To anyone who has been so far please let P know your thoughts on the sampler set. I have to say, based on 4 02 shows it was fun for a bit then after about 2 minutes me and those around me saw it as a waste of time. The word will also spread to the casual fans and be a turn off. What do you think?, did you enjoy it or not? Come on P , you can play 3 killer trax in that time frame.

[Edited 3/25/11 1:28am]

[Edited 3/25/11 1:30am]

funkyhead said:

To anyone who has been so far please let P know your thoughts on the sampler set. I have to say, based on 4 02 shows it was fun for a bit then after about 2 minutes me and those around me saw it as a waste of time. The word will also spread to the casual fans and be a turn off. What do you think?, did you enjoy it or not? Come on P , you can play 3 killer trax in that time frame.

[Edited 3/25/11 1:28am]

[Edited 3/25/11 1:30am]

I've seen an heard it twice during the O2 shows. it was fun fon one time. But indeed you want him to play the hits entirely, or at leas a bit more. so the second time it was already frustrating. Also because he tends to sample reaaly big hits from the past and then the next song he really plays is something unknown or a cover. Esp. for the occasional fan/visitor that must be a total let down.

Anyway, i'm glad he didn't do the sampler set at his recent concert in Holland.

It's just a bit of fun.

If he sung all of them the concert would last too long for him, so he does that.

Get over it.

powersoul99 said:

It's just a bit of fun.

If he sung all of them the concert would last too long for him, so he does that.

Get over it.

Agree with PS99,just a bit of fun besides its better to get teased and pleased and get a little more sample for ur money,remember it's just a brief section of the entire show

so relax and enjoy it....

[Edited 3/25/11 3:45am]

i think its brilliant, just him showing pure talent and showmanship

The audience in Charlotte last night loved the build-up and were ready to explode by the time the first real song began. Based on that, I'd say it's completely effective since that's obviously the desired result.

so, it seems its like his version of concert foreplay!!!

funkyhead said:

so, it seems its like his version of concert foreplay!!!

Yeah, except that he saved it for the end in Columbia.... After getting treated to an awesome concert, it seemed like an opportunity for the band and he to sort of unwind. I thought that was the purpose of it... a chill moment, so to speak. Now, I'm seeing that he's been putting them at the beginning of the show..... interesting.

funkyhead said:

To anyone who has been so far please let P know your thoughts on the sampler set. I have to say, based on 4 02 shows it was fun for a bit then after about 2 minutes me and those around me saw it as a waste of time. The word will also spread to the casual fans and be a turn off. What do you think?, did you enjoy it or not? Come on P , you can play 3 killer trax in that time frame.

[Edited 3/25/11 1:28am]

[Edited 3/25/11 1:30am]

It was a waste of time, but he can't play 3 killer tracks in this time. He should just play When Doves Cry in full. I have attended all the Carolina shows, and heard complaints about that. The shows are awesome, so I can live with 5 minutes of stupidity.

I can imagine it's frustrating. But I'd still prefer 1 minute of Sign 'o' The Times over no minute...

[Edited 3/25/11 12:24pm]

i love it it shows the many sides of prince and the crowd here in charlotte went wild when he opened with it they were so in2 every song he did its no different than him at the piano shows one of his many talents

I never liked it..instead he better can choose some complete songs of his rich oeuvre...

I think they're cool. It's something different. The guy's been touring for three decades, he's just trying to keep it fresh. People would complain no matter how he started the show. IMHO, starting the show with the Alicia Keys RRHOF tribute was a little cheesy, but I hadn't seen anyone else do that. Besides, I'd rather see Prince at the piano talking over the loops than a pre-recorded bit on the video screens.

rafael said:

I never liked it..instead he better can choose some complete songs of his rich oeuvre...

amen my friend, he can easily do 1 killer classic track in the time it takes. Also he really, really needs to drop the covers - if he has 'too many hits' then why the fuck does he not sing them!!.

I've only heard them and I like it.

The last show they were used as an opening which I think is a great way to warm up the crowd, get them excited, remind them of why they're there and even though the samples are short, they're bound to trigger memories and associations for everyone.

They're a tease and they're meant to be. But of course people are seldom easily satisfied....

I agree with the above poster. I'd rather hear a sample of SOTT or Alphabet St or whatever, than none at all.

But I do agree agree with the covers. Prince's collection of own material is too good to compare with the covers. But...I like the fact he did another MJ cover...haven't heard it yet. I wonder what it sounded like.

These shows are good, for improving my US geography!

Pearls B4 The Swine.

funkyhead said:

rafael said:

I never liked it..instead he better can choose some complete songs of his rich oeuvre...

amen my friend, he can easily do 1 killer classic track in the time it takes. Also he really, really needs to drop the covers - if he has 'too many hits' then why the fuck does he not sing them!!.

Yeah and the one killer classic would be the one you didnt want, so you can complain about that.

powersoul99 said:

funkyhead said:

amen my friend, he can easily do 1 killer classic track in the time it takes. Also he really, really needs to drop the covers - if he has 'too many hits' then why the fuck does he not sing them!!.

Yeah and the one killer classic would be the one you didnt want, so you can complain about that.

Preach!!!

I loved it. Prince summed it up the best when he said " I have too many hits" as he played the samples. He does and he can't play full versions of everything we all want to hear and I was psyched to hear Sign O the Times, Alphabet St, TMBGITW, etc. ...even snippets because they are some of my favorite jams. And the "Darling Nikki" tease was priceless...the audience gasp of recognition was hilarious. I think it showed Prince's appreciation for our appreciation and his wicked sense of humor all at once.

