Preview
Vailhalen as Prince and the Revolution in
Let’s Go Crazy: A Purple Rain New Year’s Eve 2004
Friday, December 31
Broken City
I hate New Year’s. I absolutely freakin’ hate it. The night is always built up to a fever pitch that ends in an anticlimactic letdown – watching the ageless Dick Clark in Times Square, drinking flat champagne in my dark apartment.
But this New Year’s, things are going to be different. Besides the fact that old Dick is out of commission after suffering from a stroke and won’t be hosting this year’s event (I’m drawing the line at watching the ingratiating Regis Philbin co-host the affair with even more annoying Ashlee Simpson), there’s something much more enticing happening at Broken City.
Calgary’s indie-darlings Vailhalen are gracing the stage this New Year’s for a tribute to Prince and Purple Rain. And, really, how can anyone turn down a chance to hear "Let's Go Crazy," "When Doves Cry" and "I Would Die 4 U" live? Frontman Chris Vail is ready and raring to go after months of rehearsal, choreography and general Prince immersion. Re-creating the film has been quite an experience for the band and has even created some Prince converts within the band.
"My favourite moment was when we first watched Purple Rain together," says Vail. "Pat (Walls) our bass player had never heard Prince before and just assumed that he wouldn’t like him, but in the first five minutes of Purple Rain, it was really cool watching him switch. At the end of the first number – just that performance of that one song – he was like, ‘Oh my God. I’ve been missing this my entire life.’ And that’s the thing. – the whole package is just so strong."
The idea to build a concept night around the film Purple Rain wasn’t actually Vail’s idea. Joe Chan, editor of Izzum Magazine, had put the word out a few months ago that he was looking for someone to front the night. Vail’s name kept coming up and to him it was for obvious reasons.
"I’ve been listening to Prince almost my whole life," he admits. Vail discovered the artist in Grade 4 with the help of a friend’s older brother. Vail may have stopped listening to Prince when he got into indie rock, but that changed when The Purple One came to the Saddledome a few years ago.
"I thought I’d just go for old-time’s sake and I went with the guy whose older brother got me into Prince. It was cool because we went with his older brother. It was amazing. Prince is undeniable. I was totally back in. I didn’t think I could watch a guy hump the ground onstage and it be totally convincing. There’s just something about it."
I don’t know about you, but I’d pay $25 to see Vail hump the stage at Broken City. The tribute is even more timely because according to Vail, Prince just isn’t Prince anymore.
"Since he’s become a Jehovah’s Witness now, he’s apparently re-recording all of his albums without the swears and the sex. I don’t know what the hell he’ll put in its place. The funny thing is that part of their religion is to go door to door and spread the word. Apparently he and his wife are doing that in Minneapolis. His music is just getting horrendous. Doing this has led me to the realization that there definitely was a golden age for Prince. And the cool thing (about) doing this was that I was able to see where exactly that lies for me – everything from 1999 to Love Sexy and the years 1983 to 1988. That was a hot five years but now other people are doing Prince better. Guys like Outkast and D’Angelo are doing Prince better than he is."
Hopefully we can add Vailhalen to that list in 2005. |
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