31 Jul PRINCE Accepts Fallon’s Ping Pong Challenge! New Album Update & More!
Jimmy Fallon threw down a challenge to Prince and we have learned Prince has accepted. Fallon revealed in an interview with Kristin Scott Thomas that the last time Prince was on “Late Night” they were to play ping pong but it never happened.
Both Prince and Jimmy Fallon have their people talking and the ping pong match WILL take place at an undisclosed location sometime VERY soon and the results will hit the Internet instantly after the contest.
For news on his upcoming album and more, click here….
Prince & 3rdEyeGirl will be heading over to Stockholm, Sweden to perform at the Stockholm Music & Arts Festival. For those attending, check out the NEW merch items! They are supposed to be: EVERYTHING! Let us know what you think and if there is anything special you would like to see for sale.
Prince & 3rdEyeGirl have been recording with JoshuaWorld and have 2 NEW songs that will probably be featured in upcoming concerts:
1 is entitled “FUNKNROLL!” which sounds like the Chili Peppers meet Onyx. The other is a cover of one of Prince’s favorite songs of the year, the Alice Smith joint “Another Love”. The original reminded Prince of some of his 80’s work with The Revolution. The revamped version goes slower and WAY harder with a revved-up ending in the vein of Fleetwood Mac.
There is still NO release date or final song line-up for the Plectrum Electrum project. The list of song candidates change with every new joint recorded. Having the FREEDOM to try out new material on tens of thousands of ears before it’s release is a luxury that is priceless. The women of 3rdEyeGirl are still talking about how the audience in Montreux shouted the hook to “FIXURLIFEUP” in unison. It is very encouraging for a new band who get better with every performance and also challenging for Prince whose new music has been in sequestration from the radio since the 90’s. We think Prince likes the freedom that underground music allows.
The 3rd show of Montreux, many have said was the best of the 3. It was a lot less structured and more spontaneous than the big band. We are curious and want to know what the Montreux concert-goers thought?
Make sure to tune in to tonight’s PRINCE spreecast with DrFunkenberry and Scott Seth Everett. You can watch the show HERE.-DocFB
Diagnosis: 2013 keeps on “FUNKNROLLIn” for Prince!
Rogier
Posted at 11:55h, 01 August3rd show was awesome ! Prince played guitar like no other ! Funky rock and roll !
No need for horns, no need for backup singers … Just plain funk!
Music was like a set of an afterparty.
Blacksweat
Posted at 11:02h, 01 AugustJust heard FUNKNROLL phrase mentioned in LAYDOWN. Blacksweat.
klaatu
Posted at 10:58h, 01 AugustI went to all three shows and really loved them all with a special mention to the first one which was Prince the MC at his best. the third night was DA BOMB!!!! Was really impressed with the “FixUrLifeUp” chants as well as for all the new stuff. 3rd Eye Girl rock!!!! In a funky way…
Blacksweat
Posted at 10:48h, 01 AugustSaw all three shows at Montreux and was blown away from 1st and 3rd. Such contrast and so different. I’ve seen Prince over 50 times and this year was a true memory. We need blurays of the three out there!! Blacksweat.
Nath3122
Posted at 10:35h, 01 AugustAll good news :o)
Was at Montreux night one which was FUNKY! However P didn’t pick up an instrument throughout the entire gig – what’s up with that?!
We travelled from London and partied it was a great day / night.
Seems like night 3 was the “best” in terms o set list etc.
Now getting to my point – RELEASE THE BREAKDOWN NOOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!
;o)
bre
Posted at 08:58h, 01 Augusti went 2 montreux. in comparison with the 2009 shows is was crap. 2009 were Prince shows, 2013 were: “look at my band shows”
JG
Posted at 06:55h, 01 AugustWe flew to Montreux from North America to see all 3 shows – which ended up including the GCS aftershow.
Of the 3 Prince shows, the 3rd did come across to us as the most inspired & engaging.
The comments from those around me, which included a mix of people who had recently discovered Prince’s music along with veteran Prince music enthusiasts, included statements like:
“WOW!…. I am actually speechless. They really can play.”
