Prince Performs Live At City Winery In NYC
Prince finally surfaced for a performance at New York's City Winery, hitting the stage last night after days of speculation as to whether he would appear onstage during the New Power Generation residency fronted by Shelby Johnson and Liv Warfield. Fans were warned to expect the unexpected from the NPG experience. Though rumors circulated about the possibility of a Prince set, nothing was confirmed. Despite the fact that NPG has been ruling the roost at City Winery with their relentless funk, it is pretty much a given that almost everyone in attendance has been hoping the purple overlord would materialize. Prince hit the stage last night for a 90-minute set that married NPG and 3rdEyeGirl, effectively sending the crowd into complete meltdown. One Prince fan recounted this funk explosion for fellow disciples on Prince.org:
Just got in from City Winery.....Let me just say that History was made in NYC this morning. First NYC show with NPG and 3RDEYE Girl together....well sought of.....night started with Shelby and amazing horns of the NPG....then Liz performed a song.....then a great new talent Luke James performed a great new song........then something purple happened....drummer leaves and hear comes Hanna....then Donna takes her position .....then Ida and finally the man of the hour......Staring with Musicology..with eleven piece horns,,,,,,,AMAZING without being complete and in no particular order.....Musicology, Something in the Water Does not Compute, All the Critics Love You in New York, Brown Skin, Don't Stop Till You Get Enough/Cool (with Doug E Fresh), Nothing Compares 2 U and Big City......crowd was capacity of 500 and show started 1235 am...Prince enters stage 1:30 am....show was over at 3:00 AM
Though photos and footage of Prince's set are slow to materialize, the show reportedly also included appearances from Luke James, Alice Smith and Doug E. Fresh. New Power Generation will cap their residency at City Winery on Sunday, with an after-party for the VMA's. There is no word yet as to whether Prince will reprise his performance at City Winery or appear at the MTV Video Music Awards.