A Purple Rain Concert Tribute to Prince

The compelling song #Purple Rain, by our dear brother Prince, was in the minds of numerous attendees at the concert tribute to this very talented artist. He is missed but the majority of Prince's spiritual brothers and sisters that were in the audience; fixated their hope on seeing him again through the resurrection hope. While on earth Jesus Christ vehemently explained this about our dead loved ones, "Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, . . ." (John 5:28, 29) NWT of the Holy Scriptures. George Stephanopoulos, of the television program #Good Morning America once made this statement regarding Prince's faith, "His faith was very important to him. He was brought into Jehovah's Witnesses by Larry Graham." This concert tribute to #Prince was adroitly filled with numerous multi-talented performers. It was an unforgettable experience in memory of our brother.

Promoter Rick Coley, of Now That's Good Entertainment, at the end of the tribute apologized for one performance by Morris Day and The Time. Elements of that performance were offensive, especially to Jehovah's Witnesses. During my interview with Rick, he expressed these words to those that were offended, "I would like to once again #apologize to those that were offended. Thanks so much for your support. I look forward to your support in 2017 as we start to wind down on the concert scene and focus on the Now That's Entertainment record label. Please support the new record label that is coming out called, The Best of the Songbird on Now That's Entertainment label. Her CD will be on sale in the near future." Coley went on to explain, "I am trying to wind down because it is too much work. I will be doing smaller shows and we would appreciate your continuous support."

Prince is still loved and missed. At the #59th Grammy Awards, #Bruno Mars did a tribute to Prince. It was memorable as we miss this multi-talented artist. The following video is a tribute in memory of our brother #Prince Rogers Nelson, who is missed but not forgotten. Our loving Heavenly Father Jehovah God has conquered death through his son Jesus Christ, therefore we will see Prince again in the future. One of the most powerful songs that have touched the lives of millions entitled, He Will Call is Kingdom Melody #111 is featured on jw.org. It is an inspirational expression of that resurrection promise. All professional photos are from the television shows GMA and CBS This Morning. Please enjoy this tribute.

The evening was filled with resplendent talent that filled our ears and hearts with refined and multi-talented sounds. John the Bossman, started the show as he danced to James Brown with demonstrations of similar characteristics. His performance was quite entertaining and yet somewhat funny. The Bossman, introduced the next group of powerful singers who called themselves Acoustic.

Acoustic, was an assemblage of prominent singers. They began their "journey back in 1990 when Jason Garrett," met Mark Davis through a mutual friend. "They formed a quartet who called themselves 'Acoustic.' They named themselves 'Acoustic' based upon the echoes they would hear as they crooned in the subway tunnels of the Philadelphia subway system. As the young men would sing their hearts out, many onlookers would gather." Jason and Mark, are original member of the group. Now they have been joined with two other distinctive vocalist. Shontella Yancey, is the only female within Acoustic, is a powerful vocal complement to her spiritual brothers. Kyle Brothers, another tremendous vocalist captivated audience members as well. Acoustic, sang such nostalgic, major hits as Wild Flower, With Open Arms, Reasons and Lady In My Life. In memory of Prince, the powerful voices of Acoustic ended their show with Prince's Diamonds and Pearls. It was compelling to see how beautifully they sang this song. It was an illuminating tribute to their spiritual brother.

The performance of Acoustic could not have been as amazing without the efforts of their extremely talented band. Based on their website "Acoustic musicians are: Big Wesley Whitaker (Bass) Stan Williams (Lead Guitar), William Raven (Keys) Colt Younger (Keys) Reggie "Reds" (Drums)" Rick, also played the (Saxophone) during their performance. Through a combination of all of these tremendous sources of talent, Acoustic, is one of the greatest bands of vocals and music out of the Philadelphia area, at this present time.

This special tribute was hosted by Patty Jackson, of WDAS FM, out of Philadelphia. She introduced Carol Riddick, as one of the greatest singers that is "very talented and has a beautiful voice and you feel it deep down in your soul." Patty, was right and we were rewarded by a tremendous vocalist. Artist wiki, described Carol as, "neo-soul, jazz, nu soul and philly smooth. Carol Riddick is no stranger to the music industry. She has been featured with R&B artists such as Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton, Kindred, Norman Brown, and Jeff Bradshaw. Her unique vocal delivery was evident on the platinum selling cd title song "Soulstar" which she was featured with Musiq Soulchild. Carol was one of the background singers for Jill Scott with Vivian Green before stepping out on her own." Thankfully, she made that decision because Carol Riddick's soulful sound is stunning.

The wondrous sound of Carol Riddick's voice does reach down into your soul. She sang Rain Down On Me which is Riddick's current hit. When that song is played on the radio, it reaches down into the very depths of your emotions. There are not many performers who sound identical to what they sound like on the radio but Carol does. The performance of At Last which has been sung by Beyoncé but Carol's version was exquisite. She has a unique style of vocals that captivates the audiences attention. During an interview Carol admitted, "I'm committed to writing empowering, positive music that people can gain inspiration from. It's my hope that listeners will feel the songs as strongly as I do and make them a regular part of their listening experience. I poured my heart and soul into this music and I hope that it touches all who hear it with that same intensity." Carol, you have succeeded.

The music of Morris Day and The Time, generate such descriptive terms as "mad notes, Minnesota eighties-pop, fly and crunk beats." As the prolific leader of the group, Morris' vocals and antics of exaggerated vanity, took the audience back to days of playful, unique music. He is a musician, singer and drummer. Wikipedia, described Morris Day's relationship with the late Prince. "In high school, Day was in a band with Prince and Andre Cymone and the trio formed an early band managed by Day's mother called 'Grand Central,' later renamed 'Champagne.' Later Prince embarked on a solo career but retained Cymone for his backing band." The article goes on to mention how Prince continued to explore other styles of music. In the meantime, Day continued to make strides with his own musical style as well.

Morris Day and The Time, gained tremendous fame in 1984, "when Day played the antagonist to Prince in his feature film Purple Rain and later in Graffiti Bridge (1990), which helped establish Day's playboy stage presence." His valet Jerome Benton, inspires Day to check himself out in the mirror as he sings Ain't Nobody Bad Like Me! They went on during the evening to perform their major hits such as Jungle Love and The Bird. Day expressed that he retired for awhile but his dedicated fan based caused him to return. After his return Day, "reunited with the original members of The Time after 18 years for a performance with Rihanna at the 50th Grammy Awards show."

Audience members who attended this tribute, were definitely disappointed that not one song of Prince's was performed by Morris Day and The Time. There was a nice video presentation although brief about Prince before Day and his band appeared on stage. "It is my hope and prayer that if Morris is going to promote this as a concert tribute to Prince, he should at least perform a few of Prince's songs," explained Linda, an audience member of the show. Numerous Jehovah's Witnesses attended this tribute in search of clean entertainment and memorable songs which were created by their spiritual brother Prince. The evening was still very impactful and fun, due to the outstanding entertainment performed by Carol Riddick, Acoustic and their bands. We appreciate the efforts of promoters Rick Coley, Big Scott Productions and OP Productions. It was an event of pure soulful music.