Wife and I attended something unusual tonight -- a simulcast at a local movie theatre of a live Prince concert. The theatre held about 500 people, and with the excellent sound sysyem, it was exactly like a live concert experience. In fact, it was better, since it was much cheaper and the seats were better. The actual show was held at the Laker's arena in downtown Los Angeles.
This was the kickoff show of Prince's first concert tour in ten years, and that made the night even more electric. I've always been uncertain about Prince -- at least prior to seeing this show, I admired him for his diverse talent and mix of influences, but I must admit I always thought he was "style" over "substance."
I now reallize that I couldn't have been more wrong. Prince packs more whollop, more energy, more talent into a dynamite three-hour package than any person I've ever seen. Forget the "hit" songs -- what was mesmerizing was the overwhelming display of talent on stage. Forget what you see on a 27-inch screen. It simply doesn't do justice to the spectacle.
What I most admired about the show (and there were many things that left me in awe) was Prince's tellinghis audience that he uses no recording devices nor lip-synchs. "These are REAL musicians" he told the cheering audience.
The best songs were the non-hits, brilliantly choreographed moody sound waves that took the audeince through an entire gambit of emotions. Prince uses funk, jazz, blues, rock, and disco and creates a unique sound all his own. At one moment he resembes James Brown, the next he's Jimmy Hendrix (only better). There's even an entire aucoustic set, with Prince doing an "unplugged" segment, which showed the depths of his talent.
What's amazing about all this, is that I don't really consider myself a Prince fan. Having seen (live) a lot of great rock acts through the years -- U2, Sting, The Who, The Police, Genesis, AC/DC and others -- this was the best concert I've ever seen. Truly astonishing.
My question is this -- is it common nowadays for concert performers to SIMULCAST shows to movie theatres? This concert was advertised locally for a few weeks and sold out, but I don't ever recall being able to walk into a movie theatre and see a live (simulcasted) concert. Is this something new, or the wave of the future? Sitting in stadiium-style seats with a great sound system and not having to fight traffic or pay $200 for seats sure strike sme as a great deal. I'm curious to know if this was a ONE TIME thing, or do other concert acts do this also?
Thanks to anyone who knows more about this than I do.
-- Nolan Dalla
This was the kickoff show of Prince's first concert tour in ten years, and that made the night even more electric. I've always been uncertain about Prince -- at least prior to seeing this show, I admired him for his diverse talent and mix of influences, but I must admit I always thought he was "style" over "substance."
I now reallize that I couldn't have been more wrong. Prince packs more whollop, more energy, more talent into a dynamite three-hour package than any person I've ever seen. Forget the "hit" songs -- what was mesmerizing was the overwhelming display of talent on stage. Forget what you see on a 27-inch screen. It simply doesn't do justice to the spectacle.
What I most admired about the show (and there were many things that left me in awe) was Prince's tellinghis audience that he uses no recording devices nor lip-synchs. "These are REAL musicians" he told the cheering audience.
The best songs were the non-hits, brilliantly choreographed moody sound waves that took the audeince through an entire gambit of emotions. Prince uses funk, jazz, blues, rock, and disco and creates a unique sound all his own. At one moment he resembes James Brown, the next he's Jimmy Hendrix (only better). There's even an entire aucoustic set, with Prince doing an "unplugged" segment, which showed the depths of his talent.
What's amazing about all this, is that I don't really consider myself a Prince fan. Having seen (live) a lot of great rock acts through the years -- U2, Sting, The Who, The Police, Genesis, AC/DC and others -- this was the best concert I've ever seen. Truly astonishing.
My question is this -- is it common nowadays for concert performers to SIMULCAST shows to movie theatres? This concert was advertised locally for a few weeks and sold out, but I don't ever recall being able to walk into a movie theatre and see a live (simulcasted) concert. Is this something new, or the wave of the future? Sitting in stadiium-style seats with a great sound system and not having to fight traffic or pay $200 for seats sure strike sme as a great deal. I'm curious to know if this was a ONE TIME thing, or do other concert acts do this also?
Thanks to anyone who knows more about this than I do.
-- Nolan Dalla
), but is not given the same recognition because of radio airplay and target audience.
