‘Get down to Abbey Street. Prince is doing a secret show’

I played a wedding in Sligo the night Prince played Malahide Castle and I cried throughout the night reading texts from mates saying “What are you doing in Sligo, this is the best gig I’ve ever been to”. I remember the groom asking if I was okay and if there was anything he could do to stop me crying and I said: “Let me play Prince all night?”

Thursday, October 10th, 2002 will be forever etched into my brain. I got a call from Mark Carrollan saying "Get down to Spirit on Abbey Street as fast as you can and get in line. Prince is doing a secret show and they're letting the first 300 hundred in. It's €50 a head, it's for charity." Myself and Anne Warren ran down and got in line.

Lots of small-time celebs joined the queue and asked everyone around them if they had been given the same nod. Dermot Doran was in front of us chatting to a group of women mostly, who were well dressed and older than us and the bouncer asked "Are these girls with you?" to which he replied "Yes, all these chicks are with me." Legend.

The bouncer literally pulled the rope across the hall as soon as we walked in and we made our way inside. We were the last people to get in, it was surreal. Annie and I got lost immediately but didn’t look for each other. I made my way to the front, which was easy cause it wasn’t that busy, and I think people really didn’t think Prince was going to come out on to the 2ft tall stage with no barrier and play.

The lights went off. People entered the stage but you couldn’t tell who it was. “Ooowwweeeooh. OooohHooo,” they sang in the dark for five minutes, then the lights came up and sure enough, less than three metres away Prince was standing there and started singing.

I started crying. He didn't sing one hit, it was all new religious stuff he was into and no one gave a f**k cause Prince was f**king playing! I rattled all through the gig with nerves. I just couldn't believe it. Afterward I found Annie and she had done the exact same, made her way to the front and watched in awe. It's like a dream to me now that that actually happened.

My pal Triona Lillis said to me earlier “I feel like Prince deflowered me!” which is so true. I remember being so insanely attracted to him, it made me nervous: it was wrong and bold and exciting and so f**king funky.

It was hard to comprehend at 8/9/10 years of age. Throughout my teens and even to this day, I thank God my sisters had Prince albums, it was on constantly in our house. I feel truly blessed to be exposed to such great music at such a young age. I remember being mad into Controversy and would listen to it incessantly and sang "count your blessings" and my brother absolutely annihilated me for getting the words so wrong.

I barely understood controversy when I was that age. Nor did I count my blessings then. I am counting my blessings now that I saw him, a hero. A god. A mystery. RIP Prince. You sexy motherfucker. Sally Cinnamon is playing an all-Prince night at Hogan's, Dublin tonight (Thursday, April 22)