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Prince and Paul McCartney have a wild weekend in New York City

by Jay Gabler

February 17, 2015

Here's a sentence you don't get to type very often: if anyone had a wilder weekend than Prince, it was Paul McCartney. Both were in New York City over the holiday weekend—along with more than the usual contingent of A-list celebrities—to celebrate Saturday Night Live, Nike sneakers, and of course themselves.

Prince got off to an early start on Saturday, playing a two-hour show at 23 Wall Street: a concert celebrating the 30th anniversary of Nike's iconic Jordan sneakers, despite the fact that Prince generally prefers high heels to high tops. According to the Associated Press, the star-studded guest list included Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Questlove, Nas, Queen Latifah, and of course Michael Jordan. Backed by 3RDEYEGIRL and Liv Warfield, Prince didn't stint on the hits, including a popular-demand encore performance of "Purple Rain."

That night, McCartney played a surprise show at the 1,000-capacity Irving Plaza (for local comparison, that's about the size of the Cabooze), selling $40 tickets on a first-come first-served basis. Rolling Stone called it a "lighter and looser" version of McCartney's standard show, including a rare performance of the early Beatles song "One After 909."

McCartney was all over the Sunday night SNL anniversary show, introduced by Keith Richards to sing "Maybe I'm Amazed" and playing a little duet with Paul Simon on "I've Just Seen a Face." Prince didn't appear on that broadcast, but he did show up for an off-the-hook afterparty at the Plaza Hotel, which—as Consequence of Sound puts it—was a surreal affair that "featured Prince, Paul McCartney, and Taylor Swift as the house band."

In what must have been a life highlight for Este Haim—who's spoken often, including in an interview in our studios, about her lifelong Prince obsession—Haim joined Prince along with Jimmy Fallon and (wait for it) Bill Murray to sing "Let's Go Crazy."

So, how was your weekend?

3RDEYEGIRL drummer Hannah Ford took a pic with Swift. Will America's sweetheart Shake It Off at Paisley Park After Dark when she comes to town this fall?

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This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.