With Paisley Park shuttered by legalities and only a month and a half for planning elsewhere, the birthday celebrations surrounding what would have been Prince's 58th birthday Tuesday are relatively low-key beyond the three tributes with the three NPG members. Here are some of the other activities.
First Avenue dance parties: DJ Jake Rudh of Transmission is leading his first of three "Let's Go Crazy" tribute nights at the club on Saturday, but the show has long since sold out, as did the July 2 follow-up (tickets are available for July 16 only). A dance-party revival that Prince himself might've attended, longtime First Ave DJs Alan Freed and Roy Freedom will turn the tables again next Thursday for a reunion of MF, aka More Funk, the weekly dance night that caught the "Purple Rain" wave in 1985 and heralded the Minneapolis Sound and the older jams that influenced it (8 p.m.-2 a.m., $8-$10).
School plaque unveiling: Richard Green Central Park Elementary School, which was Minneapolis Central High School in 1976 when Prince Rogers Nelson graduated from it, will unveil a plaque during its year-end Green Awards ceremony Tuesday at 1 p.m. (3416 4th Av. S.). The marker was a labor of love for Rosa Bogar, a longtime education assistant at the school, who said, "I think he should be an inspiration to the children there today." The plaque reads, "Let us keep the legacy of Prince alive," and remembers his "infused passion of music and sports."
Tribute show at Famous Dave's Uptown: Prince was more a Rudolph's Bar-B-Que guy back in the day, but the other modern Uptown area barbecue eatery in Calhoun Square nabbed the costumed tribute band Chase and Ovation to perform on his birthday Tuesday (7 p.m., $10).
Pizza party: Sure, why not? There'll be Prince-inspired pies and birthday cake on Tuesday from 5-10 p.m. at Pizzeria Lola (5557 Xerxes Av. S., Mpls.), which is donating 100 percent of profits that night to Mixed Blood Theatre, a community organization that Prince often supported.
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
