On Friday night at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver, CO, a packed house gathered together to get through this thing called life with an epic tribute to the recently passed Prince Rogers Nelson. And with no shortage of recent tragedies, for a few hours at least, the love was truly in the air. A lineup consisting of Aron Magner (The Disco Biscuits), Dave Watts (The Motet), Marcus Rezak (Digital Tape Machine), Nick Gerlach (Turbo Suit), Gabriel Mervine (The Motet), Cory Baker, and singers Nephrok (The Nephrok! Allstars), Tanya Shylock, and Emily Clark put on a two-set rocker of a show.

The band came out of the gates strong with a “Let’s Go Crazy” opener that got the room heated up rather quickly. Lead singer Nephrok, dressed in full Prince attire, showcased some serious vocals skills, along with Tanya Shylock and Emily Clark. The first set featured early Prince hits such as “1999”, “Raspberry Beret”, “Cream”, and a super funky “DMSR (Dance Music Sex Romance)” that had every booty in the house shaking. 

Set two continued in the same fashion, as the group let things fly off the handle with some outstanding solos from Marcus Rezak on guitar and Aron Magner on keys leading the way. The Motet drummer Dave Watts and bassist Cory Baker’s rhythm section laid down some serious grooves all night, while Nicholas Gerlach and Gabriel Mervine rounded things out nicely on sax and trumpet, respectively, especially on “Sexy MF”. A fitting end to the second set, “Purple Rain” saw the entire house sing along while Rezak triumphed on one of the most epic guitar solos ever written.

As the encore of “1 + 1 + 1 is 3” ended the evening, you could feel the love for one of the most unique and talented artists to ever grace this Earth. Prince was taken from us too soon, but with incredible tributes such as what occurred last night at Cervantes with a stellar lineup of musicians, his music will always live on. 

Purple Rain

A Love Bizarre

[Pro-shot video courtesy of Jackson Gould and SassTV]

Prince Tribute Setlist – Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom – 7/8/16

Set 1:
Let’s Go Crazy
1999
Raspberry Beret
Lolita
Cream
I Want To Be Your Lover
Little Red Corvette
DMSR
A Love Bizarre

Set 2:
Kiss
Controversy
Pop Life
Sexy MF
Bambi
Nothing Compares 2 U
Darling Nikki
Purple Rain

Encore:
1 + 1 + 1 is 3

Photos by Bill McAlaine: