Determined Fans Motivate Artist in a Blistering Show

It was the night to remember that almost didn’t happen.

When the Artist Formerly . . . (well, you know who), summoned his fans on short notice to the Pantages Theatre on Friday for his first Los Angeles appearance in nearly four years, they showed up in droves.

Shortly before 9 p.m., however, Londell McMillian, the Artist’s lawyer and partner, appeared on stage and announced that the Artist had a stomach virus and had called in wondering if the show could be postponed until Sunday or Monday.

The crowd wasn’t in a waiting mood, however, and voiced its displeasure at the suggestion.

Moments later McMillian returned to the stage holding a cellular phone, presumably with the Artist on the line. He again asked the audience the question, and the fans loudly rejected the idea again. McMillian shut the phone and said, “You’ll have a show in 20 minutes.”

Soon, the former Prince appeared--dressed in a vision of purple and black lace--and went into a blistering performance that kept the audience on its feet for 2 1/2 hours.

Starting things off with “Jam of the Year,” from his recent “Emancipation” album, and then a rollicking version of James Brown’s “Talking Loud and Saying Nothing,” the Artist strutted around stage, appearing to be really enjoying himself.

He played his piano, danced all over the stage, had fun with his five-piece New Power Generation band and pumped the crowd up. “This is the best medicine in the world,” he said.

Then he got serious.

First it was playing the old Prince material he once promised he would never play in public until he was free of the Warner Bros. Records contract that he felt constricted his creative output. Now that he has severed ties with the label, he played those songs with relentless abandon.

He started things with “Purple Rain,” showcasing a dynamic guitar solo that had the audience’s hands and cigarette lighters in the air, then slipped the audience a surprise by playing “17 Days,” a B-side rarity from the “Purple Rain” days.

Throughout, his new band was surprisingly tight, making up for its lackluster television debut from Minneapolis last November by becoming loose and funky, yet still able to stop the tempo at the drop of a hat.

Ultimately, however, it was the Artist who appeared the happiest onstage. He called himself “Mr. Happy” and proved it by bouncing all over the place. There he was on poweraxe (a keyboard/guitar) adding hypnotizing new lines to “Get Your Groove On,” another song from “Emancipation,” and picking up a bass to lead the vamp from that same three-CD collection’s “Face Down,” a song mocking those who said his best days are behind him.

Throughout, the singer interacted with the crowd almost as much as a rapper does, constantly touching their hands and even leaping down into the crowd a couple of times.

Turning to “The Cross” and “One of Us,” he performed rock gospel, filling them out with searing guitar licks before shifting to the hyper-sexual “Do Me Baby,” which became a solo forum for the band to jam.

But the best performance of the night occurred 40 minutes before the finale. Announcing his intentions by saying, “I didn’t come to [mess] around tonight,” he sat at the piano and played a song that he hasn’t featured prominently in his live shows since the “Purple Rain” days: the gem “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore,” a spare ballad that on record featured only him on piano.