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"Prince performed a two-and-a-half-hour set laced with his back catalogue of hits during his first ever UK festival appearance at Hop Farm last night. The 53-year-old singer-songwriter came out on to the stage at Hop Farm in Paddock Wood, Kent to an audience of 30,000, playing his first open-air gig in the UK since 1993. As he stepped out on stage to rapturous applause and cheers, the performer kicked off his show with his soundcheck interlude, which saw him introduce his seven-person band as well as check the sound levels by giving instructions to the engineers off stage. Prince rounded off the preliminary preparations for the checks, before asking the crowd: &amp;quot;How&amp;#039;s that for y&amp;#039;all?&amp;quot; to which the festival-goers cheered.  After getting the main show started with his funk-infused classic &amp;#039;1999&amp;#039;, Prince declared to the audience: &amp;quot;Listen - this is real music. We are real musicians.&amp;quot; Following a falsetto-blasting rendition of &amp;#039;Nothing Compares 2 U&amp;#039;, the Minneapolis-born entertainer joked: &amp;quot;I didn&amp;#039;t write that song. That&amp;#039;s Sinead O&amp;#039;Connor&amp;#039;s song.&amp;quot; The crowd reacted with a mixture of laughs and jeers, causing a grin spread across Prince&amp;#039;s face, to which he responded: &amp;quot;Aww, c&amp;#039;mon now. I bought me a house with that song.&amp;quot; After taking a swift break, in which the crowd were treated to an Adele-inspired cover of Bob Dylan&amp;#039;s &amp;#039;Make You Feel My Love&amp;#039; from the band, Prince returned to the stage to perform one of his most popular songs, &amp;#039;Purple Rain&amp;#039;. During the performance, purple glitter was strewn across the crowds while Prince took to his electric guitar to play one of his impressive trademark guitar solos. &amp;#039;Purple Rain&amp;#039; was quickly followed by one of his other fan-favourites &amp;#039;Kiss&amp;#039;, which saw the star cheekily turn his back to the audience and shake his bottom. The set ended with Prince stood on top of his purple grand piano performing his 1987 hit &amp;#039;If I Was Your Girlfriend&amp;#039; that morphed into a speeded-up version of &amp;#039;Baby, I&amp;#039;m A Star&amp;#039;. &amp;gt; Prince: &amp;#039;Glastonbury uses me to sell tickets&amp;#039; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/music/summer-festivals/news/a328117/prince-performs-first-uk-festival-at-hop-farm/>