Prince delivers magical marathon at the Fox

An adventure that started with a notice just before midnight last Friday culminated just after midnight this morning, when Prince wrapped up a masterful, ageless performance at the Fox Theatre.

It was a funky 21/ 2 -hour marathon that included the most genuine sort of encore you're apt to see, as a relentless, screaming Detroit crowd drew Prince and his band back out to the stage 10 minutes after the show's apparent planned finish.

Nimble and sharp in a gold outfit Thursday night, the 56-year-old dynamo offered a set of songs seasoned with time but bristling with energy, happy to celebrate his career's biggest hits while offering more adventurous stuff for the diehards.

The diverse Fox crowd — the lucky 5,000 who scored the high-demand tickets — had a week to gear up following the show's abrupt announcement last Friday, and they seemed to arrive with energy pent up since Prince's 2004 Detroit visit.

"It seems like only yesterday," he said as the night began. "They tell me it's been 11 years. If that's the case, we're going to play 17 hits in a row, until I see tears!"

There were minimal bum notes on a night that wound up with far more than 17 songs: With his tight, versatile 3rdeyegirl trio behind him, Prince offered a little of everything, tapping deeper corners of his catalog, performing surveys of pop-funk history, and reinventing familiar fare.

The onstage ensemble grew and shrunk throughout the night, occasionally stripped down to a bare essence — drums and keyboard for "When Doves Cry" — and expanding to a full complement of horns and backup singers for ebullient numbers like "U Got the Look." Prince himself was mobile, operating with a guitar at the center mic, heading to a keyboard for stretches and even strapping on a bass.

"Let's Go Crazy" had kicked it all off, evolving into a frenzy of guitar and strobe lights for the first of the night's lengthy solo sections. Prince was in a musically playful mood all evening, unpacking his songs' arrangements, twisting the pieces into new forms, and leading the band through extended breakdowns.

The showmanship was in full gear — a "Little Red Corvette" that saw him twirling and moving with sultry swagger at center stage, an emotive "Nothing Compares 2 U" that sent him to the floor. All came with a voice that still seems to be serving Prince well, as he rolled through the falsetto curlicues of "Kiss" and nailed the plaintive screech on songs like "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"

He paid tribute to a city that's long been a hotspot through his four-decade career.

"You've always been so good to me, Detroit," he said. "You've got a beautiful city and beautiful people. Please take care of it for me so I can come back."

That next time, he offered, could perhaps be at the Palace — though in the mercurial world of Prince, who has undertaken a tour of spontaneous, surprise shows, anything is possible.

He worked to give Thursday night a community party feel, often bringing up the house lights, leading the crowd's arm-waving, working call-and-response moments, and at one point welcoming a handful of fans to dance onstage.

One downer note: Fox security staffers, saying they were acting on the artist's instructions, spent the evening doggedly policing audience members with cell phones. Not just fans shooting video or photos, but anyone with an illuminated screen. (Ticket buyers had been alerted ahead of time about the ban.)

That went out the door midway through when Prince asked fans to light up the Fox with phones aloft, sticking with it through "1999." But that would have been no consolation for fans already removed from the theater, including at least one escorted out by Detroit police.

Those who were around, though, got to see a show that grew more special as it unfolded. Keeping up with the multiple encores became a blur, as Prince and company ducked offstage to promptly return for another round. All seemed to be finished after a twofer that included a guitar-driven "She's Always in My Hair" and a reliably epic "Purple Rain," which has been closing most of Prince's recent concerts. A smattering of fans confidently headed for the exits.

But most of the crowd stayed put, and for 10 loud minutes, whistles, screams and chants filled the Fox. It had been 11 years since Detroit had seen Prince, and this crowd wasn't going to let him go away easily.

He and the band eventually reemerged to a roar, digging through their repertoire to concoct a 13-minute jam packed with "Act of God," Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately," Starguard's "Which Way Is Up" and the Jackson 5's "Dancing Machine."

They worked for another 20 minutes as the clock edged past midnight, with Prince manning his digital piano for "Forever in My Life" and navigating his sampler through quick renditions of hits like "A Love Bizarre" and "Pop Life." And finally, with a heart-tugging "The Love We Make," Prince bid farewell to a Detroit audience that won't want to be waiting another 11 years.