Concert Review: Prince At Oracle Arena, 3rd Day

OAKLAND (CBS/99.7 NOW) - There was something special in the air last night. Was it the fact that everyone is waiting to see if it'll snow in the Bay for the first time in decades this weekend? Was it that baseball season is coming up? NOT EVEN CLOSE!! It was the last night of Prince's 3 night run in the Bay for his Welcome 2 America Tour, at least for now! Let me tell you… he saved the best for last! Are you ready for me to fill you in on my 3 hour party with my man PRINCE?

PICTURES: My Final Night With PRINCE In Oakland~ Welcome 2 America Tour!

If you were at Monday or Wednesday's concerts, guess what… the last show of the series PRINCE pulled out all the stops. Ok, I know you didn't wanna hear that! I can hear the groaning now, but it's true. He truly saved the best for last. PRINCE gave us one hell of a goodbye gift— he rocked the stage for about 3 hours!!!

For the two shows before, it was pretty standard format. Larry Graham & Graham Central Station would be the opening act and their sole purpose was to funk up the place with the old school jams that got us all warmed up and ready to go for PRINCE! But, not tonight. PRINCE had something else in mind—- he came ready to play with us and for us. I mean that literally.

Since PRINCE decided to scrap having Larry Graham open the show, he just went on himself! There was NO opening act, PRINCE was his own opener!! We should of known something was up when at about 8:40pm, the house lights that were on, had shut off and the place got dark, screams started and then all the house lights would come back on. This happened 3 to 4 times and I looked over at the ladies next to me and said, "that's gotta be PRINCE messing with us!" I could totally see PRINCE doing that. And then just as I predicted, you see Renato, John Blackwell, Mr. Hayes, Shelby J. and the gang get into position thru the darkness and I lose my mind. I jumped out of my seat and the butterflies and nervousness that I had all week as I anticipated seeing PRINCE's arrival for the first time that night, didn't happen?? I wasn't nervous or anxious. I oddly felt at home and at peace. I felt like I knew this was going to be a show that was going to be with me for a LONG time, so I came ready to party like he did. I had a sense of calm come over me and I was ready to sing, dance, scream, cry and enjoy the ride with my man PRINCE!  I was going to be happy with whatever obscure tracks he decided to do and of course would sing along and love all the classics that I know word for word! So with PRINCE dressed in gold sequined pants and gold silk top, he got to work and didn't slow down!

Here's a set list of the songs PRINCE performed last night. If you were there, please help me fill in the blanks with any songs I missed. I'm replaying the show in my head and since it was 3 hours long— I know I missed something, I tried to keep it in order the best I could! LOL–

PRINCE'S THURSDAY SHOW SET LIST FROM ORACLE ARENA- OAKLAND:

THE LOVE WE MAKE (Not the song I thought he'd open with, but I'm happy he did it!!)

TAKE ME WITH U

ANOTHERLOVERHOLEINYOUR HEAD

SHHH

PRINCE takes off under the stage and the beautiful SHELIA E. appears in a white goddess style dress playing her kit and rocking the house as we all sing along and  say "la la la la la la la" to the beat of GLAMOROUS LIFE!!! She is BAD, bad meaning good of course! LOL– she was playing with all her heart and even was using her elbows on the kit and even ended up kicking her stand over as to say…. "what you got!"

A LOVE BIZARRE (PRINCE & Shelia E. was magnetic again tonight! I wish they'd just get married already! LOL– they just have that chemistry that works and they feed off each other well that you always want more and more! PRINCE said, "Shelia E's so funky she can't sleep with herself!". LOL– then all 17,000 of us were singing along, "A, B, A, B, C, D…. The moon up above, shines down upon our skin…" Aaaaaa– I lost it right there!!! )

The next song  was CONTROVERSY (Always a favorite and went extra long- no complaining here! I soaked it all in and never sat down in my seat!)

Then it was time to slow things down and PRINCE did NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU!! (At that point I was grabbing my husband's arm and screaming and I think he thought I was trying to dedicate that song to him or something he looked at me and smiled and I said, "Oh that songs not for you, I'm just happy he's singing it!" LOL– I know, bad wifey move right there! LOL–)

SHE'S ALWAYS IN MY HAIR (I think that was the name of it??)

WELCOME 2 AMERICA (Super happy PRINCE did that song, it's the focal point of the whole tour!!! Great song!)

LET'S GO CRAZY

DELIRIOUS

1999

LITTLE RED CORVETTE (Every night, this was my favorite part of the show. PRINCE would slow it down as the stage lights turned red and he busted out his dance moves even on top of the piano. I guess his hip is feeling better these days because he was popping that booty and those hips all around! No complaining from me! That's where I lost my voice I think!

