In Minnesota, the Prince tributes started early.
Friday night, thousands went to Target Center downtown to see a mere image of the legend for a two-hour, virtual performance called Prince: Live on the Big Screen. Even seeing his face, the hair, the guitar and hearing the music brought tears to people’s eyes.
It’s still too soon. When the event began, Paisley Park CEO Joel Weinshanker took the stage on Friday to introduce Prince’s surviving siblings and heirs. He said they were “tasked to allow his legacy to live on.”
Others felt that the show, packed with musicians who worked with Prince before and up to his death, didn’t do the legend right. That 1998 Guitar World interview that became a point of discussion when Justin Timberlake paid tribute to Prince at the Super Bowl? It popped up again. In it, he was asked about the use of technology to bring dead musicians back to life. “That whole virtual reality thing,” he responded, “it really is demonic. And I am not a demon.”
