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Home , Unorthodox Jukebox

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2016

A portrait of A view by outside artist Daniel Paisley Lacey hangs Park in outside Chanhassen, Paisley Park in Minnesota. Chanhassen, — AFP photos Minnesota. Prince’s secretive studio complex opens to the public

usic fans around the world and said. “I am very grateful that I am one of the peo- The star performed for three hours-playing Another room was dedicated to his electrifying Minnesota residents have long won- ple that got to experience that today.” Prince every instrument and stepping into the crowd to 2007 Super Bowl halftime show, featuring a Mdered about Paisley Park, the late pop died on April 21 from an accidental overdose of direct the band from the floor. “You didn’t have video of the performance that is widely regarded icon Prince’s mysterious studio complex to painkillers, at the age of 57. The complex opens to have a ticket. You just walked in. You stood at as one of the sporting event’s most legendary. which few have had full access. On Thursday, the one week before a memorial tribute concert in the stage five feet from him,” Shabazz said. “He was bigger than life, and you see that,” said mystery came to an end for some fans who St. Paul, which is adjacent to Minneapolis. “Those free shows gave people, poor people, fan Jennifer Wolf. Phyllis Jackson, a 77-year-old snared tour tickets and descended on the The public opening of the studio complex is a particularly students... access to him.” Minnesota resident, left the tour with two Prince Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen to see inside milestone for music lovers and historians. It was posters. the late “Purple Rain” star’s 55,000-square-foot the pop legend’s “playground,” said Mobeen ‘We’re Liverpool and he’s The Beatles’ “I’ve been to Graceland several times,” (5,100-square-meter) inner sanctum. The unveil- Azhar, author of the book “Prince: Stories from Prince has drawn tourists from all over the Jackson said, “This is so much more. You can see ing was decidedly muted. Organizers required the Purple Underground.” “Paisley Park is where world to the Minneapolis area ever since the that he was thinking of it as a museum before he ticket holders to meet at an offsite location and he would play, experiment and most importantly 1984 release of “Purple Rain,” said Michaelangelo died, because there was so much in there.” be bused into the complex in groups. create,” Azhar said. “That spirit of creativity is just Matos, a Minnesota-based music critic and Public access to Paisley Park was expected to be Fans described the tour as an emotional so strong. For that reason, as far as I’m con- author of a book about Prince’s titled short-lived, as Chanhassen city officials granted experience, especially when they were confront- cerned, Paisley Park is holy ground.” “Sign O’ the Times.” “We’re Liverpool and he’s temporary permits on three dates for the com- ed by Prince’s ashes in a Paisley Park replica urn. The complex opened in 1987, and was a fully The Beatles,” Matos said. While some parts of plex to offer tours. A broader permit that would Sonja Fagan, a 37-year-old from Dublin, arrived functional recording studio used by a number of Paisley Park were now outfitted to exhibit mem- turn the site into a permanent museum-akin to with a bouquet of roses, saying Paisley Park was artists during its peak in the 1990s, including the orabilia, other areas-such as his working studio- Elvis Presley’s Graceland-was delayed earlier this now a place of mourning. “His legacy is going to Stone Temple Pilots, REM and . Prince have been left untouched since the ’s week, over concerns that the estimated 600,000 live on, and that’s what he would have wanted,” also arranged impromptu free shows and parties death, tour attendees said. fans expected to visit year would create traffic she said. Fan Rhonda Watson traveled 1,000 there for small groups of fans. Rashad Shabazz, a Rooms in the studio complex were themed jams and congestion in the town of 24,000. City miles (1,600 kilometers) from Tennessee to tour professor of cultural geography at the University according to Prince’s , like Graffiti Bridge officials asked the site’s administrator, the the complex. of Arizona, said he attended one such show in or Purple Rain. The superstar’s vast collection of Bremer Trust, to formulate a detailed plan to “It is very unique and very distinctive, and it’s which Prince took the stage at 12:30 am before distinctive costumes, pianos and guitars from address those concerns with a more detailed a very creative space, just like the musician,” she an audience of about 50 people. each time period were on display throughout. plan to address the tourism impact. — AFP returns ‘Revolution Radio’ is with party anthem

runo Mars, whose back on straight and narrow slew of hits made him one of the most suc- evolution Radio sees Green Day back on the straight and artistic diversions, with a no-frills collection in which B cessful pop stars before tak- and narrow, a dozen potent tunes encasing the punk they work from a clean slate without losing their collective ing a brief hiatus, returned Rattitude with plenty of pop hooks. The band shakes memory. There’s no overall concept, nothing really innova- yesterday with an unapolo- off a few years in the wilderness, including personal crises tive, but there’s room for the topical and ample rawness in getically retro party anthem. sounds and feelings. The -pop artist First single “Bang Bang” is inhabited by the “semi-auto- released “24K Magic,” the matic lonely boy” who seeks to be a “celebrity martyr,” while first single off an album of “Outlaws” is a doomed power-cum-murder ballad with a the same name to come quiet/loud/quiet dynamic like Radiohead’s “Creep.” Also out on November 18. making their mark are “Bouncing Off ,” a bit of anar- A feel-good song about chy in the USA; “Forever Now,” which hides a three-part, enjoying a night out with women, “24K Magic” carries echoes of early seven-minute opus behind a much-used title while closing Janet Jackson with a heavily synthesized and readily danceable beat. with a reprise of opening track “Somewhere Now;” and “Still Mars summed up the sound of “24K Magic” when he announced it on Breathing,” a kind of survival of the least disturbed where a Instagram, writing: “You can call it my first single, but I call it the invi- tation to the party.” “home that’s for the restless” is about as good as it gets. The singer and multi-instrumentalist from Hawaii, who turns 31 There are some echoes of early Clash in the title track, on Saturday, became a fixture on Top 40 radio with his last album, mostly the opening riff, the song title and a few lines like 2012’s “Unorthodox Jukebox,” which took on a funky pop feel remi- “legalize the truth.” It’s easy to imagine the late Joe niscent of 1980s hit music. Strummer commenting on “the dawn of the new airwaves With his song “,” Mars became second only for the anti-social media,” wondering why kids are checking to the late Elvis Presley in the speed with which he achieved five his boom box for a Bluetooth connection. number-one hits on the US singles chart. Singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong’s most recent Mars also notably featured on the viral hit “” led by New Year’s resolution was “to destroy the phrase ‘pop-punk’ which came out in late 2014. He performed the song in This cover image released by Warner Bros Records shows forever.” On “Revolution Radio,” he and the rest of band fail February at the Super Bowl, the most-watched annual event on US “Revolution Radio,” the latest release by Green Day. — AP splendidly. — AP television, in a halftime show led by Beyonce. But “24K Magic” marks the first solo work by Mars since “Unorthodox Jukebox.” — AFP