Prince's royal tunes, cool moves light up KeyArena

He wore diamonds on the heels of his high-heel boots. Everything about Prince sparkled and shined last night in the first of his two shows at KeyArena.

Rising up in a cloud of smoke out of the center of his cross-shaped stage wearing a brilliant white suit, he opened with the funky title tune of his new comeback album, "Musicology."

Singing into a gold microphone and expertly wielding his guitar, he continued with "Let's Go Crazy," an invitation for everyone in the sold-out arena to get up and dance. "Seattle," he shouted out in Princese, "R U ready 4 me?" as a shower of white confetti and purple ribbons rained down on the crowd.

The intensity continued with some of his biggest songs: "Baby I'm a Star," "Controversy," "When Doves Cry" and "Sign 'O' the Times."

Prince twirled, twisted and jumped, displaying moves as cool and sensual as ever. The audience was in a dance frenzy, too. He even pulled out a fan from the crowd — Tim McQuery, 46, of Kent — to ham it up with some funky moves early in the set.

The first extended song, "D.M.S.R." (Dance Music, Sex, Romance), featured legendary James Brown sax man Maceo Parker. The other saxophonist, Candy Dulfer, later took a lead role in "Controversy."

Prince even did songs he wrote for other people, including "I Feel For U," written for Chaka Khan and "U Got The Look," a hit for Sheena Easton.

He sat in the middle of the stage alone for a series of acoustic songs, including "Little Red Corvette," "Alphabet St.," "Raspberry Beret" and other songs, before the band joined him again for a slow-rocking "I Want To Be Your Lover."

The stage action never stopped, as Prince traveled to all four sides of the stage to play to the whole house, singing into a pistol-grip microphone. The band members, also all in white, kept moving, too, sometimes in choreographed moves. Parker and trombonist Greg Boyer came out in academic gowns and mortar boards for an extended jam, during which Prince slipped under the stage to change into a black-and-white shirt. And wearing Ray-Bans like Ray Charles, Parker paid tribute to the late master, singing, "Georgia on My Mind."

After "Pop Life" and "Let's Work," both with much crowd participation, Prince brought it to a powerful conclusion, with "Life O' the Party," "Kiss" and "Take Me With U." After a long standing ovation, Prince returned in a purple suit with his famous glyph-shaped purple guitar for an extended "Purple Rain."

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com