Prince's Final Madison Square Garden Show Features Rarely Played Hits, Covers

Prince performs during his "Welcome 2 America" tour at Madison Square Garden on February 7, 2011 in New York City.

Kevin Mazur/WireImage for NPG Records

Prince ended his series of concerts at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan last night with a long blowout set full of classic hits, covers and rarely played gems such as "Pop Life" and "Mountains." He also played snippets of a few major hits that have been absent from recent setlists, such as "When Doves Cry," "I Would Die 4 U" and "Sign O' the Times."

Rob Sheffield on Prince's Night of Divinely Inspired Madness

At the end of the main set, Prince dedicated "Nothing Compares 2 U" to his former drummer Bobby Z, who recently suffered a heart attack. According to a fan on music blog Brooklyn Vegan, Prince said, "A lot of people helped me along the way, Bobby was one of them. Recover soon Bobby."

Photos: Prince's Welcome 2 America Tour at MSG

As with all of Prince's New York shows, several celebrities were in attendances, such as ?uestlove from the Roots, Chris Rock and Kim Kardashian. Kardashian was brought up on stage during a dance sequence, but was quickly dismissed by Prince when she wouldn't dance. Though it was apparent in a video clip that briefly circulated on YouTube after the show that Kardashian was wearing some serious stiletto heels, that's still no excuse for not even trying to dance when summoned to do so by Prince.

Photos: Prince, Roger Waters and the Raconteurs at Coachella 2008

Before Prince's set, opening act Cee Lo Green performed a cover of the Dirty Mind hit "When U Were Mine." Prince returned the compliment by inviting him onstage to join his band for a rendition of  Green's Gnarls Barkley hit "Crazy" before launching into "Let's Go Crazy" in the encore. (Video below.)

Prince played Madison Square Garden w/ Cee-Lo (setlist) [Brooklyn Vegan]

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

More Song Stories entries »

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