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W e rst gathered for an o - cial tribute concert that was organised to bid farewell to Princein2016.Weperformed for a full ve hours and it was amazing. We were joined by numerous musicians and the evening was unforgettable, almost historic. People said that the concert was just what they needed, now that Prince is no longer here ~ says Morris Hayes, Prince’s right-hand man and the band’s music director, speak- ing at the beginning of this interview for Elevate and explaining how he came up with the idea of launching the Celebrating Prince tour, which pays homage to this un- surpassed artist. That’s because there are few musicians who have de ned and rede ned pop, rock, R&B, funk, soul and just about every other genre in the way Prince did, from his debut album in 1978 to the last, 39 th , which was released in two parts in 2015. He was kind of a ghter against established music ideals and the dictatorship of the music industry. He rejected new ways of distributing music like online streaming, selling albums along- side concert tickets... “Some days it was wonderful to work with him, other days it was very di cult. Sometimes I just wanted to cry. Prince al- ways worked very hard. He was a perfection-
“We saw MacKenzie’s appearance some- where on the internet and thought he was a great entertainer. Our manager contact- ed him, and he thought it was a joke. We brought him to Minneapolis prior to the Super Bowl, where we performed togeth- er, and we fell in love with him instantly when he started singing at the rehearsal,” recalls Hayes. Prince was a performer who would take every tiny bit of attention from the live au- dience and redirect it to his own perfor- mance. NPG continues to play as though their boss is still on stage, with a musical kaleidoscope of the most famous hits from all periods of Prince’s career. That’s because when Prince formed the band in 1990, he personally wrote a press release to intro- duce NPG to the world, stating that his new band was“the best ever”. NPG is trying to re- pay him by placing him on a pedestal even now, when he is – at least physically – no longer present… “Lay down your funky weapon, come join us on the oor. Making love and mu- sic’s the only things worth ghting for. We are the new power generation, we want to change the world. The only thing that’s in our way is you. Your old fashioned music, your old ideas. We’re sick and tired of you telling us what to do… ”(Prince)
ist. Still, I think most of my days spent work- ing with him were exciting and wonderful. That’s an adventure that you don’t forget. He wanted everything to be the best that it could be. We often practised all day and night. He transferred his desire to be at the top onto us. We still play as though he’s on stage. We will always miss him,”says Hayes, who is bringing The New Power Generation to Bitefartcafe on 16 th and 17 th December. Devotees describe their performanc- es as therapeutic because they celebrate Prince’s life and music. Colleagues, follow- ers and students have united to preserve a music legend from oblivion by playing as though he’s still here. “The thing is that Prince is irreplacea- ble. He is an anomaly. Michael Jackson is an anomaly. These people cannot be repeated. They have departed, and we have what they left us: music. We want to be careful with that legacy, to respect it and to perform in such a way that if Prince were here he would jump on stage and do his thing,”says Hayes. After they were joined by di erent vo- calists during the rst year of the tour, NPG found what they were lacking in their cur- rent singer, the charismatic MacKenzie. By not trying to imitate the legend, rather show- ing him respect and honour through authen- tic performances, he also earned respect.
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