I leave my place at around 9 to walk to the cinema to see The Godfather of Disco (trailer) at its UK premiere. As I arrive at the venue I see Mel Cheren head into the theatre. And just by chance I sit right next to him during the screening. The film is loosely based on Mel’s autobiography and features lots of interviews. Apart from Mel’s story, I found the interviews with Junior Vasquez (of all people) and Kevin Hedge of Blaze (he cute) most interesting. Also, it was very sad to see some of speeches that were held during Larry Levan’s funeral service.
After the documentary, I said hi to Mel and the director, Gene Graham. Now, let’s hope they’re getting some good distribution for the movie, that you can see it.
Then I rushed across town to get to the Prince afterparty. As Toffi is coming over next weekend and we’re heading to a Prince concert, I didn’t want to spoil the big arena experience and decided not to go to one of the main shows before. Although, Prince does not perform at every afterparty, I was very optimistic.
So, I get there at a quarter to one. 15 minutes later Prince hits the stage. Dressed in a red suit, red hat with big red feathers on top. His keyboard is set up in the middle of the stage and he starts with two Stevie Wonder cover versions, Superstition and Higher Ground, before moving on to A Love Bizarre. The audience goes crazy. He does back up vocals for Marva King on the Chaka Khan cover of Sweet Thing. Then, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker.
Most of the songs feature saxophone solos by Maceo Parker, of James Brown and Parliament/George Clinton fame.
The whole atmosphere on stage is quite relaxed. At one point Prince sings:
“Learn to work the toilet seat – If it’s up – Put it down” (from the new song, The Rules)
And gets the audience to repeat the lines.
A couple of classic covers follow, like Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin). Prince and the band leave the stage at 2:30 am.
Just one more thing, when he first got on stage, I thought he had scarfed his face just like in the old days. That would have been the icing on the cake.
Watch this site as it turns into a Prince fan page.
So, I spent the remaining hours of my New York trip stalking Mariah and Yoko.
Here are pictures of the 
produzentin 