Prince still rules, but Charlotte fans miss hits

By 10:25 on Thursday night, Prince fans were hungry.

Four minutes earlier, they’d witnessed a splendiferous performance of his regal 1984 power ballad “Purple Rain” – used as the last song of his regular set – and were waiting for him to come back and drop the hammer in the encore.

By 10:30, Prince fans were restless, even impatient. A few trickled up the steps at Time Warner Cable Arena and made for the exits.

Finally, at 10:33 p.m., just as many of the faithful seemed nearly ready to give up, the enigmatic pop-rock-funk super-icon charged back out to the stage and declared, “We got time for one more!”

Sixteen-thousand mostly middle-aged, mostly sharply dressed fans flew into rapturous anticipation. Which megahit would he burst into? “Little Red Corvette”? “Let’s Go Crazy”? Neither had been touched yet. Or, perhaps he’d do a full version of “When Doves Cry,” which he teased in the opening moments of the show but never went further with?

Nope. Prince launched into the lesser-known “Baby I’m a Star” off the “Purple Rain” album, then was gone, on to the Greensboro, the fourth of six Carolinas cities he’s bringing his “Welcome 2 America” tour to this month.

It was an off-kilter close to an off-kilter night for the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.

Ask any Prince fan what they thought of his performance on Thursday night, and they’d probably gush – with good reason.

At 52, he looks like he’s 42, sings like he’s 32, and dances like he’s 22. He’s got Elvis Presley’s swagger, Michael Jackson’s moves, James Brown’s soul, and Liberace’s style.

He looks great in heels, in glitter, in silk, in gold, in black, in purple. His voice can go high, it can go low. He can dance on top of a grand piano and not look stupid. He turns restless legs syndrome into an asset. His New Power Generation band is electric, his three backup singers are eclectic, and he is savvy when it comes to choosing openers (here it was Anthony Hamilton, who shined brightly).

But ask those same Prince fans what they thought of his song choices – what they really thought – and I’d expect at least a little disappointment.

For every crowd-pleaser like “Kiss,” there was at least one obscure cut like “Elixer” that would take the crowd slightly out of it; for every chart-topper like “Cream,” there was a virtually unknown track like “Something in the Water (Does Not Compute).” Prince hit it on the head with his cover of Michael’s “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough,” but his rendition of Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" was a misfire.

During his opening medley of unfortunately abbreviated snippets of songs like “When Doves Cry” and “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” he interrupted himself by shouting, “I got too many hits – we’ll be here all night!”

But where were those hits? Where was “Delirious”? Where was “1999”?

There is no question Prince is a master showman who isn’t slowing down even a tick despite nearing Year No. 3 of AARP eligibility. He’s an amazing performer. Amazing. AMAZING. I just wish he’d performed a few more of his most amazing songs.

This story was originally published March 25, 2011 at 7:10 AM with the headline "Prince still rules, but Charlotte fans miss hits."