Party at Prince's House

Didja hear? Over the weekend, Prince threw a house party. And sure, his famous friends were more than welcome to attend, but he opened his home mainly to perform for his fans. Now, fans and music reviewers are heaping critcial praise to the Purple one for what the Minneapolis' Star-Tribune is calling it "the smoothest surprise concert" in a very long time.

It was held over the weekend at Paisley Park, his home and recording studio. Even better, it cost neither an arm, nor a leg. The concert also served as a fundraiser for Prince's charity, Love 4 One Another. He asked fans to bring new and gently-used coats and winter clothing, canned and boxed foods and bottled water, which will be distributed to those in need in the Twin Cities.

Besides starting just 10 minutes past its 11 p.m. show time, Prince also provided shuttles from a local park-and-ride for concertgoers. At a more than economical cost of $31.21 for fan club members and $40 for the rest, you were gifted with nearly 3 hours of nothing but hits. Calling it one of the "most versatile shows" Prince has ever performed, one Star-Tribune reviewer says he paraded through hit singles starting in the '70s til today. He also paid tribute to Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 with his version of "I Want You Back," "Dancin' Machine" and "Shake Your Body Down to the Ground."

Meanwhile, fans, some who'd been attending for years and others experiencing the magic of Paisley Park for their first time, were said to be ecstatic over the experience.They claim the usually reserved artist was "talkative and humorous, loose and spontaneous." One thing did remain the same: as always, he closed the evening with "Purple Rain".

So, just how many artists are performing for the cost of a night out with the family at Olive Garden, plus shuttling you to the venue, which just happens to be their own mansion?

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