Prince is King

I didn’t think I liked Prince.  I KNOW I didn’t like him when Purple Rain was new.  I actually went to the drive-in theater to see it.  I didn’t see it.  I don’t think I missed anything.  The dude is a tad overboard you know?  He’s like a little Little Richard.  Oddly enough I like Little Richard…  The funny thing is I really liked his halftime show at XLI.  A lot.

His guitar playing has improved over the years.  He used to just try to make as much noise as possible, where now he used the same techniques as an advantage not a distraction.  It doesn’t hurt that he picked a couple of good tunes to play.  Twin dancers doesn’t hurt either, although as soon as I saw the woman in the white cape run by, the first thing to run through my mind was “FREAK!”.  Then she sang.  I love when semi-talented musicians have enough confidence to surround themselves with talented musicians.  It deflates the ego balloon.

Now I find out some people are outraged.  WTF?  They think his shadow cast on the billowing sheet was phallic.  Well let me tell you something, a guitar hanging around waist level is phallic all by itself.  Jimi took the guitar as phallus to a new level.   I think people need to shut up.  I know that’s easier said than done with our so called “freedom of speech”, but give me a freaking break.  I’ll be honest, I didn’t mind seeing Janet Jacksons strangely shaped breast either.  Let’s try to focus on real issues and quit whining about things that don’t matter.  Let’s leave all 5′2″ of Prince alone, he needs all the help he can get.  Now if you don’t mind I’m going to party like it’s 1999.

Stick the landing.

Have you ever tried a stage jump? It's much harder than you'd think. Much harder. There's a lot going on if you're in a band playing in front of people. First there's the booze. Then there's the music. Well, that doesn't really sound like a lot, but it is. Once upon a time I thought I was a musician playing in a Seattle rock band. Not well mind you, but we did get gigs. I must have seen too many Who videos and thought it would be cool to jump off of a speaker. To get it right, you pretty much have to stick the landing. Get it wrong and it's pretty obvious to the 7 people including the bartender in the club. My memory is that I pretty much won the gold with that first jump. Some other people who were there recall it differently.

Well, we all have to learn right? So you keep trying. Unfortunately during one of my subsequent jumps we were recording the gig for "practice". Anyway, I could hear my "friends" talking when we listened to the tape later. There it was for all to hear…"don't do it – no – he's not going to – oh god he's trying it again". At which point I totally nail the killer stage jump. It was a little embarrassing listening to the tape, but hey how many people can say they at least tried? I sure wish I still had that tape…