MUMBAI: How do you pull out the bests from the three-decade-long discography that involves compositions from none other than the High Priest of Pop – Prince? Well, the question has been disconcerting Luke Kenny since the moment the artist initiated the tribute night for the late pop legend, to be held at Worli’s Hard Rock Café on 9 June.
Luke Kenny with The Purple Knights would occupy the stage at the Hard Rock Café for over two relentless hours of Prince’s original compositions, ranging from the earlier albums like ‘Prince’ to the two volumes of ‘Hit n Run’. The set will include the entire track-list of Prince’s arguably most popular work – Purple Rain, incidentally also the album that exposed Kenny to the legend.
“The songs selection has been the most difficult part of all, to be honest,” said Kenny, further adding, “He had over 40 albums. How do you pull a set with a discography as rich and entertaining as Prince’s? For the Thursday night tribute, the band and I would be performing some of the evergreen hits, followed by the compositions that the people have forgotten. The mission of the entire night would be to ensure that the attendees leave the venue discovering, and hopefully humming, to the unheard and popular Prince’s songs.”
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For Luke Kenny, Prince has been as an influential personality during his initial foray into the entertainment industry as other personalities from pop culture, say Amitabh Bachchan and Michael Jackson. “What Prince taught me was in spite of changing his looks for every album, the character inside remained the same. His live performances were never similar to the studio sounds, and the ‘performer’ in him ensured there’s more to music than just composing them.”
Kenny’s initial plan involved the tribute night to be held on 7 June 2016, for what could have been The Purple One’s 58th birthday. “We could not execute the initial plan as the venue – Hard Rock Café – has always been hosting Thursdays for tribute nights. People are familiar with the concept. Even I wanted to organise the show on his birthday, but the anniversaries are just another way of remembering people. In case of Prince, every day is a celebration of his legacy.”
Kenny, who last performed with his band at Kala Ghoda in February, would be seen performing solo on a couple of songs during the set. Any hopes of seeing the musician in a purple suit? “I do not have one in my wardrobe, but yes, I did think about it. However, the fans will witness a lot of purple elements during the show.” The band ‘The Purple Knight’ comprises of Vivaan Kapoor on drums, Alok Kulkarni on guitars, Agnee’s bassist Chirayu Vedekar and keyboardist Jai Krishnan. As a tribute to Prince’s emphasis on improvisations, Kenny has also included saxophonist Amar Sukhi as the guest musician for the tribute gig.
The gig will be held under Radio One’s property ‘Forever Rock’ that has been celebrating the icons of Rock n Roll every month. With promotions on radio stations, offline activities and social media, Kenny has ensured the word spreads, because as the ‘Prince fan’ puts it, “This is the least we can do for Prince.”
