A good friend of mine, Jermaine, is probably as big a Prince fan as I am.

I was fortunate to see him on his last ever tour, back in 2015 however Jermaine was not so lucky. His purple highness sadly died in 2016 and his memory lives on in peoples hearts and memories.

Ready For The Off!

One of those people is the amazing Jimi Love who fronts the brilliant band, New Purple Celebration.

Now I have been fortunate to see the band three or four times already and when they advertised a gig coming up quite locally, I took the opportunity to grab two tickets as a Christmas present for Jermaine.

Purple Pride

Four months later and the date had finally arrived and J and I headed off to the theatre to see the show.

And what a show it was!

New Purple Celebration

As it was J’s first show, he didn’t really know what to expect. I knew what we were in for and had organised specific seats which allowed me to use my little electric wheelchair. Whilst I didn’t really need this to get into the theatre, the car park is just a walk to far for me now.

We were to the left of the stage, on a raised area, adjacent to the first few rows. Normally I would have chosen the front row, but the need for my chariot meant that we couldn’t do that.

Brilliant Musicians

It wasn’t a problem though as we had a great view and no heads in front to contend with. By this, I mean at previous NPC gigs, everyone just gets up and dances and this can obstruct your view.

To be fair, I would have been one of those people in the past.

Purple Passion

Anyway, getting on with it. The theatre was absolutely packed and people were wearing their Prince t-shirts or purple themed clothes, including the dress I wore in Chicago when I went to see the official Prince exhibition.

It needed another airing, so when better than in memory of His Purpleness.

The Amazing Andy

The gig got off to a blinding start with iconic hit after hit. I was grooving in my wheelchair (which I was a little worried about, if I am honest) and it didn’t take long for J to jump out of his seat and start dancing.

I was absolutely loving the live music, as were the assembled audience. So many were up out of their seats, dancing and singing along and it was magical.

The Wonderful Zoe Birkett

The band were just out of this world; better than the previous times I had been to see them and that is saying something! The lead female singer looked very familiar and it took me a little while to realise that it was Zoe Birkett who shot to fame aged 16 when she placed 4th in Pop Idol, behind Darius Danesh, Gareth Gates and the eventual winner, Will Young.

She was microphone meltingly good and brought me to tears on a couple of her vocals.

Just Magical

At the interval we went out to get a cold drink and ended up talking to lots of Prince fans, about the whole evening. Some had been to see the band multiple times, and others were newbies like J.

Thankfully it was only a short interval and we went back to our seating area to enjoy the next half of the show.

Rocking The Crowd

I have to say that it was just as I expected. Hit and hit, great vocals, brilliant musicians and a wonderful tribute. I sang my little heart out to every song even some of the more unusual choices.

To say I was sad when it ended is an understatement. I just wanted the music to just go on and on, and clearly so did the audience as they were very vocal in their ‘encore’ shouts.

Pretty Good View

Thankfully the shouts were received well and an encore they gave us.

It was electrifying and emotional and beautiful all at the same time.

Soon Time For Bed….

Eventually leaving the auditorium, we were stopped by a few people that we had met earlier in the evening and we chatted about all things Prince. I even got my ‘Purple Rain’ Motorcycle photograph out to show them.

Take Me With You…

Hitting the foyer for the merchandise stand I had a perusal at what was on offer and I was thrilled to see all the official merchandise on offer. Sadly I had all the books that they had on offer and all the CD’s too (as well as Vinyl editions)

I got a great little card holder to stick on the back of my phone though and we headed out to the car for the trip back.

Loving Live Music

My friend J was very quiet as we walked to the car and I was a little concerned, if I am honest. I thought perhaps there had been a problem or that he didn’t enjoy it somehow.

His response of ‘I am just so blown away, I am lost for words’. Now, for an English teacher, that says something.

The Wonderful Jimi Love

Eventually we got into a rousing discussion about what we had seen and heard and the joy in his voice was brilliant. Exactly what I had hoped for when I got the tickets.

I think I need to see where they are performing next as I can imagine J would be more than happy with another ticket!

A Montage

Till next time,

SPSG xxx