First time Black Sweat got played since the beginning of touring last year in Europe.

I really hope there will be some changes when he comes back here again. (Yurp)

Cthulhu said:

First time Black Sweat got played since the beginning of touring last year in Europe.

I really hope there will be some changes when he comes back here again. (Yurp)

purplethunder3121 said:

Another interesting aside (or maybe not ) were the comments from the Caribbean cab driver who picked us up after the concert. He has been a long time resident of LA and drove many folks to the Forum in the last couple of months. He stated that many people in LA have the impression that Prince is broke because he is doing so many concerts for discounted dollars at a historic but neglected venue such as the Forum. Then we discussed the HOB concerts. I stated that one of the HOB concerts were for charity, that I heard about. Then, I also stated that Prince, in the Sunday concert, stressed his love for the old Forum with its peeling paint and needed upgrades and he encouraged people to push to keep it as a venue for MUSIC, after mentioning groups he saw play there (including his own LOL). I pointed out that Prince could have made a lot more money by doing a residency at some fancy swag venue in Las Vegas. He thought about it for a moment and agreed with me. Then he paused and said, "I've heard that a Prince concert is always a good time." I said I totally agree with that and told him that if he has the chance for one more weekend, not to miss it!

I imagine like all of us Prince has multiple reasons for doing things. Music, artistic expression, ego, money.

He probably does have fond memories of the Forum..and Prince doesn't experience the run-down aspects the fans do: the outdated parking lot, the peeling paint, the crappy sound..

As for the $25 tix, he probably DOES have some "love" for the common man and wants to get people from "the hood" in the door.

But.... you have to also consider that once demand went up, the prices went up. If he really wanted to have the common man see him, all the tix would have stayed $25, or maybe $50 to make it feasible. There would be no VIP bullcrap. That element of the Prince show is pretty lame, sitting at little tables for $500. The front of the stage should be GA, with people ready to party.

He also would have made the Troub and HOB shows cost less.

Bottom line, I think Prince is doing these residencies primarily because they cost less. No expenses of transporting the band and equipment. This weekend, here is what he grossed probably: (I will not count those $400 and $500 seats because who knows how many are actually bought and not comped.)

Colonnades: Estimating 6000 x $25 = 150000

Pit: Estimating 500 x $50 = 25000

Loge: Estimating 4000 x $50 = 200000

Good Loge: Estimating 4000 x $150 = 600000

Floor and VIP: Estimating 3000 x $150 = 450000

Times Three Nights, all sold out = Over 4 million dollars.

Not slighting him at all; he deserves the money and delivers a good show. But it's naive to think he is doing everything for charity or art. It's a little bit art, a little bit business.

[Edited 5/30/11 13:34pm]

[Edited 5/30/11 13:35pm]

[Edited 5/30/11 13:36pm]

purplepurple said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Another interesting aside (or maybe not ) were the comments from the Caribbean cab driver who picked us up after the concert. He has been a long time resident of LA and drove many folks to the Forum in the last couple of months. He stated that many people in LA have the impression that Prince is broke because he is doing so many concerts for discounted dollars at a historic but neglected venue such as the Forum. Then we discussed the HOB concerts. I stated that one of the HOB concerts were for charity, that I heard about. Then, I also stated that Prince, in the Sunday concert, stressed his love for the old Forum with its peeling paint and needed upgrades and he encouraged people to push to keep it as a venue for MUSIC, after mentioning groups he saw play there (including his own LOL). I pointed out that Prince could have made a lot more money by doing a residency at some fancy swag venue in Las Vegas. He thought about it for a moment and agreed with me. Then he paused and said, "I've heard that a Prince concert is always a good time." I said I totally agree with that and told him that if he has the chance for one more weekend, not to miss it!

I imagine like all of us Prince has multiple reasons for doing things. Music, artistic expression, ego, money.

He probably does have fond memories of the Forum..and Prince doesn't experience the run-down aspects the fans do: the outdated parking lot, the peeling paint, the crappy sound..

As for the $25 tix, he probably DOES have some "love" for the common man and wants to get people from "the hood" in the door.

But.... you have to also consider that once demand went up, the prices went up. If he really wanted to have the common man see him, all the tix would have stayed $25, or maybe $50 to make it feasible. There would be no VIP bullcrap. That element of the Prince show is pretty lame, sitting at little tables for $500. The front of the stage should be GA, with people ready to party.

He also would have made the Troub and HOB shows cost less.

Bottom line, I think Prince is doing these residencies primarily because they cost less. No expenses of transporting the band and equipment. This weekend, here is what he grossed probably: (I will not count those $400 and $500 seats because who knows how many are actually bought and not comped.)

Colonnades: Estimating 6000 x $25 = 150000

Pit: Estimating 500 x $50 = 25000

Loge: Estimating 4000 x $50 = 200000

Good Loge: Estimating 4000 x $150 = 600000

Floor and VIP: Estimating 3000 x $150 = 450000

Times Three Nights, all sold out = Over 4 million dollars.

Not slighting him at all; he deserves the money and delivers a good show. But it's naive to think he is doing everything for charity or art. It's a little bit art, a little bit business.

