When I first saw the stage setup diagram on Ticketmaster for last night’s Prince show at Madison Square Garden when buying tickets, I was having trouble imagining how the glyph was going to translate into a stage environment. There was no need to have spent a moment thinking about it — it was fabulous! As was his purpleness, breaking out many of the tunes we all not-so-secretly wanted to hear from his catalog.

The Beautiful Ones > Let’s Go Crazy > Delirious > 1999 > Little Red Corvette > Uptown > Raspberry Beret > Cream > Cool (The Time cover) > Let’s Work > U Got the Look > The Question Of U > Purple Rain

Encore: Kiss > She’s Always in My Hair > If I Was Your Girlfriend > Piano Medley: Condition Of The Heart; Do Me, Baby; I Wanna Be Your Lover; How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore; Sometimes It Snows in April

Encore 2: Jungle Love (The Time cover)

It was a great treat to see Cyndi Lauper on stage for that last encore, too. Got me thinking about seeing her with her band at the time, Blue Angel, opening for the Ramones at a dance party at the Barn at Rutgers more years ago than I care to think about.

I continued that train of thought about the great music and performances I’ve seen on the ride home on Metro-North. Just this year alone there’s been: 7 Walkers (Bill Kreutzmann), the Allman Brothers Band (in their one-and-done run at the United Palace in Washington Heights and Another One for Woody at Roseland), the Blind Boys of Alabama, Jackson Browne, the Dukes of September (Boz Scaggs, Michael McDonald and Donald Fagen), Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Eminem, Furthur (Phil Lesh and Bob Weir), Gov’t Mule, Levon Helm, Pee-wee Herman, Hot Tuna for Jorma’s 70th at the Beacon, Jay-Z, Rickie Lee Jones, Steve Kimock Crazy Engine, Al Kooper, Bettye Lavette, Roger McGuinn, North Mississippi Allstars, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Robert Randolph, Henry Rollins, Sonny Rollins, John Sebastian, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Hubert Sumlin, Bernie Williams, and Johnny Winter.

We’re starting 2011 off right by seeing Gregg Allman in Tarrytown — here’s hoping it sets the tone for another year of great music!