Inside Prince’s Last Concert

The world lost a music legend on Thursday with Prince’s sudden death. His genius and talents were particularly exemplified in his final performance ever, held last week at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre.

The 10 p.m. show was the second of two shows Prince had rescheduled from a week earlier due to a bout with the flu. The cancelation of the original sold-out shows of his Piano & a Microphone tour sent Atlanta into a spiral, as the Prince concert was “the” event of the night and its cancellation suddenly left thousands of people with no plans.

Prince would soon make good on his word to reschedule the show in Atlanta by announcing the make-up date just days after the cancelation. By then, many people had requested refunds to the show because of various reasons. Some Atlanta radio stations even announced that there still some tickets available on the day of the concert.

If only people knew that this would be Prince’s final two concerts ever and that they had a chance to witness history.

Nevertheless, the audience in attendance at the Fox Theatre was greeted by Prince’s piano and a microphone, which was positioned in front of a kaleidoscope of colors that were shown on a projection screen.

It was the first clue that this concert would be unlike his previous world tours, which featured bands, dancers, and of course, guitars.

The fact that Prince chose the Fox Theatre and its intimate setting demonstrates the connection he was seeking to have with his fans.

Prince set the tone early with his first song, a cover of The Staple Singers classic civil rights song “When Will We Paid.” With the selection of the song, the audience knew this was not going to be an ordinary Prince show, which can feature all or a great number of his chart-topping hits. No, this concert will feature songs from the heart, with Prince covering some of the deepest human emotions, including love, pain, betrayal and even death.

While he did perform piano-laced version of his popular hits, including “Little Red Corvette,” “I Would Die 4 U” and “Cream,” he also delivered sultry versions of songs most-familiar to Prince aficionados, including as “Black Sweat,” “The Ballard of Dorthy Parker” and “Black Muse.”

Prince’s talents as a pianist were on full display as he played the “Linus and Lucy” Peanuts theme song, which was composed by Vince Guaraldi. He also played a blues-inspired version of Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain,” which had the crowd rocking with the piano.

Prince is an artist that thrives off the energy of his audience. This was evident in his playful nature with the audience, who called Prince back to the stage for not one, two — but three encores. After he left the stage for the first time – following a performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U” – seemingly saying goodnight to those Prince concert first-timers, who probably didn’t know how to bring the “Purple One” back onstage. To get Prince back, the audience was instructed to cheer loudly so that he could hear, and feel, their love and appreciation for him.

After several minutes of rousing applause, Prince came out for what would be his final encore ever.  He gave the fans what they’ve been waiting for: “Purple Rain,” and then some. Prince provided a medley mix of “Purple Rain” that also featured snippets of “The Beautiful Ones” and “Diamond and Pearls.”

By the time Prince went into the last repeat of chorus to “Purple Rain,” the house lights were on and hands were waving in the air as they typically are when Prince performs the song. However, this time was different. It was as if audience was waving goodbye. And when Prince stepped up from the piano, fans knew there would be no fourth encore. He took his cane with him this time as he strutted off stage for what no one knew would be the last time ever.