POP MUSIC REVIEW : Prince Show Goes a Little Too Crazy : The Plot’s Pretty Daffy but Fans Still Delighted

SAN FRANCISCO —  Where did Prince get the screwball idea for Act I of his first U.S. concert tour in five years? A Daffy Duck cartoon?

Fortune cookies have more involving plots than this “dramatization” of large chunks from Prince’s latest album.

If this is the best he can come up with after five years, it’s tempting to suggest that he might have been better off staying away for six.

The man’s a contemporary pop treasure, no doubt about it. But has any other consensus genius in pop music ever made as many embarrassing misjudgments?

Remember his incomprehensible movie “Under the Cherry Moon” or the look-at-me desperation of his Cecil B. DeMille-inspired “Gett Off” spectacle at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards?

Well, get ready for Prince’s new tour, which was staged at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium here during the weekend. Because the singer is ill, his three-day engagement at the Universal Amphitheatre, which was scheduled to begin tonight, kicks off Thursday.

The show’s concept was introduced Saturday even before our hero took the stage.

Seconds before the houselights dimmed, a mythical Middle Eastern king, introduced to the audience as Prince’s special guest, emerged from backstage to take his seat in the audience. He was accompanied by his daughter and some bodyguards, all attired in traditional robes and hoods.

Knowing Prince as we do, it’s not hard to guess that our star is soon going to try to win the princess’s heart (and more). Being the shy sort, of course, he dispatches two of his dancers/sidemen into the audience to muscle her away from the bodyguards and protesting father.

Also knowing Prince, it’s no surprise that the daughter--Mayte--quickly sheds her robe and veil. Faster than you can say cliche, she becomes yet another sexy Princette, complete with fishnet stockings and skin-tight halter top.

Mayte then spends most of show’s opening 90 minutes slithering around the stage while our Prince sings to or about her.

There is also a subplot--something about Prince being tormented by the media--but we’ll spare you those details.

Suffice it to say that all this low-grade and low-yield action does is simply underscore the emptiness of Prince’s vision in the new album and frequently distract from the momentum of the music--which is splendidly performed by Prince’s New Power Generation band and a nifty horn section.

No one is as good as Prince at creating irresistible funk grooves, and this band knows how to hook into them. The musicians also offer, in places, the explosiveness that makes you daydream about them playing with Prince back in the mid-’80s, when he was a standard by which everyone else in pop was measured.

That was a time when he was not only writing great songs, however, but also challenging sexual and social taboos with almost unprecedented boldness.

Now, Prince seems either uncertain of his own strengths or devoid of vision. Much like Michael Jackson, he has gone in one decade from being one of the most liberating and magnetic forces ever in pop music to someone who seems to be trying merely to maintain his stardom.

None of this is to say that the audience Saturday wasn’t delighted. In fact, reviews of the show around the country have also been generally positive, and sometimes glowing.

Implicit in that acceptance of this show, however, is a willingness to view Prince as a simply an entertainer, not the pop visionary or influence that he once was.

The clumsiness of this show, which is neither truly witty nor provocative, continues his aimless artistic drift.

Despite the warm crowd response, Prince--who has woven elements of rap and hip-hop into his old rock-soul base--came alive only sporadically during Act I, most notably at the end when he set aside all the nonsense about the princess and the media and simply sang a first-rate song (“7”) with focus and passion.

Returning after intermission, Prince opened promisingly with show-stopping versions of “Let’s Go Crazy” and “Kiss,” complete with his patented siren-like guitar lines, razor-sharp dance steps and involving, falsetto-edged vocals. Unfortunately, he also showed he’s still adept at cliches, including endless bumps and grinds.

Prince has shed some of his old arrogance, making him appear a slightly warmer and more approachable person. He even ventured into the audience at one point. But all that was small substitute for the magic of his “Controversy” and “Purple Rain” years.

Who would have thought that six years short of his mythical year 1999, the man behind “Dirty Mind” would be open to the charge of “Empty Mind”?

Too harsh a judgment?

Well, it’s time for Prince to prove it wrong.

NEW CONCERT DATES

Because he is ill, Prince’s Universal Amphitheatre dates tonight and Wednesday have been reset to Friday and Saturday.

L.A. Concerts Rescheduled

Because Prince has an upper respiratory infection, his Universal Amphitheatre concerts scheduled for tonight and Wednesday have been postponed until Friday and Saturday. Tickets for tonight will be honored on Friday and tickets for Wednesday will be good Saturday, or refunds may be obtained at point of purchase. The show scheduled for Thursday is unaffected.