Jan 03 01-01-2003 : xpectation
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! NPGMC Ad Then there was nothing really new for a while, until the 'Something big is coming soon' video of Mani and the whale (did that ever get explained ?) and the opening of the doors of the NPGMC. 
11-04-2003 : ! The Time @ Milwaukee (0:52) (A : Pabst Theater 2003 - ?/10) 
Tom Joyner Intro / Instrumental Intro (Incl. Ho-Parade) / Wild And Loose / The Stick / Blondie / My Drawers Fishnet / The Oak Tree / Jerk Out / Get It Up / Cool / 777-9311 / Gigolos Get Lonely Too / Jungle Love / The Bird
NPG Music Club makes a song called “Reflection” available for members; the song was later released on Musicology. Simultaneously, footage (16 minutes) from the forthcoming Lire At The Aladdin Las Vegas DVD and a song from the Brixton Academy, London, August 28th 1998 concert were posted. Sam Jennings Website These screens are from the 2003 version of the NPG Music Club, and the whole experience was built around idea of the club as a big mansion that you had to maneuver around to find what you were looking for. Every section was a room in this house with a central foyer acting as a hub. The rooms were not specifically 3D models but instead were altered photos made more "Prince-like." It was a different approach and made some of the usability challenging, but this was Prince's vision of how he wanted the club. We kept this basic idea all the way through to the end in 2006 but as the years went by I steered it in the direction of using more standard information consoles resembling a electronic studio equipment. 
  
NPGMC Intro (0:04) 
19-04-2003 : The Time @ Detroit 20-04-2003 : NPGMC Launch Party : In the Glam Slam V.I.P Room Sunday night at 9:00 P.M. Bring a friend and HOOK UP some BIG speakers cuz the dane jams r gonna pump. The Time @ Detroit 21-04-2003 : SF Chronicle A new spin on Prince Biography depicts artist once hot, turned cold By James Sullivan Prince's descent from pop culture powerhouse is tracked in a new book by Alex Hahn Possessed The Rise and Fall of Prince By Alex Hahn BILLBOARD BOOKS; 288 PAGES; $24.95 For years pop culture fans were confused about what to call the Artist Formerly Known as Prince. "Possessed," Alex Hahn's painstakingly detailed biography of the peculiar pop star, suggests an earlier identity crisis : As a child, the author reports, Prince Rogers Nelson insisted that his friends and family call him "Skipper." Prince didn't seem like a "Skipper" when he ascended to the rare air of mega-stardom in the 1980s with super-funky, erotically charged albums such as "1999" and "Sign O' the Times" and the blockbuster feature film "Purple Rain." Flamboyantly costumed, astoundingly prolific and deliberately elusive, the diminutive Minnesotan was a true original. But his deep royal Purpleness has done a steady fade over the past decade or more, as a long, caustic dispute with Warner Bros., some abject box-office failures and other disappointments have contributed to an erosion of the singer's hit-making skills. Having recast himself as an industry outsider, Prince retains a loyal but steadily shrinking following that accounts for a fraction of the global audience he once commanded. Hahn's book, the most fully fleshed biography on the singer to date, cleaves Prince's career in two - the rise and the fall. Compared with so many salacious, "Behind the Music"-worthy pop narratives, it's surprisingly tedious going for stretches at a time. The book opens with the author revisiting a 1996 episode in which Prince was rushed to the hospital, sick to his stomach from a combination of aspirin and wine. "After nearly two decades as a clean-living workaholic," Hahn writes, "Prince was perhaps the least likely star of his generation to self-destruct - Yet here he was, inebriated and vomiting in a hospital emergency room. Somehow, Prince had lost control." As a dramatic device, it's a little wanting. It's an unfortunate incident, but aspirin and wine hardly make for a compelling celebrity scandal. A biographer can only work with the material at hand, and the story behind Prince's career turns out to be a rather monotonous cycle of trophy girlfriends, perfunctory tours, band-member firings and boardroom squabbles. The theme that emerges finds that Prince, despite his kinky persona ("Life for him was a sexual hors d'oeuvres tray," says one former associate) and the radical, often exhilarating musical innovations of his first decade, is actually a defining product of the ultra-conservative 1980s. Hahn, a lawyer who successfully represented a fanzine called Uptown when Prince tried to put it out of business, had no direct