Just 17 years ago we partied like it was 1999—because it was.
When I got the sad news last month that Prince had left the planet, I was working at home and the first thing I did was reach for a maroon binder on my bookshelf. It was a scrapbook from a fun concert that a few dozen of my musician friends and I put on around the turn of the millennium called “1999: A Tribute to Prince.”
It was part of a series of multi-band tribute shows I booked at the Empty Bottle, honoring ‘80s icons like Sade, Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Madonna, with the proceeds going to various charities. The Prince tribute show raised a couple thousand dollars for the Minneapolis to Chicago AIDS Ride, which several of the performers completed soon after the gig.
Each of the 12 acts got up and did their renditions of two classic Prince tunes, sharing equipment to allow for quick band changes. The room was packed with party people, and non-stop dancing ensued.
There were too many heartfelt, scandalous and hilarious performances to recount them all here. Soulful singer-songwriter Kelly Hogan (who has recently toured with the Decembrists and Neko Case) performed sultry versions of slow jams like “If I Was Your Girlfriend” and “Slow Love.” Funky hard-rock band Mr. Rudy Day got freaky with covers of “Erotic City” and “Alphabet Street.”
The all-woman punk trio the Puta-Pons performed “When Doves Cry” and “U Got the Look” while wearing lingerie and negligees, inspired by Prince protégés like Apollonia and Vanity (the latter of whom sadly passed away two months before her former Svengali did).
Masked garage rockers the Goblins condensed side two of the notorious Dirty Mind album into a six-minute medley. Goblins singer the Phantom Creeper was resplendent in a violet Edwardian coat, while bassist Buh Zombie referenced guitarist Dez Dickerson of the Revolution by wearing his trademark rising-sun headband.
I was fortunate enough to perform “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” and “Raspberry Beret” with legendary groupie and sculptor Cynthia Plastercaster providing backing vocals. Cynthia is perhaps best know for creating a cast of the penis of Jimi Hendrix, one of Prince’s key influences, in the late ‘60s at Chicago’s Hilton Hotel.
I’m happy that we got to show our appreciation for Prince’s brilliant and joyful music while the man was still alive. I’d like to think that our offbeat evening was a fitting tribute to the man who once called himself “The purple Yoda… from the heart of Minnesota.”
Check out a set of photos from the 1999 show below:
Kelly Hogan
Andy Hopkins of Mr. Rudy Day
The Puta-Pons
The Phantom Creeper of the Goblins
Buh Zombie of the Goblins
Cynthia Plastercaster (left) and John Greenfield (second from left)
All photos by Ralph Syverson