Prince, Live @ Phones4Uarena Manchester, 16.05.14.

It’s a strongly welcomed beautiful Friday evening in Manchester, with the sun gleaming down on a city filled with the colour purple. There’s only one reason for this, Prince is back in town.

After so many years, the mysterious phenomenon that is no other than Prince is back in the arenas of the UK with his tour titled “Hit And Run – Part II”, supposedly highlighting the frantic fashion in which Prince’s touring lifestyle takes form.

Tonight, it’s Manchester’s turn. As time goes on for the thousands of faithful supporters of what seems like hours waiting in the nauseating heat inside the arena, they begin to grow weary and restless, but they all know once the small, god-like-man with a presence a million times bigger than any other proclaimed god prevails behind the curtain covering the stage, they will be reborn, a phoenix of energy breathing more life Into the thousands than they have ever felt before. After all, one of the most energetically relentless musicians in the universe is about to grace the stage.

In typical mysterious yet suspiciously anticipated style, the girls from Prince’s band, 3rdEyeGirl, appear infront of the curtain, reminding the crowd this was a strictly no photography and recording show, above all the reason they gave was that the crowd would simply “not need it”. This was definitely a promise they defiantly stood by. After thunderous applause In agreement the girls disappear, and after a few more minutes, the lights are cut.

There he stands, behind possibly one of the most critically acclaimed symbols throughout the whole world of music, Prince emerges, with grace, cheek, attitude and an astounding sense of showmanship, oozing from every pore from his skin.

‘Let’s Go Crazy (Reloaded)’ beats around the arena with its newly modified gritty style and somewhat slowed down pace, yet it does the exact opposite to the crowd, it can’t be denied that the Reloaded version of the classic holds an incredible sense of power within its dark riffs and piercing solos. As the pounding opening number comes to a close, the crowd continue to act in a manner which the song itself would entitle them to. With every man, woman and child simply letting loose and having a good time, there’s no doubt this is going to be one special night.

Perhaps one of the greatest aspects of a Prince show is the sheer magnitude of the amount of timeless classics discovered throughout his set, which can be undoubtedly seen through the brilliance of the early set, as well as the end. The beginning of the show has the privilege of holding tracks including, ‘Take Me With U’, bringing the feel good factor to Manchester once again, with ‘Raspberry Beret’ also keeping the crowd gleaming with joy with ‘U Got The Look’ and ‘Kiss’ also following to shape the opening to the show.

Electricity seems to be the theme to accompany to middle section of the show. It’s usually seen that many crowds begin to lack energy during the middle of sets with an emptiness in the air in which the performer has to recover it’s worshipers, but not this gig, not one bit, with ‘Guitar’ and ‘Plectrum Electrum’ echoing around the arena and the minds inside it, the worshipping never stops.

A huge sense of appreciation begins to flow through the air and towards the stage once the piano plays, somewhat unexpected yet by no means disappointing versions of truly loved songs such as ‘When Doves Cry’ to accompany well received tracks including, ‘The Beautiful Ones’ and ‘Diamonds And Pearls’, with just Prince playing on stage, creating a perfectly beautiful moment to be cherished by any music lover.

An emotional climax to a magnificent show seems to be approaching, and after partying to ‘Little Red Corvette’ and ‘1999’, the song that arguably put Prince up there with the greatest begins, an aura of silence begins to filter throughout the atmosphere as the anticipated notes to ‘Purple Rain’ begin and it is no underestimation to say the amount of emotion in Manchester was one to match the one in the film itself, it is majestic.

Although expected, it was the perfect ending to a brilliant performance from the figure of originality and as Prince walks of the stage for the final time, the crowd are left with a monumental sense of satisfaction. They can now tick something off their bucket list.