When news broke Thursday that Prince had passed away, Bridgeport City Clerk Andrea Kerr was like so many others in that her thoughts focused on many of his old songs and the life of the eccentric artist. What was unlike many is that Kerr’s thoughts went back to a place with Prince that very few here in Bridgeport and beyond ever had access to – even if for the briefest of moments.

 

She actually met the man. In fact, she actually made sure one of his performances were up to his standards and how things shook out would only be considered unique if it didn’t involve Prince.

 

It wasn’t a recent situation. You’d have to rewind a few years – back to 1999. Seriously.

 

At that time, she wasn’t even Andrea Kerr. Instead, she was Andrea Sapon, who was working a gig that she started during her college run at Xavier in Ohio. The place she worked at was called Jillian’s, a national chain that she described similar in format to Dave & Buster’s, but on a much larger scale.

 

The Jillian’s that Kerr worked at was the largest in the chain. Although listed as being in Cincinnati, it was actually in northern Kentucky, right across the border from Ohio. And as mentioned it was a large building – five stories of building that covered almost an entire city block.

 

“It was a good job and I worked with them for a while doing marketing and just about anything they needed. I particularly liked to open new locations during the summer months because I got to travel,” said Kerr. “The other great thing was that you never knew who was going to show up.”

 

It wasn’t unusual to see Ken Griffey Jr., Dave Justice or members of the band 98 Degrees, as well as then University of Cincinnati basketball Coach Bob Huggins showing up on a regular basis. After all, Jillian’s was a place where everyone went – and it met just about every genre of the late-night party goer.

 

Five floors, including 20 bowling lanes on the first floor, a sports bar and 1,000 video games. For good measure, there was also a hibachi and plenty of room for entertainment for anyone that wanted to perform – and also a side warehouse used as dressing rooms and gathering groups for those entertaining as well as for other needs that arose.

 

The second floor was for private parties, the third floor had a 1980s theme with a Hawaiian touch, while the fourth floor was set up in a rap motif with a bit of an underground music theme. On the top floor, it was Karaoke.

 

“You could do anything there and see anyone, but when they told us Prince was coming and coming to perform, we all thought it was a joke,” she said. “It was no joke.”

 

Kerr said herself, and so many others, were getting ready for the show. And she said things were peculiar right off the bat.

 

“The first thing that was different was that the show, which we were calling a party, was scheduled to start late that night; I think about 10 p.m.,” said Kerr. “We just never did things that late as far as entertainment.”

 

And then there was the rider that was attached to Prince’s contract. It, of course, had some unique requests.

 

“It was unlike any document I had ever read before or since,” said Kerr thinking back and laughing.

 

Kerr said staff had to sort through bags and bags of M&Ms because he needed multiple bowls of the candy and they could only be green. And the couches and chairs for Prince and those with him in the waiting area, which was the aforementioned warehouse, had to be facing a certain direction.

 

“It was just off the wall stuff,” said Kerr. “Certain foods, certain drinks and we had to transform the back warehouse area into what his vision was for the area. It would be hard to explain unless you went in there to see what it ended up looking like.”

 

With everything in place from the proper colored candy to furniture placed correctly, the only thing left was for Prince to arrive for the 10 p.m. show. Unfortunately for the massive crowd gathered, 10 p.m. came and went; 11 p.m. and then midnight and no Prince – although everyone was assured he was still on his way.

 

“The place was packed and no one complained that he was late other than the staff. It was so odd. It was like everyone was expecting this religious deity to appear,” said Kerr. “It was bizarre that there was no reaction other than a party was going to start when he got there.”

 

Eventually he got there, and he came packed with an entourage. For Prince, it wasn’t just the band but a group of more than 100 people.

 

“He came and actually didn’t start right away. He kind of hung around a bit and it was after 1 a.m. when he started and the place was supposed to shut down at 2 a.m.,” said Kerr. “He ended up performing for a little more than an hour and everyone at the show left for the night.”

 

Everyone except Prince, who Kerr said was wearing his trademark high heel shoes, and his entourage.

 

“He stayed and was there when it was getting light outside. His entire group was on the first floor and they bowled for hours,” said Kerr. “I was doing everything from bartending to whatever else was needed, even though we were closed, to make sure he was happy.”

 

Kerr said she wasn’t star struck because of the regular individuals that she was exposed to at the business had made her numb to celebrities. However, she said there was something about Prince that stoked her curiosity.

 

“He walked a certain way, he handled himself in a unique personal way; his entire demeanor was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was interesting and I decided to get a closer look,” said Kerr. “I ended up getting a real close look and he looked so tiny and even a bit fragile. Even with those shoes on, he only came up to my eyeballs. The amazing thing was without saying much he was in complete command of the entire situation.”

 

Kerr went for broke. In the pre-cell phone picture era, Kerr got up the nerve to ask for a photo. She got one.

 

“I really didn’t ask for a photo, but more of like making a statement that I was going to take one. He just stood there and let me do it, but didn’t seem to have any real reaction one way or the other,” said Kerr. “I have that photo somewhere and if you could see it you could tell I’m much more excited to be in it than he is. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

 

Indeed. She remembered it from a party just like it was 1999.