access to his subject. Given Prince's lifelong aversion to self-disclosure, however, that's not a particular problem. At times the author resorts to rock-critic cliche, referring to Prince's genre "stylings" and describing one song as "blistering, " and in a brief survey of the singer's fellow 1980 superstars he mistakenly credits U2's distinctive guitar sound to singer Bono, not the Edge. Still, his insights are often astute : "Throughout the 1990s and beyond, (Prince) mistook motion for creative development," he writes. Prince's initial disparagement of rap music, Hahn observes, was the predictable reaction of a performer who could feel his own claim to commercially profitable controversy slipping away. Suddenly, songs such as "Head" or "Darling Nikki" (which prompted Tipper Gore to launch the Parents' Music Resource Center) seemed tame in comparison to gangsta rap's graphic violence. Years later, Hahn reports, Prince invited two big fans, soul star D'Angelo and the Roots' drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, to his studio at Paisley Park to jam. But his discomfort was apparent, and he dominated the session as he did with his own subordinates. "Why do I feel like I have to take a shower ?" D'Angelo said as the two dismayed proteges left the compound. Though Prince's records, including an ill-fated return to major-label association in 1999 ("Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic"), have only narrowly kept his celebrity afloat, his live shows can still be as energetic as any of his contemporaries'. Prince's creative saga seems to match that of so many pop icons : Feverishly inspired in his first several years in the spotlight, his ideas no longer seem to move the public, or even the artist himself. "This is not a cat that's going to age gracefully," predicts one former band member. Another onetime associate, an aspiring songwriter who welcomed Prince's flattery only to find him filching from her work without credit, puts Prince's undeniable charisma in terms that might help explain his entire livelihood : "It's a very bright, warm, God-like light. But when he shuts it off, you've never known cold like that." Hahn's book does what all good books about music do - it makes the reader want to revisit the records - but it also leaves us feeling strangely cold about an artist who once generated such heat. 
25-04-2003 : The Time @ Inglewood May 03 02-05-2003 : The Time @ New Orleans (first show) Went and saw the Masters of Cool at Ballys Casino in New Orleans on May 2, 2003 and as usual I was not disappointed. My buddy Jason and I left my house in Pensacola, FL at 5:30 p.m. Unfortunately we were not able to leave earlier and figured we were going to be late to the first show which we thought was going to start at 8:00 p.m. We hauled ass, but the traffic was bad so it still took us three hours to get to the big easy. Luckily the show was at 8:30 p.m., instead of 8:00 p.m., so we showed up a few minutes before show time. Picked up our tickets at the front of the casino and headed down to the club. We were walking in the door and Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin comes out. I hollered at him and he came and shook my hand and said he would see us after the show. Jason thought that was cool and I had to inform him he hadn't seen cool yet. This was his second THE TIME concert, but the first time seeing them up close in a club. We walk in the club and it's about 75% full. No front row this show, but there were some seats in the 5th row on the side so we snagged them. The show started about ten minutes later. Here is the set list : Ho Parade / Wild and loose / The stick / Blondie / My drawers / Fishnet / The oak tree / Jerk out / Get it up / Cool / 777-9311 / Gigolos get lonely too / If the kid can't make you come / The bird / Jungle love. Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin kicks ass at the Ho Parade intro again - same to My drawers. Jerome comes and gives me five. Nobody got on stage for The bird which was kind of weird, but a great show. We hit the can and let the club clear out. We went over to the backstage area to where the fellas were and Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin invited to join them. Everybody was there except Morris and he put in an appearance to grab some food and beverage. We talked to Stanley 'Chance' Howard and Freeze a little bit. We talked to Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin the most, but also socialized a great deal with Monte and Jellybean. Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin actually asked about my wife who has been to ever show. I've been to except one, but this was a boy's night out. The highlight was Jason and I sitting there with Monte, Jellybean and Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin drinking beer and just talking shit. We ended up hanging out with the fellas for about an hour. The started letting people back in to the club about this time so we thanked the fellas for their hospitality and went back into the club so we could snag some better seats for the second show. As we went to go back in, they didn't want to let us in with the beer. Jason was like "The Time gave it to us" and they proceeded to let us in. Too cool. My lightweight ass was buzzing hard and I really didn't drink that much, but hey when your hanging with the mother fucking TIME what are you going to do. We snagged front row center seats for the second show. The Time @ New Orleans (second show) The second show set list was exactly the same as the first show except they added Ice cream castles. The band was much looser this show jamming more and playing the numbers longer. I had asked Jerome how come nobody got on stage during The bird at the first show and he said it had something to do with the insurance. Well, the second show they either didn't care or already got there money cause they brought the women on stage for Ice cream castles. They also brought some cracked out Issac Hayes looking dude to dance during The bird. The dude was even worse than me. We got a ton of pictures. At one point Morris and Jerome were about a foot away from us dancing and Jason got a few really cool pictures. Here is the set list from the second show : Ho Parade / Wild and loose / The stick / Blondie / My drawers / Fishnet / The oak tree / Jerk out / Get it up / Cool / 777-9311 / Gigolos get lonely too / If the kid can't make you come / Ice cream castles / The bird / Jungle love. During Blondie Jerome was yelling at me "You like that one ?". Kick ass. We talked to Torrell 'Tori' Ruffin right after the show. Waited for the club to clear out and went and talked to him again at the backstage area and then we headed to the hotel. I know I keep saying it, but if you ever get a chance to see these guys live – GO ! You won't be disappointed. 03-05-2003 : The Time @ Atlanta Early 05-2003 : NPGMC Musicology remix contest In early May, 2003, brief 2 second 'stabs' of each instrument, taken from the song Musicology, were playable at the NPG Music Club in a foyer by clicking on a picture of each instrument. A contest was run for members to submit remixes using the samples, and starting 9 June, 2003, members' remixes were added to the site (over the course of the Summer, 55 remixes were added in all). 05-05-2003 : All-Star Celebrity Jam (Studio City) Prince guests with Sheila E. and the Escovedo family during their concert at the Platinum Live Club in Studio City, California. He came onstage towards the end of the show, jamming with the band for about 10 minutes on guitar. Sheila smiled and began a chant of "ain't no party like a Prince party !'' Prince had his back turned to the audience for most of the time, but turned around a few times when cranking up his guitar for a solo while making some funny faces. Wow...just got back from a Cinco De Mayo surprise at the 300-capacity "Platinum Live" supper club in Studio City, Calif. Pete Escovedo, father of Sheila E., held an "all-star celebrity jam" to raise money for their church, the Namaste Interfaith Center/Community Outreach program of Los Angeles. Lots of celebrity entertainers, including Peggi Blu (former Star Search Winner), actor Michael De Lorenzo, Najee, Verdine White of Earth Wind and Fire, Jimmy Smits, comedian Tommy Davidson, Raphael Saadiq of Toni Tony Tone all performed, as, of course, did the Escovedo family, but the big surprise of the night was special guest star Prince who jammed with the Escovedos at the end of the show. Sheila E., who performed a couple of Latin jazz songs with her dad's orchestra, which also featured her brothers Juan and Peter Michael, which was the reason I went to the show. Their part was brief, since there were so many others waiting to perform in the 3 1/2 hour show. Immediately after Sheila's set, comedian Tommy Davidson, who appeared on "In Living Color," had mentioned that Prince was in the audience, and incorporated the music to "Sign of the times" when he joked on how Prince ordered food from Mc Donalds. We thought he was joking that Prince was there, but sure enough, we saw Prince's bodyguards standing in a dark corner of the room, and we knew he was indeed there. After a couple of other acts, Sheila E took the stage again, with her dad's band, Verdine White on bass, Raphael Saadiq