PRINCE FIRST US CONCERT IN SEVEN YEARS!

Who knew what to expect from everyone's favorite musical wild card, Prince, on the opening date of his first official American tour in seven years.
Would he vamp through an extended series of jams, as he has on some of his unofficial club shows of late? Would he merge his hits into crowded medleys, or stress pieces from his recent, unfocused albums? Or would he deliver a peak-style Prince concert, packed with inventive versions of songs plucked from his most storied days?

Fans may have been worried, because roughly one-fourth of the arena went unsold in this - the first of five local dates in the Welcome 2 America tour. Prince postponed his first scheduled date for the event, meant to occur Tuesday. Then he barred photographers, and even cell phones, from last night's show, hoping to shift press coverage to his second date, at Izod Center Friday. (In fact, the cell phone ban wasn't enforced).

As it turned out, he, and the fans, had no reason to be so fidgety. The hit-friendly show had a kinetic confidence and racing pace that spoke of his singular place in pop history.

The show started slow, with Prince handing off a number to his backup singers, just one song in. But soon he took off. The staccato beats of "Uptown" showed why his particular intersection of funk, rock and pop has become nearly its own genre. He took us higher in the glam-funk "Cream," leading into a terse "Raspberry Beret." In "Cool," his vocals kept deepening the funk, while he proved just as convincing in the ballad "Scandalous." Prince's guitar solos throughout stung and soared.

The star didn't skimp on dancing either. At 52, he still shimmies as quickly, and wittily, as ever. The staging gave him a good platform, located in the middle of the arena and shaped like the symbol which he, for a spell, took for his name. Moves like that, and many others, have invited suspicion and snickers around Prince for years. But this show underscored the brilliance that makes it worth all the bumps in the ride.



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