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A "VIP" view of the 10PM show Hey folks,
(Preamble: don't look for setlists or other musical details in this post. I wanted to give you a different perspective on tonights show.) Just got back from the 10PM show. I had a VIP ticket and I'd just like to give a view of what that was like. So I got there around 8PM and there were thousands of people in line and had been in line for hours under an annoying drizzle. I felt for them. There were camera crews interviewing the folks, people walking around asking for tickets, other people walking around proposing tickets but they never seem connected for some reason. So I walked around a bit and became nostalgic about the times when I used to wake up at 5AM and make my way to the LOOONG wait to get in the different Prince venues. I'll of course never do it again if I can help it but I don't regret a minute of the past days. So I made my way to the VIP entrance around 9PM (I actually could've arrived at 9:59 and not have missed a second of the show) and was greated by a couple of massive and extremely scary looking security dudes who instantly turned all smiles and practically bowed when I showed them my pass. Made my way inside and was again very impressed by the Grand Palais' interior (I've been many times but never for a concert). I started to make my way to the center of the grounds where there were already a massive crowd, but an extremely tall and very beautiful usher stopped me and said that I was going the wrong way and pointed me to a section of the place where apparently I could get drinks and snacks. Cool. Sure enough there was a room left of the stage where in fact I indulged in gulping down many glasses of Champagne and mingled with the "beautiful" people. I won't go into who was there because 99% of you won't give a shit. Suffice it to say that there were record execs, TV and Radio personalities, a couple of politicians and... me. I actually met a really cool Belgium guy and we passed the time by drinking even more champagne and of course comparing Prince concert experiences. Around 9:45 Prince pulled up in his Mercedes S-Class (hybrid) car literaly inside the venue got out just in front of where we were having drinks and made his way to his "green room". I yelled out "Welcome Back!" and I have no idea if he heard me over the screams of everyone else. At 9:55 the thunder sounds started and we made our way over to where we were to watch the show. They had set up chairs, maybe 25 or so, on the left side of the stage and a little behind the drum kit. So we were around 20 feet away from center stage BUT we got to see the bands BACK! However, we were free to move around and move up close where the guitar teck was and where the prompter girl (YES, Prince uses a prompter for the lyrics that we had a clear view of). Anyway all this to say that this was the most fascinating concert experience ever! I've seen many Prince shows in my life but never one from backstage. The amount of stress that his showhands go threw is enormous. I was very interested in seeing the amount of work that is done in the background. I just assumed they flipped the switch and the dude sang for a couple of hours and then they flipped the switch and turned off the sound. Just an example, the guitar tech spend the ENTIRE show tuning the same guitar over and over again. The prompter girl of course never left her eyes off her screen and never looked up to see what was going on onstage. The security crew's stress level is incredible especially when they brought up the people on stage. I won't even mention the panic they went threw when Prince tossed his guitar in the crowd (the old telecaster one!). Prince puts on a fabulous show and I'm happy to have experienced it in a different way tonight. I can confirm that VIP ticket owners mostly do not dance, do not sing along, do not clap, do not cheer for fear of looking "ridiculous" and I was utterly ridiculous tonight! I jumped up and down like a maniac during Housequake, I swade my hands and oooohed during Purple Rain, I danced profusely during Glamorous Life and totally looked out of place the whole time. So was it a good one for me? Well driving home tonight I felt torn between having had a really comfortable and priveledged concert experience and at the same time longing the enthusiastic "fan" experience of being on the floor surrounded by extatic, excited, and truly happy concert goers. In short sometimes I want to be 20 again. | |
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 Thanks for the review... once a 'fan' always a 'fan' eh?  Interesting to see the 'other side' though, always fascinating to see things from another perspective, and an interesting experience for you! I bet the others were just dying to do the same... how can you NOT jump up and down to Housequake?!! Sad if the 'VIP's' don't feel they can I think! Could you see him clearly? | |
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thanks for the review
sounds like fun | |
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Great story from a different perspective! I know what you mean by that excitement of the other concertgoers. That's a big part of the excitement. I've been front row more times than I can remember but how is it from the side or back. I love being directly in front of Prince and the Band and yes, getting that eye contact. Did you still feel that part of the experience? Good 4 you 4 not putting on "airs" and dancing. I don't know how some people stand still? Glad that you had a great time, wish that I was in Paris!! Auvoir! | |
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What a super read! Thanks a lot! Very interesting to hear how it was on the" other side". So the dancers who came up on stage were all from the VIP section??
The Prompter Girl was the same one he had in London in 2007. In London she mainly did her job with actual paper sheets rather than via monitors which always amused me. She's super professional, I tried to coax her many times to give me a guitar pick or take a present from me to Prince or, like tonight, give us the finished-with set list (which she had sella-taped on to the floor right in front of Prince) but always nada. Bless her. Guess that's why she's still very much part of the crew! "John Bream, why you being fire-hydrant-head-looking..., you big seven eyed, Grover-from-Sesame-Street-looking… why you being dot dot dot?" | |
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Thank you so much for sharing that with us. With all these stories it almost (almost) as though we were there too, just with out the sound.  Just LOVE......................... All it's FREE!!!! | |
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Yeah the VIPS show attendees can be rather stiff ... It's always better to be among fans who can enjoy themselves without being obnoxious.... however the VIPS are the ones with the money to pay outrageous prices ! thing is if you pay that much money try to be enthused and give the performer some energy. | |
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this is what I'm talkin about!!! pure Princely fun!  To Sir, with Love | |
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You were driving home after having lots of champagne ? That's not right.  |
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how did you get VIP tickets? i presume if there were only 20 or so they weren't for sale? or how much were they? | |
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Thanks, that was really fun to read. I've had the thrill of being right in front of Prince at several shows...incredible beyond words and totally unforgettable.
