Burlesque dancers and pick-up artists alike understand the art of the tease, the idea that anticipation is often as enticing as satiation.
At some point, though, a tease is just that. Without a payoff, what are we waiting for?
Prince has been walking the thin line between satiating and teasing thus far in his Los Angeles residency at the Great Western Forum. Thursday night, after the second encore, the houselights went on and around half of the audience reportedly left before he came back for a third encore.
Friday night, fans stuck around for an hour after the second encore in order to be treated to … Prince taking a short “victory lap” on a bicycle. Ninety minutes later after the end of the show, security guards finally started forcing fans out of the Forum.
It was an anti-climactic end to what had been a triumphant show, with guest stars, surprises, and one Michael Jackson cover.
Starting with the “Beginning Endlessly,” Prince busted through a full 90 minutes of hits and rarities, with the audience reacting favorably to the lesser-known tracks and losing its collective mind for the standards. “Laydown,” from Prince's as-yet-to-be-released-stateside latest album “20Ten,” got the crowd moving early in the set, while the trio of “Take Me With U,” “Raspberry Beret” and “Cream,” coming midway through the main set, gave the casual fans who had been lured to the Forum with $25 tickets quite the show.
But the two biggest surprises came with Prince's cover of Michael Jackson's “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough,” which sent the crowd into a delirium, and a guest appearance by Alicia Keys for a duet on “How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore.”
The former was the perfect mashup of two of the 1980s' most revered artists. The playground debate of “who's better” was answered resoundingly with “both” as Prince attacked the track, adding the appropriate showmanship to the King of Pop classic. The latter, a well-hidden surprise, both demonstrated the respect shown to Prince by modern day artists and reminded of the strength of Prince as a songwriter.
Running through six of his classics in five minutes, however, put Prince squarely back into tease mode, even if some of the songs (like “Darling Nikki”) couldn't be played by the born-again virtuoso – especially on Good Friday. And by the time the purple confetti had settled on stage after the second encore's “Purple Rain,” the fans were ready for more – hence the willingness to wait until security tossed them out.
With 18 dates remaining in the Forum, which seats 18,000 or so for concerts, Prince has to sell about another 324,000 tickets. Teasing the fans might be the best way to make them want to come back.
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