Prince Performs Killer Show With Help From Janelle Monáe, Cyndi Lauper
Prince performed the second of three concerts at Madison Square Garden as part of his Welcome 2 America mini-tour last night — with a little help from fellow ’80s pop icon Cyndi Lauper and the up-and-coming R&B star Janelle Monáe.
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Monáe, who performed an opening set earlier in the evening, guested on the Sign O’ the Times single “If I Was Your Girlfriend” in the first encore. (Afterwards, Monáe tweeted, “We played MSG w/ Prince And I have no words to describe. Hvkffkkfflkccnhjkfjlk Ghklgserolfdjkfh Chjffjfdhjggj.”) Later in the show, Lauper joined Prince and radio host Egypt Sherrod for the night’s closing number, a rendition of “Jungle Love,” a 1984 single he co-wrote with The Time.
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As with previous dates on the Welcome 2 America tour, the setlist was primarily focused on material from the artist’s run of classic albums in the 1980s, including the huge hits “Let’s Go Crazy,” “1999,” “Little Red Corvette,” “Raspberry Beret,” “U Got the Look,” “Purple Rain” and “Kiss.”
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This particular show was notable for the addition of several deep cuts, such as the Graffiti Bridge ballad “The ? of U,” the B side “She’s Always in My Hair,” and a piano medley featuring “Condition of the Heart,” “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” and “Sometimes It Snows in April.”
Clips of “Raspberry Beret” and “Purple Rain” from the concert have surfaced on the internet, but given Prince’s zealous policing of his content online, they may not remain on YouTube for very long. Also, since there was a strict ban on recording devices of any kind at the venue, there is a good chance that no decent footage of his performance with Monáe or Lauper exists in the first place.
Prince played MSG again – Cyndi Lauper joined him, as did Janelle Monae (12/29 setlist) [Brooklyn Vegan]