That being said, we in Columbia saw it at the end of the show after being swept up in 2 hours of funk. Hard to imagine the sampler set at the beginning of the show for some reason.

I'll let you know on March 31st...

The crowd at MSG seemed to enjoy it. It was a playful piece in the show and let Prince touch on songs he must have some fondness for. Before anyone says 'then he should play the whole song' keep in mind he's working with a time frame when doing these concerts. As much as the fans would love to believe that any venue is going to let Prince play all night it's not gonna happen.

GottaLetitgo said:

I loved it. Prince summed it up the best when he said " I have too many hits" as he played the samples. He does and he can't play full versions of everything we all want to hear and I was psyched to hear Sign O the Times, Alphabet St, TMBGITW, etc. ...even snippets because they are some of my favorite jams. And the "Darling Nikki" tease was priceless...the audience gasp of recognition was hilarious. I think it showed Prince's appreciation for our appreciation and his wicked sense of humor all at once.

That being said, we in Columbia saw it at the end of the show after being swept up in 2 hours of funk. Hard to imagine the sampler set at the beginning of the show for some reason.

He's been saying this one way or another on every single tour since at least 1997....too many hits, too little time...etc. At least the 2011 tour is much better than the 1997 tour was. It is amazing how such a talented artist does this kind of stuff. It would be like seeing Dali using white chalk at a live painting display.

It's utterly pointless AND harmless fun.

802 said:

It's utterly pointless AND harmless fun.

I SAMPLED IT,LICKED IT,LOVED IT.................STUFF IT...

[Edited 3/31/11 18:13pm]

powersoul99 said:

funkyhead said:

amen my friend, he can easily do 1 killer classic track in the time it takes. Also he really, really needs to drop the covers - if he has 'too many hits' then why the fuck does he not sing them!!.

Yeah and the one killer classic would be the one you didnt want, so you can complain about that.

I never complain when i see prince...

I heard the When doves cry one and it was super!

Just hearing it when it repeats for a few seconds is enough to make me rattle my brains! I would have left out the lyric though and just had the music. But very cool. I hope Prince experiments more with these.

stillwaiting said:

GottaLetitgo said:

I loved it. Prince summed it up the best when he said " I have too many hits" as he played the samples. He does and he can't play full versions of everything we all want to hear and I was psyched to hear Sign O the Times, Alphabet St, TMBGITW, etc. ...even snippets because they are some of my favorite jams. And the "Darling Nikki" tease was priceless...the audience gasp of recognition was hilarious. I think it showed Prince's appreciation for our appreciation and his wicked sense of humor all at once.

That being said, we in Columbia saw it at the end of the show after being swept up in 2 hours of funk. Hard to imagine the sampler set at the beginning of the show for some reason.

He's been saying this one way or another on every single tour since at least 1997....too many hits, too little time...etc. At least the 2011 tour is much better than the 1997 tour was. It is amazing how such a talented artist does this kind of stuff. It would be like seeing Dali using white chalk at a live painting display.

You'd still buy a ticket for it.

I'm sure some of you would be happy to pay Prince $500 to watch him play a tape as the entire concert. Since he keeps saying "real music by real musicians," I'd like him to have that be the entire show.

Miles Davis, James Brown, John Coltrane, Stevie Wonder, U2, etc all could have taken this easy way out, but did not. Could you imagine a musician like Miles Davis playing over a tape loop? Prince is every bit the true musician that Miles was, but crap like this makes him look like a spoiled diva. The truth is that the concerts were short and amazing for the most part. Prince is playing and singing for about an hour and a half to an hour and forty minutes. You can't count the 20 minutes or so he is backtage changing clothes while Shelby or one of the other background singers is singing. And you can't really count when he plays a song like Mountains, which sounds great, but Prince is not really singing much.

Bottom line: Great show, but should be at least two hours of Prince singing Prince songs, and singing over over a backing tape may be great for you non-musicians on here, but as a songwriter, and friend of many musicians, I have asked over 10 real artists about how they would feel to see this karaoke section, and not one said it was a good idea. Now if I asked somebody who wanted to go to the Prince concert to look at his outfits and what his hair looked like...well that person is at the show for the wrong reasons anyway...

I wouldn't like an entire show with just samples no, but I think samples give a chance to play parts or intros of songs he can't include in the setlist, yet can tickle the audience with for fun. The idea also embraces the fact that electronic music is very much of today's industry, in fact if you think of Rhianna's big hit "Please don't stop the music" I'm sure it would have been much less successful without MJ's "wanna be starting something" sample in there.

To sing a few lines over samples is harmless surely, as is singing along by the audience? A concert is about being together and showing love. If you're a musician wouldn't you love it if an audience knew every lyric to one of your songs and did it for you? It is love & I'm sure so many shows in a row is not easy on Prince's voice. It's still his own music and it's live and it's not about the production of each sample but how he puts them together in what sequence and maybe also, which words he chooses.

I see it as just a little salt and pepper during the show. Variety. Like a garden which has the odd flower which pops up here and there which wasn't part of the original landscape architecture, but looks pretty and alive anyway, so why pull it out? Unless of course you want a Japanese garden.

It's hard to reinvent oneself over and over again. I give Prince applause for the new efforts.