“That was the best Prince show I have ever seen!”
“That is up there with the best concerts I have seen by anyone, including James Brown.” *
“That was awesome! The 1st show was good but this one made a long & expensive trip resulting three long days of waiting completely worth it!”
“That was exactly the kind of Prince I had hoped to see before I die!”
“See? I told you he’d bring it! He couldn’t play Montreux and not do that for music lovers!”
*Note: interesting that the comparison to James Brown came on the night when Prince was more like Jimi than James. I took it as the “feeling” of the show – the energy coming from Prince, reciprocated back by the crowd – was much like a strong James Brown show; while Prince was doing the bandleader bit at the 1st/2nd show, and he & the band really did appear to be enjoying themselves the 1st night, Prince in ‘active’ musician mode (e.g.; with an instrument in hand, playing “what he feels like at the time”) is what generates that same energy ‘high’ with the band & the crowd.
Through many years of attending Prince performances I have found that the shows I enjoy most are those were Prince either sets out with the intent to, or ends up inspired to play an instrument on nearly every song. Those shows typically seem to coincide with shows that come across as being most engaging for those on stage, and often with set lists that (at least partially) draw on new material & back catalogue gems other than hits.
While Prince can pre-arrange & pre-define an extremely tight show that, in almost every way, will seriously rival every act that you could reasonably draw comparison to, my personal preference is to see Prince flex his very rare ability to ‘create & arrange on the spot’ with his band by using their knowledge of the structure of material being played and/or a honed capability for inspired musical improvisation, to enable Prince & each band member “feeling it” to solo and surprisingly reroute the direction of the music, even if only for a few bars.
Also – I would love to see music merch (CDs, USBs [24bit/196kHz?!]) for sale at Prince shows…. I would actually re-buy much of the stuff that had been released as “mp3” downloads over the years if I could get it in superior audio quality. (Who doesn’t need Xpectation, Golden Parachute, Judas Smile, HypnoParadise, or some of the NPGMC stuff in better quality?)
!
Posted at 06:52h, 01 August3rd show was great! I hope this he continues to tour with shows that are similar to this (and the Dakota shows from a little while ago)
justmemuchlove
Posted at 06:34h, 01 AugustLove Love Love Alice Smith <3
Earl Clement
Posted at 06:03h, 01 AugustAlso the 3rd show in Montreux was the best because Prince played instruments. That was the main problem the European crowd had with the 1st 2 shows. If Prince had played Guitar the 1st 2 shows like he did on the 3rd show, there’s no doubt in my mind that that band would blow anyone away in the history of bands!!! That 3rd show Donna Gratis was a beast on guitar. Prince was killing the Guitar too. It was truly amazing to see. Prince doing the Sample set on keyboards could of gone on for 2 more hours easily. Sign of the times with a Sax was crazy!!!
Earl Clement
Posted at 05:55h, 01 AugustI went to all 3 Montreux shows and the 3rd night was the best night. I went to see Prince & 3rd eye girl in San Diego also, and the 3rd Montreux show was better than that show too. I’ve seen Prince at least 30 times first being 1982 and that 3rd show at Montreux was the Best Concert I’ve ever seen barring no one (and I’ve seen so many concerts I can’t count…). The last 20-30 min of a mix of Rock, Funk, Jazz and Soul was unbelievable. The horn sections replacing get blew me away. The energy of the crowd could not be matched. I spoke to several concert goers who are die hard Prince fans from Europe, Australia and Asia and their taste are more Rock and Roll than Jazz/Funk. I personally love Funk music best along with Rock, Hip-Hop, R&B, Jazz, and World Music in no particular order.
I loved the first 2 shows with the 11 piece horn section doing classic jams unlike I had not heard them before. Marcus Anderson is a phenomenal sax player and the improves with Larry and other players were incredible. I always love the bands with Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, Maceo and Candy. The 11 piece band would do great in the states, but the Europeans loved the Rock show!!! I could hear the Jazz show then the Rock show on the same night. It would be the best of both worlds.
