PRINCE UPDATE

In my previous post about the euphoria of Prince's suprise cameo at the Maceo Parker show in Brooklyn last week, I lamented that I was probably missing out on some legendary after-party. Well, wouldn't ya know...

Actually, nothing happened the night of the Maceo performance, cause Prince had to be up bright and early for the "Good Morning America" taping in Bryant Park with Sheila E and his protegee Tamar. I was aware of the GMA gig, but I'm not so completely nuts that I would get up at the crack of dawn and haul my ass to Midtown to make a 7:00am concert for a cheesy morning news show (that ain't rock n roll, man!) just to hear three songs: "Get on the Boat," "Redhead Stepchild" by Tamar, and "Let's Go Crazy." (This is what it looked like.)

But I would have given my left testicle to have been at the tiny, trendy Butter restaurant in Manhattan that night, where Prince gave a 3-hour after-party (from 1am-4) for only about 125 extremely lucky individuals, members of his NPG Club and assorted celebrites including Jay-Z & Beyonce, Nas & Kelis, P Diddy, Lindsay Lohan (ugh!), and Paris Hilton (double ugh!). There wasn't even a stage in this joint, everyone was on the same level, as if Prince were performing in your living room! The Roots' ?uestlove joined his idol on drums for the finale, a medley of "Ecstacy" [Barry White], "Be Happy" [Mary J], and "The Bird" [The Time], and the show ended with Prince leading the crowd in a series of 80s dance moves.

Here's the full setlist: "Peach," "Te Amo Corazon," "Forever in My Life," "Everyday People" [Sly], "The Ride," "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" [Aretha], "Love Changes" [Melissa Morgan], "The Chain" [Fleetwood Mac], "Come Together" [Beatles], "When a Man Loves a Woman" [Percy Sledge], "Redhead Stepchild" [Tamar], "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)" [Sly], "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)" [Wild Cherry], "Partyman," "Anotherloverholenyohead," "3121," "Lolita," "Satisfied," "Black Sweat," "Kiss," "Joy in Repetition," "If I Was Your Girlfriend," and the aforementioned finale.

(Much of the above info comes from the website www.stereogum.com.)

Ps: Just to make you feel better, those few lucky audience members did have to pay a whopping $312.10 to get in. ($121.03 if they ordered online tix in advance.) Cash only. Sure, three Benjamins doesn't mean much to Paris Hilton, but who among us normal folks can afford that?! (FYI, the weird price points are deliberate -- notice they only use the numerals 1,2, and 3, as in 3121.)