Glad you had fun. Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise. | |
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unique said: how did you get VIP tickets? i presume if there were only 20 or so they weren't for sale? or how much were they?
vip tickets were the tickets which were seated in the back. There were som people sitting behind the stage who came on to dance during the larry graham songs....i guess these people were picked up out of the venue... |
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rafael said: unique said: how did you get VIP tickets? i presume if there were only 20 or so they weren't for sale? or how much were they?
vip tickets were the tickets which were seated in the back. There were som people sitting behind the stage who came on to dance during the larry graham songs....i guess these people were picked up out of the venue... Larry Graham songs ????? You must be kidding !!! Get your facts straight I AM LOOKING FOR USED PRINCE CONCERT TICKETS ... https://www.facebook.com/...erttickets | |
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Great report, thanks! "Free URself, B the best that U can B, 3rd Apartment from the Sun, nothing left to fear" Prince Rogers Nelson - Forever in my Life - | |
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Browzer said: Hey folks,
Dance ;4 U///Browzer - right on Chick...AWSUM+POSITIVITY=a GOOD TIME (Preamble: don't look for setlists or other musical details in this post. I wanted to give you a different perspective on tonights show.) Just got back from the 10PM show. I had a VIP ticket and I'd just like to give a view of what that was like. So I got there around 8PM and there were thousands of people in line and had been in line for hours under an annoying drizzle. I felt for them. There were camera crews interviewing the folks, people walking around asking for tickets, other people walking around proposing tickets but they never seem connected for some reason. So I walked around a bit and became nostalgic about the times when I used to wake up at 5AM and make my way to the LOOONG wait to get in the different Prince venues. I'll of course never do it again if I can help it but I don't regret a minute of the past days. So I made my way to the VIP entrance around 9PM (I actually could've arrived at 9:59 and not have missed a second of the show) and was greated by a couple of massive and extremely scary looking security dudes who instantly turned all smiles and practically bowed when I showed them my pass. Made my way inside and was again very impressed by the Grand Palais' interior (I've been many times but never for a concert). I started to make my way to the center of the grounds where there were already a massive crowd, but an extremely tall and very beautiful usher stopped me and said that I was going the wrong way and pointed me to a section of the place where apparently I could get drinks and snacks. Cool. Sure enough there was a room left of the stage where in fact I indulged in gulping down many glasses of Champagne and mingled with the "beautiful" people. I won't go into who was there because 99% of you won't give a shit. Suffice it to say that there were record execs, TV and Radio personalities, a couple of politicians and... me. I actually met a really cool Belgium guy and we passed the time by drinking even more champagne and of course comparing Prince concert experiences. Around 9:45 Prince pulled up in his Mercedes S-Class (hybrid) car literaly inside the venue got out just in front of where we were having drinks and made his way to his "green room". I yelled out "Welcome Back!" and I have no idea if he heard me over the screams of everyone else. At 9:55 the thunder sounds started and we made our way over to where we were to watch the show. They had set up chairs, maybe 25 or so, on the left side of the stage and a little behind the drum kit. So we were around 20 feet away from center stage BUT we got to see the bands BACK! However, we were free to move around and move up close where the guitar teck was and where the prompter girl (YES, Prince uses a prompter for the lyrics that we had a clear view of). Anyway all this to say that this was the most fascinating concert experience ever! I've seen many Prince shows in my life but never one from backstage. The amount of stress that his showhands go threw is enormous. I was very interested in seeing the amount of work that is done in the background. I just assumed they flipped the switch and the dude sang for a couple of hours and then they flipped the switch and turned off the sound. Just an example, the guitar tech spend the ENTIRE show tuning the same guitar over and over again. The prompter girl of course never left her eyes off her screen and never looked up to see what was going on onstage. The security crew's stress level is incredible especially when they brought up the people on stage. I won't even mention the panic they went threw when Prince tossed his guitar in the crowd (the old telecaster one!). Prince puts on a fabulous show and I'm happy to have experienced it in a different way tonight. I can confirm that VIP ticket owners mostly do not dance, do not sing along, do not clap, do not cheer for fear of looking "ridiculous" and I was utterly ridiculous tonight! I jumped up and down like a maniac during Housequake, I swade my hands and oooohed during Purple Rain, I danced profusely during Glamorous Life and totally looked out of place the whole time. So was it a good one for me? Well driving home tonight I felt torn between having had a really comfortable and priveledged concert experience and at the same time longing the enthusiastic "fan" experience of being on the floor surrounded by extatic, excited, and truly happy concert goers. In short sometimes I want to be 20 again. | |
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xenophobia2002 said: rafael said: vip tickets were the tickets which were seated in the back. There were som people sitting behind the stage who came on to dance during the larry graham songs....i guess these people were picked up out of the venue... Larry Graham songs ????? You must be kidding !!! Get your facts straight sorry iwas referring to the 1998 larry graham set during the npg tour....offcourse we all know from whom these came...but sorry not my cup of tea...Is he still performing though...our friend sly;.. |
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Very Cool Experience  got Prince? | |
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Awesome!! Nice change of perspective review!  | |
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unique said: how did you get VIP tickets? i presume if there were only 20 or so they weren't for sale? or how much were they?
VIP tickets were for sale through this link at 500 euros http://translate.googleus...YzntdWM4Vw I'm assuming that thanks to this high price some were unsold and this is why more tickets became available at face value on Saturday. |
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Very cool reading! Nice insight to the professionalism and hard work behind the scenes. Makes you remember that talent won't get you as far as talent + hard work. Just imagine the number of work hours it takes to perform one song!? | |
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