NPG vets Michael Bland and Sonny Thompson extend their brotherhood into a post-Prince duo

Q: What's your favorite memory of Prince?

Bland: Back in 2010 or so, he called me to record a song with him and he had some of his friends from Kingdom Hall. Really nice people. One was a little white girl, she was maybe 7 or 8, and I walked in and she was like "Michael B!" I said, "How do you know who I am?" She told me and I started goofing around like "I'm so famous I can't even go to kindergarten." Prince just started laughing. It was uncontrollable. He didn't laugh that hard at many things.

Mosley: My favorite memories of Prince had nothing to do with music. It was about life and challenges in general, where we grew up in north Minneapolis, how we were challenged in the '70s and '80s. We talked about how life was simpler before he made it and I really miss his authentic laugh — he loved to laugh.

Thompson: Right before New Year's, me and Michael were there recording. Then we were just hanging out in the studio at Paisley Park. We started talking about people we knew as children. Then I said, "I gotta go, man. I'll see you next year." He fell on his back, laughing real crazy.

Q: What's your most prized memento from your association with Prince?

Bland: I have a cassette of a rehearsal we did in late '93. Tommy [Barbarella] and Morris [Hayes] left town for Christmas. Prince didn't like holidays. For Thanksgiving, he was like "I can direct the band with a turkey leg in my hand or you guys can take it off?" That Christmas vacation, three days passed before Prince called and said, "Are you guys bored like I am?" That's how the New Power Trio sort of started. After that, he decided to go to Los Angeles and perform with the New Power Trio at the House of Blues. We went to SIR [studio] and started rehearsing and Prince put a cassette in the tape deck and recorded this jam session. He left a little bit before we did. I noticed the cassette was in the deck so I took it so no one would bootleg it. You can't find that cassette anywhere else in the world.

Mosley: Demo tracks with handwritten notes from Prince.

Thompson: My NPG coat from 1992. That band was amazing. And my first Warwick Dolphin bass.

2Gether: Celebrating the Music & Life of Prince

Who: Michael Bland, Sonny Thompson, Tommy Barbarella, Levi Seacer Jr., Mike Scott, Tony Mosley, the Steeles, Chastity Brown, Ashley Commodore and more

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Uptown Theater, 2900 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis

Tickets: $50 and up, ticketmaster.com.