Plenty of bold names ended up onstage during Prince’s incredible two-and-a-half-hour show at New York’s Madison Square Garden Monday night (Feb. 7). Opener Cee Lo Green belted out “Crazy” while Prince gave his Telecaster a workout, and Roots’ drummer ?uestlove sat in on drums for “Cream.” Kim Kardashian, meanwhile, managed only to get get booted off the stage by the man himself, after he invited her up to dance and she just stood there. If she was worried about slipping in her precarious heels, that’s no excuse — Prince spent half the show spinning, sliding, and grooving around the giant central stage in four-inch, rhinestone-encrusted heels of his own.
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Video: Prince kicks Kim Kardashian offstage at Madison Square Garden
Fittingly, the extra star power in the room — which also included Chris Rock chilling side-stage — was just a sideshow to Prince, who was performing the last of his Welcome 2 America shows at the Garden.
Just one day after the brief, artificial pop machinations of the Black Eyed Peas’ halftime performance at Super Bowl XLV, the man who arguably did the best halftime show ever (in 2007) rose through a gate in the stage in head-to-toe sparkling gold and got the entire sold-out MSG crowd on their feet, moving, singing, and even screaming for the duration of a set so studded with nuggets from his deep catalog, it was impossible to full keep track of all the bits of hits and favorites he threw into the mix. “1999,” “Controversy,” “Little Red Corvette,” and “Purple Rain” came in quick succession, while “Sign O The Times” collided with “Alphabet Street,” and standing at his purple piano he mashed up “Pop Life,” “I Would Die For You,” and a sample of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.”
For all of the praise Prince has drawn his whole career for his voice, his moves, and his songs, the show served as a reminder that he is also easily one of the best guitarists alive, serving up virtuosic solos effortlessly and often.
Kardashian, possibly literally, was the only member of the 19,000 person audience who wasn’t dancing all night. The crowd first jumped up during Cee Lo’s opening set — when he performed his hit, “F**k You,” curiously letting the crowd sing the obscenities as the telepromter just flashed “No F Word” instead of lyrics — and they were still on their feet as Prince brought the festivities to a close at the end of a third encore, with the house lights up, to a mashup of Sly & the Family Stone’s “Everyday People” and “Higher.”