Baby, I'm a Staaaaaaaaaaar, ooh!

I was dancing on the stage, lights, smoke and loud music all around me...shaking my hips, flipping my hair, steeped in a world of phantasmagoric phunk...

I glanced to my left to see a beautiful smile, shrouded white, head to toe fierce, complete with furry white boots that nearly stole the show. A man with superlative seductive sensibility was singing a song to me...um...and a few thousand other folks! Whaaaa?? Yep. I was on stage, partying it up at the Prince concert in Oakland Thursday night! Here's my crazed teenage-dream scream: AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

I have been a Prince fanatic since I was a pre-teen. My very first concert was a Prince concert. I'd forgotten how amazingly talented this man is. I had the opportunity to see him perform both Wednesday and Thursday nights, and to see my amazing Oakland friends (Ashling Cole, Jimi McKinney, David Council, Wilton Raab, Brian Braziel) jam with the amazing Larry Graham as Prince's opening act and then later play with him in his set. After the show, I was able to hang out backstage with even more of my lovely bay area musician friends. I'm still buzzing from the thrill of music, dance and love! Woohoo!

Prince's band was on fire! Great shows and good times! Sheila E was spectacular and looked like a goddess! Mr. Hayes, Ida Bass, Cassandra and the rest of the band and singers were smokin' hot!! But I really started to party when Prince asked Shelby, one of the singers, to collect a few dancers for an onstage dance-a-thon. I happened to have been sitting close to the stage, and as soon as I heard the invitation, I ran to the stairs. I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to dance for Prince! Several of my friends joined me on stage....which left one small problem: NO ONE to take a photo! Sigh... Oh well. Hopefully, someone in the mass of audience members took a photo and I'll get to see it. But even if not, it's a memory that I'll always treasure. 'Cause "I'm just cool...COOL!! Coo-oo-ool! Ain't nobody bad like me..."

But, great band, beautiful lights, a chance to dance on stage all aside, Prince was superb. This article sums it up well:

Prince concert Review

The sound in the house wasn't great (especially on Thursday night, I had to use my ear plugs from the start...it was just too loud), but I still could appreciate the man's virtuosity, musicality and showmanship. I couldn't hold back the tears on Purple Rain (I cried both nights), and appreciated even the little snippets of several hits that he triggered on the purple piano. His oeuvre is astonishing, spectacular and inspiring. Love, love, love, love, LOVED every moment. Thank you, Prince...