M21Nights
Posted at 03:50h, 01 AugustThis is such exciting news! Prince accepting the ping-pong challenge with Jimmy Fallon – wow!! Love it! 😀
And as for the Montreux shows – for me, the 3rd one with 3rd Eye Girl beat the other two by far. I just love pure rock, and nobody plays it better than Prince with those three ladies! Still hoping for a club tour over here in Europe sometime this year … pleeease, Prince!!!
Looking forward to an album as well, of course. THANK U PRINCE 4 all the excitement this year, it is all so very special. – And thanks to Doc, for bringing us the news.
purplelady
Posted at 03:22h, 01 Augustthat is an exciting news!…and a challenge for Prince…who ever knows he could play pingpong?…wow…he is great in musicology then he must win this other game…SMASH the ball right to victory Prince….!
Myles Matisse
Posted at 00:35h, 01 AugustThis 3rd Eye Girl project and Prince’s current state in both the music world and in terms of worldwide visibility is a complex issue.
The commenter “J” wrote…
“In the studio, 3EG have proven they’re not very exciting, despite Prince guidance etc. Some tracks released under their bake have been received almost unanimously negatively. Live, sure, they’re good players, but they’re just playing Prince songs under his supervision. Fans don’t want this project. They want an inspired Prince album. Something not seen for awhile.”
Myles here…
While I would have to disagree that some tracks have been “received almost unanimously negatively”, because that’s just not true, what I can say is ANY of the new “rock” songs released in the last year starting with “Screwdriver” don’t have the complexity and sound that I love in Prince’s “rock and roll”. Rock songs like “Interactive”, “Endorphinmachine”, “Peach” and even Tamar & Prince’s “Redhead Stepchild” ROCK the roof off in production, arrangement, energy and guitar wise. For some reason, the 3rd Eye Girl songs, while okay, sound simple and demo-y. So do the other Prince jams released through the 3rd Eye Girl website. I haven’t been REALLY impressed with any of them. The last time I was TRULY and REALLY inspired by Prince’s music was pre-20Ten. My opinion. As for an “inspired” album that Prince shoud make…YES. Make it along the lines of “Rainbow Children” or “Gold Experience”. FULLY produced, a FULL band sound and none of the one man band approach, please. It limits the potential of the songs when Prince does it all himself as his production approach and sound is far different than when he did everything himself in the early days (pre-1990). THAT one man band sound was perfection.
Commenter Delphyne has it right on in her post…
“I would like to underline a point : the presence of Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL on the internet. I am 19 years old (fan since 2009 Grand Journal) and you can’t imagine how many people of my generation don’t even know who Prince is? I’m serious! And those who know his name think he’s retired or dead! Through its presence on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Livestream, he can gain a new audience of young people. I think he would be happy to see more 20 year old people in front row
PS: Merchandising on the 3RDEYEGIRL website with worldwide delivery would be great!”
Myles here…
Prince controlling his presence on the internet by getting everything taken down, while his right, is whitewashing and revisiting history by eliminating his contributions to music and video. OUT OF SIGHT…OUT OF MIND. Because the internet is so incredibly HUGE in worldwide presence and scope, AND IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE, by Prince taking all his works off the internet through “Controversy Music”, he’s literally erasing his existence and presence. And, with Prince demanding to do everything on his own with a bit of help currently by Kobalt, without the help of the internet to push his works worldwide and to the young generations by the free promotions offered by YouTube and beyond, he’s fighting an uphill fight in getting exposure and in the end is hurting his potential and past, present and future music and video creations. If people don’t see or hear his works to be inspired, educated, entertained and schooled, he’s going to slowly become more and more of a relic of the past. NOT…COOL. There’s just too many YES people in Prince’s world and to me, that’s bullsh*t and killing his reach to the world.
And, to be completely honest, by Prince having a young, new manager in Julie Ramadan, I’m not so sure she’s the most experienced and powerful manager in the entire world of the music business to get everything done that needs to be done. You can’t possibly tell me that a Julie Ramadan is as good as an Irving Azoff. It’s just impossible.
