights were fab!
Sound
was OK -Needed less volume and more sonic clarity.
Leaving,
we promised not to leave it so long, and
headed off in the night to the 4 corners of the world.
It was
a great evening, a fitting memorial to an enigmatic genius and a fund raiser
for a good cause, bringing light to a darkening world.
It’s
not the end of my Fan affair with Prince, far from it. The small facet of his
talent celebrated tonight only goes to show that his legacy of songs and music
cannot be reduced to a sound bite.
This
evening celebrated the funky Minneapolis sound side, that golden period from
the 1999 album to “Sign O The Times”, taking in, the Time, Sheila E, and the
Paisley Park era.
The
media churn out “Purple Rain”, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, “Kiss” when they talk
about him, but there is so much more to explore and celebrate.
I
would love to see people celebrate the “Gold Experience” era, with the funky
politicised “Artist” who dug into blues,
funk, folk and soul to add colour and texture to that “Minneapolis Sound” .
The
one good thing to come out of his passing was that people finally “Got” Prince,
even if only for a couple of days rather than “the next seven years” and I had
messages and Facebook comments informing me that he was “a bit good, your
Prince”, “ I can see why you liked him” and “ Why did I not listen to you years
ago when you raved about “ The skinny
little mother with the high pitched voice”
Well,
I tried. Bill Tried, Shaun tried. That’s how we met. We were preaching the word
of Prince.
We
discussed all this before the gig, the feeling that Bill has, realising he’s
now a fan of a dead rock star. That realisation that never again will we
compare notes about gigs we are going to, arrange to meet to see Prince,
dissect the shows from our 3 disparate views. We discussed other Prince Forum
friends that weren’t able to make it.
But
above all, we celebrated the friendship that our little branch of the Prince
family has brought us. That and the music. All the music that he’s left us
with, all the live boots shared, all the music in the vault that may appear,
I am
lucky in that I was around in the same time period as Prince and saw him
perform, live , with his “real music from real musicians” promise made real.
Thank
you Prince for all of it. You helped make us what we are today.
