Publication: The Toronto Star [CAN]
Date: June 6, 1997
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Title: "Artistic Licence: Prince Prepares for Expected World Tour"
Reviewed By: Betsy Powell

Prince is renowned for turning in riveting performances and marathon jams and he did it again last night at a rare club gig in the Warehouse in front of 2000 fans.

It was a calling card performance of sorts for an expected world tour, though details of that are still up in the air. He plays another nightclub tonight in Montreal.

From the moment he launched into the funky "Jam Of The Year", his aim was clear: to dazzle the sold-out crowd, whether it was with his slick dance moves, soaring falsetto or musical virtuosity on glyph-shaped guitar, electric keyboard or bass. He was also hamming it up, letting his black sunglasses slip to his nose for a sly pose or wiggling his tush to the crowd atop a speaker.

Dressed in head-to-toe gold, an outfit that matched the gold Chinese lions flanking the stage, Prince, he prefers The Artist in place of the unpronounceable glyph symbol, was in fine form backed by a revamped Power Generation (sic) that includes Montrealers Kat Dyson on guitar and Rhonda Smith on bass.

The bulk of the tunes in the set appear on last year's three-CD set, Emancipation, though he was equally passionate playing his crowd-pleasing classics like "Purple Rain", in a haze of purple lights.

The release of Emancipation marked his freedom from his old label Warner and presumably a fresh start for the recent newlywed. But sales, not surprisingly given the heft of the package, have been disappointing.

Which brings us to last night's performance. Prince, even wearing a smile at times, was there to please and undoubtedly spur record sales. "We're going to put our stamp on it tonight all right?" he yelled before tackling Joan Osborne's hit "One Of Us", a cover that appears on Emancipation that included the "slave like one of us" lyric change -- a reference to Prince's former status.

Picture caption: PRINCELY PERFORMER: The Artist, as Prince prefers to be known, played his crowd-pleasing classics like "Purple Rain" in a haze of purple lights at the Warehouse.