“The whole three year saga”: One show in 1985 made Prince a superstar
From day one, it was clear that Prince didn’t create his art for anyone other than himself. From there, a level of perfectionism emerged that ultimately guaranteed his lasting place as one of music’s greatest prodigies – even if he got off to a rocky start.
In the early stages of one’s career, when it’s usually expected that they “play the game” and tick all the right boxes to gain traction, Prince didn’t much care for any of it. His aversion to the usual tactics, like giving interviews or even appearing a certain way on stage – the former of which was once described by George Michael as “the most confident statement you can make” – made him appear as this mysterious, unreadable figure with an ego too big for everyday spaces.
However, much like the trend that electronic bands like OMD pioneered during the 1980s when they’d wear corporate-leaning clothing to create an anti-image statement, Prince’s unconventional approach placed the music front and centre, preventing anything outside that from becoming misconstrued or detrimental to his broader musical offering.
Of course, not everything he did was perfect, as proven by the singer’s earlier stint opening for the Stones in the early 1980s. But the moment he blew up, it wasn’t just that his so-called unsociable demeanour had already paved the way for such an explosion, but that he’d already worked to refine everything that would become his legacy.
In March 1985, Prince single-handedly made history by putting on the show of his entire career, capturing the entire essence of his Purple Rain era with a pay-per-view broadcast in Syracuse. Kicking off with ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ – an opener that was both prophetic and appropriate for such an historic moment – Prince and The Revolution launched into the most high-energy performance anyone had ever seen, not missing a beat from beginning to end.
According to some of the band members on stage that night, there was more than just Prince’s perfectionism at play that made it work well. It was also apparently a culmination of “the whole three-year saga” following the album’s release, according to drummer Robert ‘Bobby Z’ Rivkin, and of feeling the raw energy after being on the road for a couple of months already, and not yet burning out enough to run out of steam. As keyboard player Lisa Coleman told Louder, “There’s a kind of sweet spot when you’re touring and you’ve been out for a couple months and you really have it down. That’s what you’re seeing.”
On top of that, she credited the “special occasion” of being one of the first-ever live concerts “beamed” across the world, all of which reached a standard so high that no one else could ever recreate it. According to guitarist Wendy Melvoin, it was all down to Prince’s level of discipline, which he once described as second to none – everything had to be spot on, right down to the bone.
Along the way, this hyperfixation on perfectionism is also what ensured Prince’s success mid-Purple Rain stretched beyond the tour, especially as he’d agonise over footage after shows, and wouldn’t hesitate to tell members of the band if they’d missed anything or messed something up. It probably seemed a little like overkill at the time, but it’s ultimately what made him both a pioneer of musical excellence and in his own league entirely when it came to entertainment.
You can detect all of these notes in the performance itself. That sense – that Prince was on the cusp of something legendary – was palpable, not just in the intricacy of every single aspect, but in the parts that feel organic and natural, too. You can’t fake real energy, and when it came to ticking all the boxes, with both pragmatism and stage presence, Prince proved that night that he truly had it all.
