When I heard Prince was coming to Baltimore last May to perform a "Rally 4 Peace" in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray, I tried my best to get tickets. I was at the computer when the tickets were released, and tried and tried (for myself and others who were hoping I might be able to secure the tickets), but wasn't able to get them; the site told me they were sold out. Later, however, my friend and colleague Amber Phelps got in touch with me, telling me she had gotten a ticket for me and another friend of ours. Thankful for her youthfully fast fingers, I joyfully attended the concert.
The tickets weren't good, but it didn't matter: our noses might have been bleeding a little, but we were in the world of Prince. But, right before the show started, we got some miraculous news: Prince himself, since there were some empty seats on the ground floor, decided that our section, the worst section in the First Mariner Arena, would be allowed to come to the floor.
We made our way to the floor seats (which I'm sure were worth hundreds of dollars) and enjoyed two-and-a-half hours of this great artist. The crowd's energy was palpable. Less than a week before, Baltimore was occupied by armed guards and we had a curfew. Now, a different national force had come to our city, and Prince felt just as powerful as all those tanks.
Prince addressed the crowd all night: "Baltimore, we are here. Where are you?", which of course produced an eruption of screams. He played all of his hits -- "Raspberry Beret", "1999", "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", "Take Me With You", "Diamonds and Pearls". At one point, he asked, "How many hits I got?", which was awesome. I loved his swagger. He kept the hits coming.
My favorite moment was singing along to "Nothing Compares 2 U," for which I got made fun of by my friend for getting in my feelings too much. I was nearly in tears.
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| Yes, he slayed. |
"Baltimore," the awesome protest song Prince wrote, name-checking Michael Brown and Freddie Gray before building to the refrains of "If there ain't no justice, then there ain't no peace" and "Peace is more than the absence of war." He brought out Miguel, Estelle, and Doug E. Fresh as guests, plus Marilyn and Nick Mosby. It all worked, just a complete triumph of talent, vision, social justice, and joyfulness.
Now that Prince is gone, I feel lucky for that night last May. To have a big star come to your hometown in a gesture of love and change speaks to his character, and his ebullient and moving performance across nearly three hours shows just what a remarkable performer he was.
Security was really strict about photographs and recordings (and I would never attempt to record Prince), but I managed to get a few shots. Don't hate me. I wanted a memento, and I'm really glad I have it now.
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| Crowd shot. |
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| My beautiful concert partner, Tameka. |
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| With Miguel on the left. |
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| "1999" |
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| Pretty sure this was Estelle but stage smoke is obscuring her. |
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| "If there ain't justice, there ain't peace." |
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| With Doug E. Fresh |
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| Our Original Seats. Thanks for saving us, Prince! |
from Epiphany in Baltimore http://ift.tt/24boO8i The Time I Had a Chance to See Prince in the 'Rally 4 Peace' in Baltimore in May 2015 -
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