Prince hits Hop Farm

Prince – Hop Farm, 3rd July.

A few weeks ago now, yes, but an occasion I shan’t forget. Prince on stage on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Kent, pleasuring Lord knows how many thousand people, young and (mostly) older. And the old man – 53!-  looked to be having just as good a time as me, my brother Spencer and friend Jess, who had been drawn from Birmingham and Bristol to witness this event.

The reviews are already out. Gig of the year, best thing since sliced bread, a living legend, and so on. And all true, in my humble musical purple-tinted opinion.. I am considering getting my first tattoo since that gig. Mother isn’t best pleased, but I’m quite sure that I’ll still be as into his music in 50 years time. Only problem – will the Prince symbol still look as good on a bingo wing as on my current toned swimmer’s arms? Erm. I’ll think a little longer on it.

As a late addition to the festival, the tickets to see Prince were not cheap – £70 + £10 booking fee) and festival goers who had already booked tix for the original Fri & Sat only Hop Farm -had to pay extra to get the Purple Popmeister on the Sunday. When looking around that day as we hung out at the main stage and drank 7% cider, it seemed everyone was there just for the day, to see him (resisting the urge to use a capital ‘H’ – is that some sort of blasphemy?). This felt good. Like we belonged! And even though the excitement began to wane a tiny bit and the sore back set as his scheduled start time came and went, it was all forgotten once he made it to stage. He broke out all the classics, too many to mention, and truly moved me.

Prince worked the crowd, his voice as versatile and powerful as ever. He screamed, played guitar, shook his bum, and serenaded us, and his lovely band. His all female (bar the drummer) hot female band… I began to wonder where he might find such a beautiful crew of talented musicial ladies. No denying their talents – the music was tight – but I wondered if Prince chose them by looks or musical talents first..? Could the music have been even more electric by swapping out some of the gorgeous brown-skinned ladies for a more rough and ready bunch of jazz / funk musicians…? He kept saying ‘this is real music, we are real musicians’. He wouldn’t lie to us, would he?!

Only way to compare is to get to more gigs. Though the price isn’t quite as reasonable as the 2007  02 gigs, priced at £31.21 (to complement his album: 3121). While we, the humble fans, age with the passage of time, Prince seems to be to free from this condition. And I absolutely refuse to believe the awful rumours he may have had ‘work done’! The man represents youth, excitement, and soul to me. I reckon I’ve heard more of his voice and words than that of my own mother. Crazy to think it, I know. And as long as I’m around, I’m going to be listening. Because regardless of what his backing singers and beautiful band may or may not be, he is a real musician, and a true star. The likes of which are unmatched. There are no contenders. The purple corner wins, hands down.