The Purple Xperience: As Close as You can Get to Prince (Without Dying)

TAMPA BREAKWAY FESTIVAL – April 26th-27th

TAMPA BREAKWAY FESTIVAL – April 26th-27th

By Brent Michael, Rock At Night Tampa Correspondent

Venue: Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida

Marshall Charloff, front man for The Purple Xperience, looks, sounds, and acts like Prince on stage so much I could almost believe in channeling. Backed up by a quartet of experienced musicians, Marshall is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist with a biography that parallels the Purple One’s in many ways. He might not have as many chart-topping songs to his credit, but he has a few, some recorded by other artists.

Marshall bounced, pranced, twirled, changed outfits, headgear, instruments, jumped, wiggled, and altogether entranced the crowd. I swear by the reactions of some of the female fans, they thought Prince had come back to life and chosen them to witness his resurrection! Looking closer, Prince was rounder of face and darker of complexion, but to the casual observer and longtime Prince fan, he was there.

As expected, all the hits were covered, “1999,” “Kiss,” “Raspberry Beret,” “Little Red Corvette,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” I Would Die 4U,” “When Doves Cry,” and the finale, an extended version of “Purple Rain” that brought back the days long ago, when I saw the movie at our local drive-in theater with my now ex-wife. Good times, relived through The Purple Xperience!

For more info, go to: The Purple Xperience

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Brent Michael

Forest Live Festival – UK

Forest Live Festival – UK