And, as for the ping pong challenge with Jimmy Fallon, if Prince had true balls and courage, he’d go on the Fallon show LIVE and have a LIVE battle with Jimmy. It would be wonderful and win or lose, Prince would come out on top and come across in a humble, cool and funny way that would endear him many new fans. But, I’m sure Prince is afraid of getting upstaged. God forbid that happens. LOL
Jochem3121
Posted at 23:49h, 31 JulyI only saw one Montreux show unfortunately. Only the second one.
But of course I know what went on at all the shows.
The last one is the Prince is love: showing his skills on the guitar. A very different approach than in Montreux ’09 though. Rock ‘n roll!
The other two shows are great for what they are also. Prince as a band leader. The setlists were good and that also had to do with the fact that they tore the roof off with Days of Wild 😉
I say bring out a blu-ray of show 2 and 3. Then the people can see what Prince is all about!
Søren Abildgaard
Posted at 23:33h, 31 JulyI went to all 3 Montreux concerts. I don’t agree that the last was any less structured than the first two. However, it was much more rock’nroll. The first two had a lot of horn free styling orchistrated by Prince. This he clearly seemed to enjoy. The crowd was fantastic and I’d agree that we all sang from the top of our voices on “FIXURLIFEUP”. All 3 nights were as expected very different……..and LG on Sunday a.m. was a great bonus. Looking forward to Wednesday’s concert in Skanderborg. Real funky music in beautiful surroundings.
a
Posted at 23:04h, 31 JulyI was lucky to go to all three Prince shows in Montreaux. For me, all shows were a pleasure to watch, for different reasons and I had a really good time at them all. However the third show was extra special because Prince played guitar. Also, Ida was on bass, Donna seemed to be having a good time (crowdsurfing and being on an amp for a solo) and the set seemed slightly longer. There was a good atmosphere. I would have liked an after party – but who doesn’t always want more Prince?
Keep up the good work FB, lots of love x
Twinkly1
Posted at 22:56h, 31 JulyYay, Prince news! Congrats to Prince and 3rdEyeGirl! Didn’t go to Montreux, but from what I heard both bands were excellent.
K
Posted at 22:22h, 31 JulyI loved loved loved the big band shows in Montreux. Went to show 2 and was blow away. “Big City” has to be on the album, please!
j
Posted at 22:11h, 31 JulyThis reads like a structured rebuttal of all the criticism 3EG has received lately.
In the studio, 3EG have proven they’re not very exciting, despite Prince guidance etc. Some tracks released under their bake have been received almost unanimously negatively.
Live, sure, they’re good players, but they’re just playing Prince songs under his supervision.
Fans don’t want this project. They want an inspired Prince album. Something not seen for awhile.
Delphyne
Posted at 18:53h, 31 JulyIn Montreux, I went to the first concert and I had a lot of fun 🙂
And even though I didn’t see 3RDEYEGIRL, I hope they will come to France in September / October.
I would like to underline a point : the presence of Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL on the internet.
I am 19 years old (fan since 2009 Grand Journal) and you can’t imagine how many people of my generation don’t even know who Prince is? I’m serious! And those who know his name think he’s retired or dead!
Through its presence on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Livestream, he can gain a new audience of young people.
I think he would be happy to see more 20 year old people in front row 😀
PS: Merchandising on the 3RDEYEGIRL website with worldwide delivery would be great!
teiemka
Posted at 18:37h, 31 July@Kcool NPG have played a handful of shows in the last year. It is not surprising that 3EG is being recognised at the moment.
How’s that make the NPG band feel, my inkling is “let’s catch them”, but to do that it’s not about the playing per se. The same confidence with new songs and delving deeper into the back catalogue will be needed as is currently the case at 3EG.
Suzy Six
Posted at 18:18h, 31 JulyMy money is on Prince! Cant wait 4 the album!
Kcool's ChocolateBox777
Posted at 18:17h, 31 JulyWith all this new attention 3EG is getting lately, wIth being voted number #2 behind Springsteen! Eye wonder how that makes the NPG Band feel?
ChiTown-Jill
Posted at 18:07h, 31 JulyToo cool!!! All bets on Prince 2 b the winner!!!
Sweden r U ready!!!!