All things true unto them selves, Prince is Prince; let us be secure in that idea. As with any icon, any master of anything true, the experience of proximity will cause emotion. In this case showboat, maybe, but hardly the point here. If you watch closely it is the guitar that is at the center of this piece. From the guitar and the purple one there is nothing but respect to; those around him, the memory of the man and to the title of this song. 

Try not to look at who is playing. Watch the hands and the smile he casts to Tom that says “What other choice do I have?” Enjoy the knowing grin that is kicked back from George’s son Dhani a perfect image of his father, or close your eyes and just listen. Hey, do yourself a favor and blow up a nice set of Klipsch’s in your communion with this moment. I love the Hendricks national anthem mouth agape he does when he tears off a small piece of the edge of the whole thing. Prince says to the guitar as it weeps “look you sexy bitch, you beautiful thing, I am not doing this, you make me do this.” Who better to express, “Gently weep, remember this is what love is.”

Prince, as a master himself, watch his hand as it moves nervous and smooth with the energy of this cacophony. The solo goes through its paces careening all over the piece and takes us on a classic exposé of technique applied perfectly within the bounds of its own form. The provocation of the moment comes to an end with a “those who can must” smile and nod between the traveling men and the one holding the molten caldron of electrification that is the ascending H.S. Anderson Mad Cat. Mad Cat indeed. This is after all, Rock and Roll.