O(+> Emancipation Celebration Charity Concert - Upper Darby (1/07/97)

 

 

On Tuesday, January 7th, I witnessed the magic of seeing O(+> perform in concert!! Two hours of fantastic music by The Man, two hours of unity, two hours of dancing,two hours of bliss.

O(+> performed at The Tower Theatre (at 69th & Ludlow Streets, in Upper Darby, PA). The show was about 30 minutes late, but who cares when it's O(+> performing.



Anyway, the song set was (not in chronological order):

 

O(+> is very funny, as well as entertaining. During the long intro of "Face Down", he asked the crowd "Is everybody 18 & over? I don't wanna offend anybody!!" Also, during the song "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore", he asked: "How come you don't call me anymore......is it because of this? (he gyrates his crotch).......is it because of this? (he shows his ass).......or is it because of another man?.... Does he have an ass like mine? (he shows his ass again)" The women in the audience were howling! Also, I remembered him grinding his crotch while lying on the piano, almost like in the movie PURPLE RAIN, but I can't remember which song was playing (it must have been "Get Yo Groove On" or "17 Days", I dunno.....it was early in the show)!!

O(+> can really dance and "act a fool". I like the way he strolled to the side platform on the left side of the theatre and spinned around for 3 seconds. He had the entire place in an uproar! One other concert I remember that generated that much excitement was the GEORGE CLINTON & THE P-FUNK ALLSTARS in September 1996 (at the Robin Hood Dell East in North Philly). Two very lucky women from the audience were invited to the stage for a good ole time with O(+>, during "Mr. Happy"!! (And I know, they were really "happy", all night long!!) Also, some woman in the crowd fainted the first time O(+> walked over to my area and starting jamming!!! Moreover, it was interesting that a lot of people lit up cigarette lighters during the performance of "Purple Rain".

The audience chant listed above was when O(+> asked everyone to chant "Hey, hey, hey....I feel alright!". Then he requested everyone to grunt "Uhh!" at the end of the chant. Then, every time we sang the chant, we would add an extra "Uhh!" to it, until we were up to 10 "Uhh!"'s. I think the last time we chanted, we chanted "Uhh!" at least 15 times before screaming out for more!



The highlights of the concert are:

  1. the slamming "Get Yo Groove On" (with the Madhouse song "6" incorporated, like the VH-1 Special--just too damn funky!!!),
  2. "One of Us" (a very powerful and moving ballad),
  3. "18 & Over" (a personal favorite of mine with a real funky sound......I love those unreleased gems), and
  4. "The Ride" (a rocking blues jam)!!!!!!!!

 

Also, I really loved "17 Days" and "How Come You Don't CallMe Anymore", which sound better than the released version. "Face Down" is the shit, while "Do Me, Baby" brought back memories of listening to Prince's music as a teenager.

 

It was so exhilarating to see O(+> walk over to my area and jam with the crowd, at least 4 times. He was about 6 feet away from me, and I stared at his face!!!! I'm still wondering if I dreamt it all OR if it was REAL!!! Let's see: I bought 2 XL-size T-shirts that say "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince - O(+>" on the front, and the back says "O(+> - Tour 1997" (both sides with great pictures of "Mr. Happy")..... hmmm, I guess it wasn't a dream after all!!!!!




FINALLY, I'VE BEEN EMANCIPATED!!!!!!

 

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