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A14 PEOPLE & ARTS
Tuesday 24 May 2022
When purple reigned: A 1985 Prince concert finds a new life

By MARK KENNEDY “Purple Rain.”
AP Entertainment Writer “I do feel like it was a pearl
NEW YORK (AP) — The first amongst a really great
thing you hear is a famil- necklace,” says Wendy
iar voice over the sound Melvoin, a guitarist and
of thousands of screaming singer in the Revolution.
fans. “The only difference was
“Hello, Syracuse and the that it was being televised
world. My name is Prince worldwide. And there was
and I’ve come to play with a bit more pressure on us to
you.” kind of up our game.”Over
The Purple One soon ar- the course of the perfor-
rives, rising up through the mance, Prince makes sev-
stage wearing an animal eral costume changes,
print jumpsuit with a ruffled jumps around the set’s
white frock, a guitar slug scaffolding, strips down to
across his back as “Let’s just pants and necklaces,
Go Crazy” starts. “Dearly writhes suggestively in a
beloved, we are gathered bathtub and drives the
here today...” he says. crowd crazy with such lines
It’s the electric beginning as: “Do you want me?”
of a high-energy concert The gig was an early pay-
in upstate New York held per-view event and was
more than three decades nominated for a Grammy
ago, reworked and re-re- Prince performs at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Feb. 18, 1985. Award for best longform
leased on video and au- Associated Press music video. The concert
dio capturing Prince & The was later put out on VHS
Revolution at their peak. Would Die 4 U,” among platforms, a three-LP vinyl Bobby Z, a Prince friend but the quality of the audio
“It was as amazing as I re- others. version, a two-CD version since they met in 1976. and visuals were poor.
member it was,” says Lisa It closes with a sensual, and a Blu-ray of the con- “That band is cooking like a “I’m really excited for a
Coleman, a Revolution knock-out “Purple Rain,” cert film. freight train.” next generation of Prince
member who was there with Prince in a shimmering There’s also a limited edi- Prince fans have another fans to see what it was all
that night singing and play- cloak delivering a solo that tion box set featuring three reason to be happy this about.
ing keys. Adds drummer lasts several minutes and colored LPs, two CDs, the summer: “Prince: The Im- He wasn’t, you know, just
Bobby Z: “The next genera- shows off an immensely tal- Blu-ray video, a 44-page mersive Experience” makes some average guy. This
tion needs to see this be- ented guitarist. book with never-before- its worldwide debut on was a seriously talented,
cause this is what it was all “You can tell that he knows seen photos of the Purple June 9 in Chicago. It offers unbelievable dancer, sing-
about.” what he’s doing there he Rain Tour, and new liner visitors the chance to ex- er, bandleader, showman,
The March 30, 1985, con- is lighting up the world. He notes penned by all five plore his wardrobe, music composer, musician.
cert at the Carrier Dome in always played it like there members of the Revolution. influences and hits. This was a one-in-a-billion
Syracuse, New York, includ- was no tomorrow. But that “I was so proud of him and The Syracuse concert individual,” says Bobby Z.
ed the songs “Delirious,” one is especially moving,” the band we put together came at the end of a 100- Melvoin says die-hard
“1999,” “Little Red Cor- says Bobby Z. and everything at that mo- odd date tour and Prince Prince fans may have al-
vette,” “Take Me Home,” “Prince and The Revolution: ment and the fact that it and the band are by this ready seen bootleg ver-
“Let’s Pretend We’re Mar- Live” will be released June lives on and that this beau- time a tight and sleek ma- sions but hopes that the
ried,” “Computer Blue,” 3 in a variety of formats, tiful project is coming out chine, piggybacking off new album and film can
“When Doves Cry” and “I including digital streaming is something special,” says the wild success of the film inspire other artists.q

Cannes: Transylvania-set ‘R.M.N.’ probes a ubiquitous crisis

By JAKE COYLE yond, wherever immigra- your own elections in your
AP Film Writer tion and national identities own countries.”
CANNES, France (AP) — have collided. When a local bakery in
Cristian Mungiu’s Cannes Mungiu, the celebrated need of workers most of
Film Festival entry “R.M.N.” Romanian filmmaker of the the town’s men have gone
is set in an unnamed moun- landmark 2007 abortion abroad to find work hires a
tainous Transylvanian vil- drama “4 Months, 3 Weeks few men from Sri Lanka, a
lage in Romania, but the and 2 Days,” has long been Romanian village’s already
conflicts of ethnocentric- accustomed to his films be- complicated mix of ethnici-
ity, racism and nationalism ing written off as grim por- ties Romanian, Hungarian,
that permeate the multi- traits of a faraway Eastern German turn increasingly
ethnic town could take Europe. It’s a caricature he volatile. But “R.M.N.,” which
place almost anywhere. rejects, especially when it features a powerhouse
Of all the films competing comes to “R.M.N.” 17-minute single shot of a
for the top Palme d’Or prize “Whenever journalists in- contentious town meeting,
at Cannes, none may be terpret that it’s yet again from the start teases at the
quite as of the moment as another somber painting question of who, exactly, is
Orsolya Moldovan, from left, Marin Grigore, Macrina Barladeanu,
director Cristian Mungiu, Judith State, and Maria Dragus pose for “R.M.N.” The movie, using of this country, well, it’s not an outsider and who gets
photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film ‘R.M.N.’ a Romanian microcosm, about that country or not to define tradition. In the
at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, captures the us-vs-them only about that country,” end, even the village’s lo-
Saturday, May 21, 2022. battles that have played Mungiu told reporters Sun- cal bears could be said to
Associated Press out across Europe and be- day. “It’s good to check have their say.q