Publication: Mojo [UK]
Date: March 1997
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Title: Roseland Concert Review
Reviewed By: Amy Linden

In the past few months The Artist Formerly Known As Prince has done what was once nearly unthinkable: he's decided to actually work a record. Which means he's gone on talk shows, spoken to the press and hit the road to promote his excellent 3-CD Emancipation. The NYC stop of this mini tour - which was sold out in 20 minutes - was both a benefit for some pet charity of our purple pal and An Event. The latter because the last time Prince played NYC was over two years ago, and even that was an unannounced gig.

Of course, Prince concerts are more than just promotional tools (which, judging by his recent sales figures, he could use); they are chances to figure out what the hell is going on in his little Private Idaho. If the NYC show was any indication, our man is one happy camper, free from the nagging constraints of yore. Prince (and yes, I'm gonna call him that, OK?) was frisky, playful, funny and eager to bring the funk and make some noise. Backed by a lean five piece band - the singers, horn players and rappers neatly replaced by tapes - and clothed in a lime-green hooded outfit that was as close as he can get to normal street wear, Prince kicked off the 110 minute show with Jam Of The Year. The song, off Emancipation, is little more than a standard-issue party anthem but it set the night's celebratory mood. Prince literally leapt from his glyph-guitar to the piano (which he both played and humped), wove James Brown's Talking Loud and The Staple Singers' Come Go With Me into songs, dragged girls on-stage to dance, offered praises to the Great Liberator (his lawyer) and let the audience sing Raspberry Beret.

Yet despite the still potent falsetto, the mind-blowing splits and his always stinging guitar, the show never built towards any discernible "moment". Prince's improvisations came off as skittish, as if he was constantly gauging the crowd to figure out his next move. The lack of focus was particularly evident during the encore. After teasing the crowd with promises of special guests, plural, comedian Chris Rock ambled on-stage. Rock is an extremely funny guy, but no singer, and his being there seemed to be more about proving that Prince still has clout and cool showbiz friends. It was a head scratching anti-climax to a show that never really had one.