Arsenio

Prince, his new band and his old band, and a great many dancers stormed The Arsenio Hall Show on Wednesday night. The Purple One chatted with Arsenio and the crowd, but that was beside the point: the performances, man. The damn songs. I’ve got a walking-out-of-an-insane-concert high and I’m just sitting in an uncomfortable chair writing a blog post.

Kicking off the show, Prince and his year-old band, 3rdEyeGirl, premiered a new song from the forthcoming Plectrum Electrum, “Funknroll.” (The title’s significant: Prince has been calling his new band’s style funk ’n’ roll for a while. Arsenio, meanwhile, introduced ’em as an “astral-travelin’ explosion of awesome.”) Prince appeared out of nowhere like a magician, guitarless, and started having all the fun someone can have. Within 20 seconds, I would’ve paid at least $800 just to be remotely near the vibes he was emanating. The New Power Generation, Prince’s band through the ’90s and the aughts, made a surprise appearance for the third period, brassing the hell out of everything.

[protected-iframe id=”ffaca55674ecfc46262b68b1dbaad844-60203239-57808363″ info=”http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1″ width=”540″ height=”304″]

The interview portion was a quick reminder how otherworldly Prince’s existence is. The man only knows how to — and only needs to know how to — cook a single thing, an omelet. He doesn’t know what an infomercial is. And, back on planet Earth, he actually has a dead-sensible pet peeve: “Strangers touching my hair,” he deadpanned, going on to pantomime punching the next person who does it.

Then he played executioner for a troubled couple.

[protected-iframe id=”ac257ca23c63596f36ed4ca1ce6dfce8-60203239-57808363″ info=”http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1″ width=”540″ height=”304″]

Prince wound up picking up the ax for “She’s Always in My Hair,” and closed the night with the New Power Generation and “Mutiny,” off 1985’s The Family. Again: Maaaaaan.

[protected-iframe id=”22266cfc3465cbba6cc61aac42987971-60203239-57808363″ info=”http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1″ width=”540″ height=”304″]

[protected-iframe id=”06a3cc0965527d17b94ec0dd659e13f0-60203239-57808363″ info=”http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1″ width=”540″ height=”304″]