on guitar, and Kat Dyson, formerly of the NPG, on bass, and Lynn Mabry on vocals with Sheila, and Sheila invited "her brother" Prince to come up and jam with them, but Prince didn't. Sheila played A Love Bizarre, which became a long medley of funk classics such as One Nation Under a Groove, Thank You Falletin me Be Mice Elf Again and several others, and then Prince finally grabbed a guitar and jammed with the band for about 10 minutes. Most noticibly different about Prince was his "new 'do"--a mini Lenny Kravitz-esque afro. He was wearing a white turtleneck and white slacks. The jam was entirely instrumental, and reminded me of the appearance he made with James Brown and Michael Jackson...totally improvised, and a really funky guitar riff, similar to "Talking Loud and Saying Nothing" or "The Jam." After about 10 minutes, the show was over and that was that. An unexpected surprise, and, as usual, an awesome performance by Sheila E and her family. After the show, Prince was overheard saying to Sheila, “you should do that more often," and he left the club shortly thereafter. Tune in next hit. Well, went 2 the Escovedo Charity concert 2night and our fav funky brother not only showed up but brought down the house for a good 15-20 minutes ! On stage was a new rapper (no not Tony M.s Cousin and so far no relation 2 a Prince protegee) Raphael Saadiq (formerly of Tony Tone Toni), Najee for a bit, Sheila E, Kat Dyson and several Escovedo family members. For the ladies; Prince was sportin a new doo, (I guess his afro is the roundest in the song "Reflection") a short lil fro going on. Gone are the long burns. He was wearin all white (turtleneck sweater and long dress pants covering up the heels)as well as very cool blue shades and a gold medalion. Prince played a black guitar and could not have been more than 60 people in there at the time. Place went nuts. He kept his back to the audience most of the time til he warmed up to us and saw no one was gonna bum rush the stage. Yes, me made those funky ass guitar faces that got every women in the place 2 have wet chonies. Also a few guys had some as well. This performance was a suprise and quite random even though he did attend her show at the House of Blues on Saturday night. Frankie (Prince's baby's momma, hehe) had 2 point out that this was the BEST CINCO DE MAYO EVER ! Couldn't agree more cuz everyone was smiling ear 2 ear. B wild y'll. Thanks again 2 getwild. Pics 2 follow soon along with Paradise7's review. Prince got up and jammed for about 15-20 minutes with Sheila E., Raphael Saddiq, et. al. at the Cinco De Mayo Benefit at the Platinum Live Supper Club. It was the last set, and Sheila asked "her brother, Prince" to get up and jam with them several times before he finally came up. He had on a pale beige cowl neck sweater and matching pants. His hair appears to be growing, (still short though) it was oh so soft looking. He also had on some cool shades and was popping some gum. I obviously ran up to the front with my girls and we stood there screaming and dancing the whole time. I'm not sure if he did a particular song that I could name, I just couldn't believe I had paid $35 and was about 10 ft. from the man. I took photos so let's pray they come out and I'll post them. (I had a cheap a#$ disposable camera) Ahhhhhhh........my gut told me he was going to be there and I was right ! Of course I went to see the Escovedo family and they jammed, Tommy Davidson was funny, Najee, Verdeen White of Earth Wind & Fire, etc.....But when P came on stage you know the place went nuts :-) 07-05-2003 : Matrix Reloaded premiere (Hollywood) The Hollywood premiere of The Matrix Reloaded took place today at the Mann Village Theatre and Prince was there. The celebrity roll-out for the Hollywood premiere not only included his royal purpleness but the cast members including Hugo Weaving, Carrie-Anne Moss, Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Nona Gaye. Others in attendance were Sandra Bullock, Harry Hamlin, Melissa Joan Hart, Ashton Kutcher, Lucy Liu, Tobey Maquire, Tara Reid, Ice Cube, Chris Judd, Will Smith, Tori Spelling, and Daman Wayans. The Australian premiere of the movie takes place at the Hoyts cinema complex at Fox Studios on May 15 but unlike the Hollywood premiere the Sydney showing looks like being devoid of stars with the exception of Australia's rent-a-crowd soapies. The main stars of the movie including Weaving, Moss, Fishburne and Reeves won't be at the Aussie premiere, even though it takes place at the exact same location the movie was shot. It appears the stars are too busy spin doctoring the Northern Hemisphere to find time for their own premiere. 09-05-2003 : The Time @ Richardson 11-05-2003 : Curlio.com Prince's new NPG Music Club launched 2003-05-11 22:02:38 NPG Records NPG records, the record company from Prince contacted us to inform us that the brand new NPG Music Club is offering fans : a concert video footage from the forthcoming DVD called "Prince Live at the Alladin Las Vegas". Thus before the release date ! To be able to see it though, you have to join and become a member, which costs a total of $25 for the whole 2003. According to my calculator that's 7 months. There is no word on how much a full year (2004) will cost. In addition to the DVD preview, members of the interactive virtual estate will experience new music, celebrity chats, news, message forums and a retail area complete with talking salesclerks. You can see a free "preview" here. The server gives only a maximum throughput of about 50Kb/sec though and because of that the preview takes quite awhile to download. The preview itself is interesting but doesn't really show much what you can expect, you will have to read the "join" page to find out what they all offer with memberships Each room of the house offers an ever-changing array of xperiences, including REFLECTION, KNOWLEDGE, and MUSICOLOGY. Come xperience rooms 2 interact with other members, view CYBERCLIPS with ur friends, and engage transmissions from the next stage of the New Power Generation. Essentially everything that a normal artist club offers too. Of course you shouldn't forget the advanced pre-sales and special seating either. And with this information being everything that is available people have to decide if they want to join or not. The big real prince fans are most likely to join anyway, however it is to wonder if the other people will join for $25 without really seeing what they can expect. There are no reviews from the club online yet so for most people it will be one big gamble if it's worth it's money. On the other hand it is the music club from Prince so it's likely to be worth the money and compared to other clubs that sometimes cost up to $10 a month and sometimes even more the $25 is quite cheap. Personally I wouldn't take a membership yet, there is just not enough information what is really inside. What is there under reflection, knowledge and musicology ? It just sounds all too vague to me. There's just not enough information available, But then again, i'm not a big Prince fan. 14-05-2003 : MN Fam Club Party (Musicology premiere) 17-05-2003 : The Time @ Milwaukee 18-05-2003 : The Front / Jazzmine’s (Minneapolis) Prince and Manuela are seen at Minneapolis nightclubs Jazzmine's and The Front. Just received word Prince made an appearance at the FRONT in MPLS. This was a fan party put on called Me~N~U apolis FREE 2045 Monthly MN Fam Club Party Yes...Prince was rocking the new doo short mini fro going on. And… he had Mani sitting on his lap...NOT looking pregnant. So don't expect Prince to show up tomorrow at the Blackwell Drum Clinic tomorrow in L.A. And can we this put the XPECTATION rumors 2 bed? Hmm. next time we have a fan party, guess we will put Prince on the guest list. NPGMC FLASH : PRINCE and MANUELA graced The Front with their presence and kicked 2 new jams Wednesday Nite !!! Then, they headed ova 2 Jazzmine's where they hung out with DARREN HENSON, star of the Showtime series SOUL FOOD. This is HIS Music Club and we don't HAVE the JAMS first ?! Shame on u, Skippy ! Plus some rumors are starting 2 kick about June 3rd in MPLS. We shall see. 20-05-2003 : The Moors In Spain (incomplete lyrics to a song posted by Prince in the Vs room of the NPGMC website 20th May 2003) If this great African culture were alive 2day We’d b 400 years more advanced From Arabia they came 2 blossom in Spain And 2 the beat of the drum they danced Masters of the Arts and all industry While France, England and all Germany Wallowed in the mire of their own bigotry The Moors were the ones who were truly free Civilization came 2 Europe thru the Greek Who were simply Africans who came from the Nile The Greeks gave it 2 Rome who lost their way home And it stayed that way 4 quite a while Under their own misconception of Christianity The barbaric Europeans suffered greatly While the Catholic Church was staking it’s claim The Moors were making great gains Introducing strawberries, lemons and sugarcane Algebra, chemistry from the Moors this all came Their contributions 2 knowledge, 2 numerous 2 name While in Europe there were no public libraries, the Moors in Spain Had 70, 600 thousand manuscripts and 17 universities Not hardly a prisoner in the mind of society In the Spain the Moors were once truly free The one who is