Prince puts new spin on old hits, possibly for the last time on stage

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
PITTSBURGH -- Pop icon Prince says he's performing his greatest hits live "4 the last time" on this, his current "Musicology" concert tour.
Pity. Not many musicians have as fertile a musical imagination as Prince, who can probably think of 100 interesting ways to perform each tune.
His two-hour stay-on-your-feet concert Wednesday night at Mellon Arena here was proof of that.
After opening with "Musicology," the soulful, funky title track of his upcoming CD (demo copies of which were distributed at entrances), Prince and company began to look back 20 years, when he released his career-defining movie album "Purple Rain."
Playing the hits
But "Let's Go Crazy" wasn't the same old song. It had the energy to match the song title, but there also were fresh saxophone lines by Candy Dulfer and a drum solo by John Blackwell to grab one's attention. "I Would Die 4 U" sounded most familiar, except for Prince's vocal phrasing. About half of the moody "When Doves Cry" was performed teasingly, with Prince choosing lines of lyrics randomly and dropping other lines to make room for instrumental interludes.
Then there was Prince's amazing solo acoustic set, featuring "Little Red Corvette" with the same lyrics but a totally different attitude; a bluesy number about caller ID, bill collectors and crazy fans; and the post-"Purple Rain" hit "Cream."
Prince's reluctance to perform past hits over and over seems to reflect his disdain for becoming a nostalgia act -- a concern that might be heightened by his induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.
"Had enough of that jazz from high school?" Prince asked near the end of his acoustic segment.
Prince didn't mind tipping his hat a few times to Chaka Khan for "I Feel For You," a solo hit, and "Sweet Thing," from her days with Rufus.
Whether performing his best-known songs or his new material, there was a heightened soulful element to Prince's music. Having Dulfer and Maceo Parker on saxophone and Greg Boyer on trombone seemed to add an old-school feeling to Prince's techno-funk style.
"Ladies and gentleman, this is real music!" he exclaimed midconcert.
His demeanor
There was something, too, about Prince's demeanor Wednesday night. Like royalty, he's been known to be aloof and eccentric. Pittsburgh also was where, on a previous concert tour, he railed against a reporter whose pre-performance feature story contained inaccuracies (which, it turned out, were the fault of Prince's publicists).
This time, he was generating nothing but positive energy, peppering his remarks with plenty of thank yous and cooing "I love Pittsburgh" when ladies in the crowd enthusiastically answered his cue to yell.
Prince is still eccentric, of course. Wednesday, he wore a cherry-red jacket that featured two hem lengths over a white shirt, snowy white boot-cut pants and white boots with big, tapered, glittering heels. His face has a few creases that come with maturity -- he's in his 40s now -- but he still moves nimbly and twirls quickly.
He showed off by stroking his hair with one hand while working the fret board of his guitar with the other hand. He waved a white handkerchief quite a bit and couldn't help but boast "Can't nobody mess with my band!" after some exceptional solos by Dulfer and Parker.
"Purple Rain," of course, with its searing guitar solo, was saved for last. If that's truly the last time Pittsburgh-area fans will hear Prince perform it live, the memory will be indelible.
shaulis@vindy.com