Tribute act with Prince connections brings back ‘Purple Rain’ era

Also, 7 p.m. Aug. 13. $15; $100 table for four. The Bowl, 5039 W. Broad St., Sugar Hill. 770-945-6716, thebowlatsugarhill.com.

Just 24 hours after Prince’s passing in April, Marshall Charloff had no desire to slip on a purple trenchcoat, slide onstage and wail “Little Red Corvette.”

The Minneapolis-bred musician, who channels the pop icon in the Purple Xperience tribute act alongside original Prince and the Revolution keyboardist Matt "Doctor" Fink, said he thought performing so soon to be in bad taste. Yet, since the Chicago show had been on the books months earlier, Charloff pushed forward in his stilettos.

“When we hit the stage, something changed for me,” Charloff explained. “Not to get spooky on you, but it did feel like there was a spiritual kind of a presence (there) that said, ‘Hey, this is what you’re supposed to do.’”

Since 2011, he has been doing just that with the Purple Xperience. A multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter in his own right, Charloff originally had no plans to be a professional doppelganger. Still, Prince’s lavender-laced musical influence had a great impact on Charloff’s career.

In 1986 at age 19, Charloff, who played in a band with Prince’s cousin at the time, met Prince in Minneapolis, something he said left an indelible impression. Around the same time, Prince’s early mentor Pepé Willie signed Charloff to a developmental contract. Eventually, Willie would enlist Charloff’s wide-reaching musical abilities, to help flesh out incomplete late-1970s recordings of Willie’s band 94 East, which featured a young Prince as a session player.

After working with Willie and Fink at a 2009 benefit concert for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and recognizing a tangible chemistry with the keyboard player, Charloff and Fink began brainstorming a way to whisk fans back to the height of Prince’s “Purple Rain” hysteria. Since the artist himself had no intention of wholeheartedly revisiting the past, Charloff said he and Fink saw a reason to quench fans’ thirsts.

With a roster of ace Twin Cities players along for the ride, Fink slipped on his trademark doctor scrubs and wraparound shades, and curated the Purple Xperience. Primarily relying on material from his 1978 to 1991 tenure with Prince, Fink put Charloff out front. Not only does Charloff vocally emulate the singer in near-eerie fashion, his ligament-challenging dance moves and fevered footwork help embody a live-in-concert time capsule.

Blending original arrangements with some song transitions plucked directly from Fink’s touring days with Prince, a Purple Xperience show proves as musically choreographed as an arena production. In the midst of the band’s greatest hits jaunt, from the melodic wings of “When Doves Cry” to the funky rumpus of “Kiss,” Charloff glides through Prince’s career, equally at home wielding a Hohner guitar and bellying up to a piano.

Charloff’s costume changes come plentiful. At one point during the show, tufts of chest hair peek out from beneath an Edwardian shirt. The next he’s wrapping himself in a blue suit covered with clouds. Often during wardrobe swaps, Charloff said he has the opportunity to step back and appreciate Prince’s former collaborator.

“He’s the guy,” Charloff said of Fink. “Those are the signature sounds. When I’m backstage changing, I’ll be hearing these solos. They’re different every night, and he has a mastery of this style of music and is able to communicate on the keyboard in this style better than anybody. It’s an extension of who he is.”

Since Prince’s death, Charloff admits the crowds continue to grow. He notices fans now bringing their children, and tears flowing freely, especially during the precipitation of “Purple Rain.”

“I’m dealing in my own way,” Charloff said, “but when I watch people come to the show, they’re in tears and grateful for the experience. The loss is heart-wrenching. And the word ‘tribute’ means something different to me now.”