most gifted cannot lead the way in a world that never respected authority… The sword of the Moor would have never left its sheath if the longhaired barbarian who opposed them would have only seen That 2 win a war against the so-called “black infidels” Brings about a peace that cannot last But I guess all’s well that ends well… well it ain’t over 24-05-2003 : The Time @ St Louis 31-05-2003 : The Time @ San Francisco Jun 03 06-2003 : Muzik A decade on from his last raw flashes of true genius on the still-shimmering 'Diamonds And Pearls', it would be easy to dismiss the latest Rogers Nelson album as another interesting but inessential funk-out. But as the scintillating JB staccato-funk of '1+1+1 is 3' and the sweet balladry of 'she loves me for me' prove, Prince's soul can still burn bright when he makes an effort. Rumbling vocoder interludes and jazz flourishes are dotted throughout - hey, it's a concept album ! - but the meat of the album is provided by a masterclass in soul-funk songwriting from His Purpleness. The 'Rainbow' ends with the classic 'Last December' where incongruously grinding GNR guitars, chiming bass and keyboards and gently rising melodies take you to musical nirvana. Rumour has it that Prince has relaxed his attitude to WEA somewhat and is considering making a sequel to 'Purple Rain'. Let's hope it's true, because the boy is back... "8 reasons why Prince is still cool" # We wouldn't have The Neptunes without him # His Minneapolis house is painted purple # He's still got lead in his pencil : in 2001, he married Manuela Testolini, am employee 18 year his junior # It's rumoured he covers his windows with foil so he can sleep at any time of the day # '1+1', 'Everlasting Now', 'Last December' and 'The Rainbow Children' are all purpletastic classics # Behind the scenes documentary 'Purple Rain : the Truth' is scheduled for release next summer # We put him on our front cover in February 03-06-2003 : NPGMC Various loops from the song Controversy were included in the NPG Music Club's short-lived Musicology Control Room Mixer, opened on 3 June, 2003, which appeared to be alternate recordings, but it is unclear when these were made. Eric Leeds will chat with the members of the NPG Music Club on Thursday, June 5th at 5pm Central Time in the CONFERENCE room. 04-06-2003 : Jazzmine’s Prince and Manuela attend Jazzmine's again. They were accompanied by Maceo Parker, Greg Boyer, Candy Dulfer, Larry Graham and Milenia. Everyone except for Prince and Manuela guested on stage to jam with Conversation Piece. Earlier in the day, Prince had done some recordings at Paisley Park with the three-piece horn section from the One Nite... Alone tour (Parker, Boyer, and Dulfer). 05-06-2003 : Sessions with Michael B / Sonny T / Morris Hayes Prince jams at Paisley Park with ex-NPG members Michael Bland, Sonny Thompson, and Morris Hayes. Then jammed for about two and half hours, recording the session. Afterwards, Prince took them into the studio to play them some of his new music. Eric Leeds about N.E.W.S from NPGMC Chat with Eric Leeds
Chrushin : Hello & much respect 2 u, Mr. Eric Leeds ! [?] : How long did it take 2 complete the NEWS CD with Prince and what can we expect from the album (the East sample in the Vault III sounds very interesting, I think). Peace & greetings from Europe/ Germany PaisleyPark1 (Eric Leeds) : The NEWS took long as the cd is ! P counted it off, gave us a key and we just played. At the end of it, I packed up my horns and went home. Now that's my idea of a session. ...
chrislecorre : hi Eric, do you know when the "NEWS" CD will be released and where (just online for the club or in stores) ? Thanks a lot for all your wonderful music, Peace. PaisleyPark1 (Eric Leeds) : Think it will, PaisleyPark1 (Eric Leeds) : sorry, it will be soon. Only on the web I think. 08-06-2003 : The Time @ Norfolk 11-06-2003 : The Front Prince and Manuela show up at The Front, Minneapolis, where a local community of Prince fans is enjoying a get-together. They remained in their limousine while the driver instructed the DJ at the club to invite everyone to a party at Paisley Park. Paisley Park Party A Paisley Park party is held, beginning at 1:00 am. A DJ played some Prince tracks and they showed the Live At The Aladdin Las Vegas DVD on a big screen. The party ended at 4:00 am. 13-06-2003 : NPGMC New N.E.W.S room : "Join Us June 19th - 22nd 4 a Special Online Listening party 4 N.E.W.S Onsale 2 The NPGMC June 19th" with same teaser 2 download The Time @ Indianapolis 14-06-2003 : The Time @ Cincinnatti 18-06-2003 : NPGMC Download 1.3 Mb. Share with your friends:
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