Purple Xperience 7-10-2015-026

Photo by Funkatopia

Review: The Purple Xperience – John’s Creek, GA

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When you live near a major metropolitan area and Prince avoids your town for over 14 years (unintentionally or not), you take your fix where you can get it. So, I was thrilled when I heard that a Prince tribute band was coming to town named The Purple Xperience and even more thrilled to find out that at the helm of the keyboards was the one and only original Prince and the Revolution member Matt “Doctor” Fink.

Photo by Christine Swanson Photography
Photo by Christine Swanson Photography

Imagine my surprise when all of the preconceived notions I may have had went out the window. I knew they would open with Let’s Go Crazy. They didn’t.  I knew that they would close the entire show with Purple Rain. They didn’t. And I also knew that I would have to have a massive suspension of disbelief to feel like I was at a Prince concert. It wasn’t that massive at all and the biggest misconception was that it would not sound at all like Prince vocally. Shockingly, it did.

Fronted by the very talented Marshall Charloff, he hits all of the falsettos and screams and switches wardrobes a few times during the evening to keep the ladies in swoon. And unlike other Prince tribute bands, Marshall plays amazingly fluid guitar and great piano work as well.  The most impressive of which is the vocal work which he has nailed down to a science. Not to mention the sing alongs he leads the crowd through and the audience banter he’s nailed.

Dr. Fink was also at the top of his game with all of his trademark sound patches and riffs. When you consider that Fink actually co-wrote many of the songs you hear during the evening including Dirty Mind, America, Computer Blue and many others, it becomes much more satisfying. And let’s not forget that he is one of the pioneers of that buzzy funk we’ve all grown to love and adore. The innovator was in the house.

The rest of the band also does up the outfits to re-enact the nostalgia and complete the picture. The band stays tight and does great backup vocal work and at some points even picking up vocal nuances for Marshall to round out the sound.  From Dez’s trademark headband to Bobby Z’s perm. It was all there.

Purple Xperience 7-10-2015-026
Photo by Funkatopia

As you would expect, the band took on a very large chunk of the hits including Kiss, Let’s Go Crazy, Take Me With U, Raspberry Beret, Uptown and the likes, but also broke out occasional surprises like Darling Nikki, Pop Life complete with the audio segues you hear on the album, a revamped piano version of Ballad Of Dorothy Parker, and other delights we won’t ruin for you.

In short, the Minneapolis based tribute band isn’t just any other act. It is a full blown performance juggernaut and well worth the price of admission. And for hardcore Prince fans, having Dr. Fink at the helm makes the entire experience fun and nostalgic. To make it even more incredible, it sounds truly fantastic.

If they’re coming through your town, it will definitely be worth it and the perfect itch for those towns that get neglected. Cough, cough, Atlanta, cough.

Be sure to check the full photo album on our Facebook page!

And check out their Facebook page to find out where they’re playing next!

4 thoughts on “Review: The Purple Xperience – John’s Creek, GA

  1. THE ONLY PRINCE TRIBUTE BAND WITH A ORIGINAL PRINCE BAND MEMBER DR MATT FINK

    MATT FINK PLAYED WITH PRINCE FOR 12 YEARS.

    WON 3 ACADEMY AWARDS FOR THE ICONIC MOTION PICTURE, “PURPLE RAIN”

    2 GRAMMY AWARDS

    2 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS

    STARRED IN THE MOVIES, PURPLE RAIN & UNDER THE CHERRY MOON

    AS WELL AS ALL THE PRINCE HIT SONGS , VIDEOS AND TOURED ALL OF THE WORLD WITH PRINCE.

    The Purple Xperience with Original Prince band member Matt Fink do a Exciting, fun and loving tribute to Prince.

    National Tour Dates

    May 26 Soundboard Motor City Casino Detroit MI;

    May 28 Priarie Capitol Convention Center Springfield IL;

    June 3 Four Winds Casino New Buffalo MI;

    June 4 Elitch Gardens Theme Park Denver CO;

    June 10-11 Muckleshoot Casino Auburn WA;

    June 16 Riverbend Fest Chattanooga TN;

    June 17 Fall River Lorain OH;

    June 22 San Deigo County Fair Del Mar, CA;

    July 7 Mayo PAC Morristown NJ;

    July 22 Fredrick Brown Amphitheater Peachtree City GA;

    July 23 The Paramount Huntington NY;

    July 24 Infinity Hall Norfolk CT;

    July 28 St George Theatre Staten Island NY;

    July 29 The Palace Albany NY;

    Aug 5 Arcada Theatre St Charles IL;

    Aug 6 Indiana Grand Casino Shelbyville IN;

    Aug 13 The Bowl Sugar Hill GA;

    Aug 18 Living Arts Centre Ontario Canada;

    Aug 19 Ampihtheatre Chautauqua, NY;

    Sept 5 Riverside Casino Riverside IA;

    Sept 9 Feather Falls Casino Oroville CA;

    Sept 10 Crest Theatre Sacremento CA;

    Sept 16-17 Thirty Seven Main Johns Creek, GA;

    Sept 27 Paramount Arts Centre Ashland, KY;

    Sept 29 Luhrs PAC Shippensburg PA;

    Sept 30 Wheeling Island Casino Wheeling, WV.

  2. Saw these guys last night. What a waste of my money. You can obviously tell that most of the act is pre-recorded. The guy doesn’t even look like Prince. This was no better than a high school talent show. Not worth more than $10 admission.

  3. I am a very huge fan of Prince and this show made my birthday evening. Marshall and the band made me cry because I miss Prince so much. Even though I was brought into tears it was Happy Tears. Anyone on the mend of deciding to see the show you will not be disappointed. Fun times and great music. Thank you guys again for a great birthday.

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