My Secret Purple Life :)

It's not something I talk about often.

 In fact, many of my closest friends had no idea that I am, and almost always have been, a huge fan of the musician, Prince. Shocking, I know :)

 This photo of me in my favourite and well-worn Purple Rain t-shirt (which I may still have somewhere) with my brother dates back to my early teenage years, when my hair was short (for the first time since I was a baby) and my legs were skinny :) From the moment I heard the opening melody of "When Doves Cry", I was a fan.

The obsession only grew as I discovered his earlier albums...For You, Prince, Dirty Mind, Contraversy,1999. ..loved them all. I decorated my bedroom with Prince posters  (and chocolate wrappers, but that's a story for another time LOL), and basically did the teenage hero worship thing.

As each new album was released during the 1980's and 1990's, they became my new favourite.

 CDs gradually overtook vinyl as the preferred format for music and my vinyl collection of older Prince albums became less and less listened to....the music quality of CDs was so much better, and my record player wasn't exactly putting out clean, crisp sound :)

Fast forward to earlier this year, when I discovered the wonderful world of i-tunes! There they were, my very favourite Prince albums, all listed and available for purchase and download to my iphone! My credit card took a major battering as I added each one to my collection once again, and I listened happily for hours on end...my earphones a permanent attachment to my head.

Then came the news in April that Prince was touring Australia for the first time in almost 10 years...Eastern states only, and in May. My credit card may never ever recover, but I just HAD to go.

 So I booked my ticket...scored the seat of my dreams...and took off for Sydney. My little brother kindly agreed to come too...he's not a fan, but a really good brother :)

 Words can't describe how I felt to be sitting in that audience. It was surreal. As the opening chords of Purple Rain began, the tears were flowing down my cheeks...I was officially overwhelmed.

As each new song began, I would grab my brothers arm, so ecstatic to be witnessing each one of them live. I was like a woman possessed. I danced and sang and cried and clapped so damn hard my hands were aching.

Prince came on for 4 encores that night. As a long term Prince fan, I knew that he will often come back on stage after most of the audience had left and the house lights had come on...and he did. The backing vocalists came on first and motioned for the remaining fans to come down close to the stage, and we experienced our own private jam session with the man himself. Good grief. It just doesn't get any better.

So there you go. My secret purple life is a secret no more...especially since I spent a fortune on Prince merchandise, and once again own a Prince t-shirt that actually fits :)

TTFNxxx