HAVING grown up with Prince as the soundtrack to my youth (as did so many of us in Empangeni, with every second bedroom wall lined with posters of the man), I thought I had won the jackpot when it was announced he would be doing the 21 nights at London’s O2 Arena in August/September 2007.
As a resident of the city at the time, I finally had my chance to see Prince live, as many of my close friends from Empangeni had done in the early 90s.
Although I never begrudged them, it did always sting a bit deep down that they had had the chance.
The day ticket sales came online they sold out almost immediately but I managed to get four concert tickets and three after-party tickets – the O2 Arena has an in-house nightclub called Indigo, where Prince might or might not play after each show.
It was a lucky dip to buy one of these tickets and just hope he appears.
Needless to say, he didn’t disappoint.
I attended the first three of my concerts with my wife Ellen and they were amazing.
The first after party he made a brief appearance on stage, played one song and went off (he wasn’t ‘feeling it’ apparently).
My highlight of this whole experience was my final concert and after party.
Jamming around
It was a Sunday and I went alone. The concert ticket was seven rows from the front and it was incredible.
But the highlight came at the after party.
Prince took to the small stage of the club at around midnight and at 4am was still blowing us away! He was just in the mood and kept on going.
He started to wind things down and I took this as my cue to move towards the exit doors, as I knew there would be a mad rush to catch the only boat that was available to get back down the Thames towards the city.
Prince was just jamming away on his guitar and walked off stage, still jamming and this carried on for a few minutes, with him nowhere in sight, just the awesome bluesy sound he was playing echoing around.
Next thing, the fire exit door next to me bursts open and there he is, still jamming away!
The guy next to me looked at me as if to say ‘is this really happening?’
Prince was now half a metre away from me, with two man mountains of bodyguards next to him, but right there, just playing away.
The moment lasted no longer than 15 seconds as everyone realised what was happening and rushed towards the back.
The bodyguards ushered him back towards the stage, while I leisurely strolled out of the venue and down to the dock to catch my transport.
There was no way I would ever top the experience I just had, so had no reason to stay!
Great memories
And now he’s gone, leaving a void for all of his fans to cope with.
But let’s not dwell on the sadness too long; remember Prince for the strong willed, amazing musician he was.
The man who not only fought for his own rights as an artist but who also looked after the fans.
Like only charging £31.21 for the O2 tickets (in reference to his album 3121), while other artists were charging about £100 around the same time, and selling his albums at shows for a fraction of what was being asked at the marketplace.
Rather recall all those wonderful, carefree times we had bouncing along to his music at the Huletts Club on a Friday night, all dressed up in paisley and polka dots!
Let’s heed the advice from his most iconic song: ‘I only want to see you laughing in the Purple Rain”
