The purple reign continues

Dublin got a double dose of Prince last night when His Royal Purpleness followed his Point Theatre headliner with a secret gig in Spirit. ...Well, it would have been secret if he hadn't announced it over the Point P.A. beforehand!

Alerted to what was going on, a huge crowd gathered outside the Middle Abbey Street superclub, with hundreds unable to gain admittance. Those who did make it in were treated to a two-hour set which according to one eyewitness was, "Pretty much all new stuff, except for 'Sign Of The Times'. It was all very jazzy and funky. The star of the show – apart from Prince – was the drummer who was totally Garth from Wayne's World!"

A couple of songs in, Prince pulled out two bibles – one from the hotel he was staying in, the other his own – and asked the crowd: "Why does this have 'Jehovah' on it and this 'Our Lord'?"

Spotted among the 400-plus fans were Westlife's Kian Egan and Mark Feehily, Mikey Graham, Louis Walsh, Gavin Friday sans Bono who'd been with him at The Point, and assorted members of Sky One's Dream Team.