Prince – AllPhones Arena, May 11
Prince fans weren’t disappointed by their idol’s first Australian concert in a decade last night as the 53-year-old danced and sang like a man half his age, whipping the crowd into a frenzy with a succession of hit-heavy medleys.
The Jehovah’s Witness has jettisoned some of the more explicit tracks from his setlist nowadays, but this was in no way a desexed Prince – who knows how he justified performing tracks like the lascivious Cream and Little Red Corvette, but we were all the better for it.
He was at his best when willing the crowd to keep up with him – segueing into Delirious midway through Let’s Go Crazy, or stopping When Doves Cry midsong to launch into a rendition of Hot Thing. Snippets of songs came flying thick and fast as he and his outstanding band feverishly worked their way through his back catalogue.
Fans were even treated to renditions of a handful of the tracks he’s penned for other artists over the years – Vanity 6’s Nasty Girl and Martika’s Love..Thy Will Be Done among them.
The man himself summed it up best, hyping the crowd up before launching into another of his iconic funk-pop classics: “How many hits has Prince got? I don’t even know how many hits I got!”
Prince continues his tour throughout May, with tickets still available for shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Tickets through Ticketek.
