Into the Groove: Prince plays private show for Madonna

NEW YORK - Prince and Madonna can both sell out arenas, but for one night only, the Purple One played exclusively for the Material Girl. In an ultra-intimate concert sure to stir envy among legions of fans of the 1980s pop giants, Prince reportedly put on a private show at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota early Friday for Madonna, who hours earlier packed St. Paul’s 20,000-capacity Xcel Energy Center. Andrea Swensson, a reporter for local public radio station KCMP “The Current,” wrote in a blog post that she was among 33 “civilians” who had been summoned to Prince’s estate with three hours’ notice. At 1:30 a.m., Madonna suddenly arrived along with her tour’s dance troupe and Prince ripped into a funky set, playing “within a couple yards” of a crowd that in total was around 60 people, she said. “I had expected her to hang back a bit, or maybe be sitting in her roped-off area, but once I stepped a little closer to the stage I realized that she was not only in the front row, but had perched on the edge of the stage at Prince’s feet, looking up at him adoringly as he sang,” Swensson wrote. At 3:00 am, Prince leaned down and whispered an exchange with Madonna, who departed even as the show went on. Prince is known for his non-traditional concerts and in recent years has announced shows with minimal notice.