Prince in concert at The Montreux Jazz Festival on July 18, 2009 – the early show.
Hard to imagine, but it’s been nine years since Prince left us (April 21, 2016). There are people, and more every day, who have never seen Prince, only faintly heard about him or missed him entirely.
I know, odd – right?
Prince was not the spark but the blowtorch which took Music to new and interesting places – seamlessly combining deft writing skills with virtuosic musical ability along with a pinpoint clarity as to what his vision was all about.
Prince was a force of nature – anyone who saw him in concert knew that the first 30 seconds. Mashing the elements of style, theatricality and an electrifying stage presence knew they were witnessing something – something that would have far reaching and lasting affects on fellow musicians all that way to members of the audience.
That he gave 1000% of himself to his performance and his craft most likely contributed (unintentionally) to his early death was tragic. But the old adage “for art you must suffer” took it to the extreme – sometimes you don’t know how much is too much when you are in the middle of following your muse and you swear up and down your body is resilient. Sadly, the resulting pain gotten from years of giving that 1000% made the necessity to make life bearable by taking medication in order to ease the strain from all those years caught up with him in the end.
And we’re left with an indelible legacy and what has been discovered as an almost endless cache of unreleased recordings ensures Prince won’t be forgotten any lifetime soon.
So in 2009 Prince graced the stage of Stravinski Auditorium in Montreux to give his customary 1000% in two shows that night of July 18th. To an ecstatic audience coming to watch magic performed effortlessly and to come away transformed, as we did so many nights during that all-too-brief but meteoric career.
So, to get a jump on remembrances for that sad and fateful end of a career, here is the early show from the concert by Prince in Montreux from July 18, 2009 as recorded by RTS-Switzerland.