Then Larry Graham popped up on stage and got funky with PRINCE. They did EVERYDAY PEOPLE, THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME BE MYSELF and another song that I can't think of- sorry… I'm sure I'll think of it when I'm not trying to! LOL–

Then it was back to more PRINCE jams and then we heard ALPHABET STREET

Next was the epitome of any PRINCE concert, it's the performance of PURPLE RAIN! It's what PRINCE fans and novices wait for. Let me tell you, he didn't disappoint! Soon as the lights go purple and you hear the guitar come in and the spotlight goes to PRINCE alone and sings, "I never meant to cause you any sorrow, never meant to cause you any pain…." I can tell you I was already crying! It wasn't one of those a tear or two coming down my cheeks, but I caught myself doing one of those "oh no mama" cries. Good thing it was dark! Tears were flowing non-stop. The song is so personal to me on so many levels, and holds a special place in my heart and soul. Plus, after hanging out with PRINCE for 3 nights this week (ok, with 17,000 others joining us), this was the best way to mark the final performance! Don't get it twisted though…. my man PRINCE wasn't done!

Funny that at this point, PRINCE says "Thank You Oakland. I love you too" and some people in the crowd start leaving as to beat the traffic– wrong move. I saw this happen all 3 nights!! Of course, our screaming and chanting and clapping made way for more jams! He wasn't done yet!

KISS (Great dance moves!!)

DO ME BABY (Yes, he did this song while at the purple piano– the ladies next to me and I were loving every minute of it!! My husband looked over at me during that song with a smile, and I looked at him like, "um…not now babe my man is on stage!" LOL– I know I'm wrong for that one too! LOL–)

I WANNA BE YOUR LOVER

NASTY GIRL

I WOULD DIE 4 U

WHEN DOVES CRY

DARLING NIKKI (Once again, just an instrumental tease of the song like he did all week– boo! I wanted to hear that one last night! No luck though)

Raspberry Beret

Cream (Soon as you hear PRINCE's scream you know what song is coming up! "This is it, it's time for you to go to the wire, you will hit, cuz you got the burning desire, it's your time, time… you got the horn so why don't you blow it…." whooooo hooooo another spot that had me singing out loud!

Pop Life- (This is another one of my all time favorites and for the 2nd night in a row, PRINCE said to help him sing it, so when I would, PRINCE and I had different words. LOL–I'd hate to think PRINCE got his own words wrong? It happens and at the front of the stage the words were scrolling by. I'm sure it was me singing it wrong, but I think I know my jams good enough. But I'm not going to correct the man! :0) If you were there, let me know if you caught that

Let's Work

Cool

U Got The Look

So many highlights from PRINCE's final night in the Bay (for now). Some fun things that happened that didn't happen any other time this week was PRINCE brought some people up on stage to dance! One lucky woman was up there and PRINCE said, "she aint no Kim Kardashian" since she was getting her groove on! At the end of the final encore he brought a group of people on stage to dance. One lady with a tight black dress had a Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" right as the big screen cameras were on her! Ooops! Another highlight was PRINCE saying, "Everyone put your phones up… now throw them up! SIKE". Too funny, then he had us wave them side to side. It looked awesome like we were in a planetarium or something with fast-moving stars! Too cool!

Speaking of cameras— I have a confession to make. I've never done this before and I kinda feel guilty so don't tell anyone….. but I took my camera to the show last night. I know there were signs about "NO CAMERAS ALLOWED", but I just thought if I could get 1 good picture I'd be happy! Plus the other 2 nights, there were lots of cameras! Plus, since I was lucky to have good seats, why not right? I don't think I'll ever do that again though. When PRINCE was in front of me, I caught myself trying to get that perfect shot instead of being in the moment! LESSON LEARNED PRINCE, I get it now. No more camera's for me. The 2nd half of the show, I put the camera away! I felt guilty oddly enough, plus I learned that I'm no photographer! You can tell by my pics, but I still smile looking at them! :0)

When PRINCE asked the crowd early on, "U got anywhere 2 go?" and everyone started screaming he said, "U guys are lying!"— I should've known we were in for a memorable night! I loved, loved, loved it! Were you there? Did you go to any shows? I wanna hear from you what your thoughts were on the shows!

If you're a PRINCE fan and are ready for him to come back to the Bay already, please leave a comment below! Or Retweet this to your friends who missed out or want to keep playing the concert in their heads over and over. I know I'm going to be doing that for months to come!

Here's Monday's review I did!
Here's Wednesday's review I did!

Here's a clip I found online (Thanks Wiz Vid) from Wednesday's show! You'll feel like you were there! Trust me! Listen to it before it get's taken down. :0)
VIDEO: PRINCE Live @ Oracle Arena- Welcome 2 America Tour

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Originally written by Mary Diaz for our friends at 99.7 Now

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