Prince a no-show at Labor Day dance parties

This weekend I made my first-ever visit to Prince’s studios and concert space known as Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minn., in an attempt to see the Purple One himself. He didn’t promise to appear at this weekend’s three nights of what was billed as international dance parties in celebration of his new album “HitNRun,” which was being streamed starting at midnight on Labor Day, but then again he never does. The conventional wisdom was the higher than normal $40 cover charge signaled a Prince appearance based on past history. I attended the final night of the parties, day three on Sunday, and he was nowhere to be found. He didn’t show up on Friday either and his only appearance of the weekend was a 90-second guitar solo on Saturday night with fantastic performer Liv Warfield and her band Blackbird who also played live on Sunday.

I’d never seen Prince live and had never tried to attend one of the legendary Paisley Park parties, which are frequently announced at the last minute and can result in two-hour-plus performances from Prince, going until 5 a.m. I’ve been a huge Prince fan since I was young, being a Minnesota native who watched and listened to “Purple Rain” growing up. My family would skip past “Darling Nikki” on the album because it had the word masturbated. He was quickly catapulted and had a huge home state fan base. One time my father and I went looking for his purple house in Chanhassen only to get lost in the Twin Cities suburbs. I was living in Grand Forks at the time of Prince’s 1998 Fargodome concert and was unable to make the trek, which now I kick myself for.

You are never guaranteed a Prince appearance at these parties -- that’s part of the deal. Some say you have about a 50 percent chance of seeing him each time you go. It was frustrating but overall a fun experience I wouldn’t take back. I was banking on the fact that Prince wanted to make a splash with a surprise show in honor of his new album. And the fact he didn’t play the first two nights I felt bode well for the final night. Tidal, the streaming service started by Jay-Z, sponsored the weekend’s parties as they were the only site where you could stream his new album. I wondered if perhaps they would live webcast the show as they did Jack White’s Fargo show.

We arrived at about 7:30 p.m., ahead of the 9:30 door time. We parked and waited out some rain for about 30 minutes then went to wait in line. Unbeknownst to me and my friend, cars are allowed in the gates right before doors and those in cars are allowed into the show first. The gates for people waiting outside Paisley Park opened about 10 p.m. and patrons were whisked in where they could purchase Prince merchandise including t-shirts emblazoned with his new song title “This Could Be Us But You Playing.” There was also one of Prince’s purple motorcycles on display which looked a little newer than the one used in the filming of “Purple Rain.” Studio tours were offered for another $20 but the line for that quickly got long, and not wanting to miss anything my friend and I watched the performances, which started about 15 minutes after we got inside. Alex Rossi performed first and offered soulful takes on songs from Justin Timberlake and other pop performers. He has played in Fargo before. Up next, DJ Kiss played the new record in its entirely for the first time in a live setting. It was only 40 minutes after the album was officially streaming on Tidal. The co-producer of the new record, Joshua Welton, introduced it along with members of his band 3rdEyeGirl. Up next Liv Warfield, a Prince protégé, played an incredible set of mostly original songs backed by a band that featured some incredible musicians (guitar, keyboards, horns, drums and backing vocals). While the band played, the film “Car Wash” was shown on a screen in behind them on loop. Food (pizza, grilled cheese and popcorn) were available for purchase along with water and fruit-based drinks. No alcohol was served at all. Cell phones are allowed but are subject to confiscation or removal if they are used at all inside. We opted to leave ours in the car.

By the time Warfield finished it was past 2 a.m., and with no caffeine or alcohol consumed in many hours, my friend and I were tired but needed to see the night through. DJ Kiss then played the new album “HitNRun” one more time from front to back. It’s a good record, breaking some new ground for Prince, getting more electronic than any of his other records while still having a bit of that signature Prince sound. Once the new record was finished, we were told thank you for coming and the evening was over. A bit of a buzzkill for fans who hung around most of the night hoping he’d appear, some of whom had flown from around the country after the parties were announced earlier in the week. There were some signs it wasn’t going to happen. Warfield said on stage “We are going to do what we want because we got no time limit.” Assuming Prince were to follow them, they would have some sort of time limit. Also when Warfield’s drummer finished, he took his cymbals off the drum kit and they were not replaced. Had another band, say Prince’s band, played on that stage, they were going to need cymbals.

That’s the thing though, with Prince anything is possible. Expect the unexpected. He’s a strange guy, always has been, albeit one with incredible, genius-like talent and a knack for making some gorgeous pop songs. Would I do it again and was it worth it? Yes and yes. I still would like to catch him in his own house and it was nice to finally get there. It’s all part of the game and as long as you know that coming, you can measure your expectations. Those who have gone and eventually caught him say it’s worth the wait. We will see when I might make it there again. My Facebook feed had a few concertgoers upset he didn’t show cursing him up and down. I am sure there were others among the 1,000 or so attendees. The thing is there are hundreds waiting behind them to give it a shot the next time. Prince just has that power and draw because of his mystery, and he knows how to use it well.