Prince wowed fans by becoming a DJ to mix-up his own tracks during the opening night of his ‘Hit and Run Part II’ tour.
The legendary musician kicked off the run of concerts at Birmingham’s LG Arena on Thursday night (15.05.14) and he jumped into a booth mid-concert and began mixing up several of his songs, including ‘The Most Beautiful Girl In The World’ and ‘When Doves Cry’ with ‘Sign O’ The Times’, which sent the crowd wild.
After a false start when the lights went down twice but came back on again, Prince stepped onto the stage and released a handful of white and purple balloons before launching straight into ‘FunkNRoll’, backed by his all-female band 3RDEYEGIRL.
‘Take Me With You’, ‘Raspberry Beret’ and ‘U Got That Look’ got the fans on their feet before he began gyrating and sliding across the stage to hit ‘Kiss’, changing the lyrics to, "You don’t need to watch Real Housewives".
After ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ whipped the audience into a frenzy, he announced "soundcheck’s over", as fans screamed with excitement.
Confetti cannons were let off and track ‘Guitar’ went down a storm, while the band proved not only can they play, but the women can sing.
Prince – dressed in loose-fitting white trousers and a white long-sleeved top with the band’s artwork emblazoned on it – also thanked the audience for not trying to take photographs of him on stage.
"We want to see your faces," he said, before asking them to use their mobiles to create a spectacular sea of twinkling lights.
A slowed down version of ‘Little Red Corvette’ and ‘1999’ were highlights of the incredible 34-song set, along with ‘Purple Rain’, which he played as more confetti showered the audience.
"Glad to be of service," he told fans, "I told you we were coming back".
After the encore he came back on stage again and announced the band had a strict curfew but were going to play until they were cut off, powering through a cover of Wild Cherry’s ‘Play That Funky Music’.
Prince – who in February thrilled London with a series of surprise guerilla gigs – takes his arena tour to the Manchester Phones 4u Arena tonight (16.05.14) and Saturday (17.05.14), The SSE Hydro in Glasgow on May 22 and Leeds’ First Direct Arena on May 23.
Prince turns DJ on opening night of Hit and Run Part II tour