[Edited 5/30/11 13:34pm]

[Edited 5/30/11 13:35pm]

[Edited 5/30/11 13:36pm]

Good overview of the "little bit art, little bit business." I agree with you on that. But, I could also tell that Prince cared about the Forum and was trying to get local folks to save it as a historic music venue rather than let it get torn down and redeveloped into something else. Prince ain't no saint to be sure! And I don't consider him so. I was merely pointing out to the cab driver that Prince could go the way of Celine Dion, Elvis, and (should I say it! Gold lame' costumes!) Liberace?!! God forbid! That would be the end! But P. ain't there yet--he chose the Forum--and he didn't have to. That was my only point. Not being naive at all. I don't think Prince is a selfless saint, any more than I am.

purplepurple said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Another interesting aside (or maybe not ) were the comments from the Caribbean cab driver who picked us up after the concert. He has been a long time resident of LA and drove many folks to the Forum in the last couple of months. He stated that many people in LA have the impression that Prince is broke because he is doing so many concerts for discounted dollars at a historic but neglected venue such as the Forum. Then we discussed the HOB concerts. I stated that one of the HOB concerts were for charity, that I heard about. Then, I also stated that Prince, in the Sunday concert, stressed his love for the old Forum with its peeling paint and needed upgrades and he encouraged people to push to keep it as a venue for MUSIC, after mentioning groups he saw play there (including his own LOL). I pointed out that Prince could have made a lot more money by doing a residency at some fancy swag venue in Las Vegas. He thought about it for a moment and agreed with me. Then he paused and said, "I've heard that a Prince concert is always a good time." I said I totally agree with that and told him that if he has the chance for one more weekend, not to miss it!

I imagine like all of us Prince has multiple reasons for doing things. Music, artistic expression, ego, money.

He probably does have fond memories of the Forum..and Prince doesn't experience the run-down aspects the fans do: the outdated parking lot, the peeling paint, the crappy sound..

As for the $25 tix, he probably DOES have some "love" for the common man and wants to get people from "the hood" in the door.

But.... you have to also consider that once demand went up, the prices went up. If he really wanted to have the common man see him, all the tix would have stayed $25, or maybe $50 to make it feasible. There would be no VIP bullcrap. That element of the Prince show is pretty lame, sitting at little tables for $500. The front of the stage should be GA, with people ready to party.

He also would have made the Troub and HOB shows cost less.

Bottom line, I think Prince is doing these residencies primarily because they cost less. No expenses of transporting the band and equipment. This weekend, here is what he grossed probably: (I will not count those $400 and $500 seats because who knows how many are actually bought and not comped.)

Colonnades: Estimating 6000 x $25 = 150000

Pit: Estimating 500 x $50 = 25000

Loge: Estimating 4000 x $50 = 200000

Good Loge: Estimating 4000 x $150 = 600000

Floor and VIP: Estimating 3000 x $150 = 450000

Times Three Nights, all sold out = Over 4 million dollars.

Not slighting him at all; he deserves the money and delivers a good show. But it's naive to think he is doing everything for charity or art. It's a little bit art, a little bit business.

[Edited 5/30/11 13:34pm]

[Edited 5/30/11 13:35pm]

[Edited 5/30/11 13:36pm]

Two interesting perspectives; maybe I can add a third.

Often times, when people throw it out there that a celebrity or athlete is "broke," 99% of the time that celebrity has more money than the person speaking. I've heard the stories about that alleged financial challenges that Prince has faced, but based on his hands on approach with just about everything, they appear to be mismanagement issues more than lack of finances. My take is he's very comfortable.

I'm not sure how much more money Prince could make doing a Vegas run than what he anticipated to make on the Welcome 2 America Tour. Clearly, the 21 Night Stand signified a change in plans. Once he committed to doing a big arena tour, with a large stage and elaborate details, he had few options at that point. He tested the waters in New Jersey and New York and without knowing all the details, I venture to guess things didn't go quite as planned based on what I did learn. Therefore, he made some adjustments on the fly, scaled down how many cities would be part of the tour and figured L.A. was the safest place to be. He has a home here. He has a large fanbase. Many of the people he works with reside in the Los Angeles area; it just makes sense.

When he announced the Forum was his choice of venue, my first reaction was he did so because it was available and Staples Center wasn't. There are no other viable arenas in the Los Angeles area that are large enough for his stage and hold over 15,000 people. Plus, LA has proven to be his top choice of cities to perform at clubs, besides maybe Minneapolis, and no knock on Minny, but I'm sure he could command a higher dollar figure and has more options in Southern Cali than Minnesota. I don't want to get too deep into specifics, but let me be clear about one thing: Prince would make a lot more money performing at the Staples Center than he would/did at the Forum. It's not even close. It's not about costs (low) at the Forum; it's about convenience and flexibility. As far as the "Save the Forum" theme, I don't know if his concern is actually whether the Forum is torn down or if he just cares about it regaining the ability to house top musical artists (it's not going to beat Staples Center no matter what is attempted), but I'm sure he has some good intentions, even though he's not really being clear on what he's trying to do. I have my hunches as do a lot of people, but since I have no concrete evidence to base them on, I'll hold off on offering.

I totally disagree with the contention that ticket prices shouldn't have been raised (back) for the past weekend and I disagree with the VIP table element being lame. Over this 21 Night Stand, thousands and thousands of ticket prices were lowered. To complain about them trying to make up for it during what might be the final weekend is totally unfair. They didn't come close to catching up to what was reduced and if anyone should have to pay more, it should be the people that chose to come after skipping 5 weeks of shows, instead of the people that supported the 21 Night Stand from the beginning and made it possible for it to continue. Too many people in L.A. and maybe some other cities want to be VIP. Celebrities don't want to be harassed, some people with the means like to show off, others just like a certain type of attention and service. In LA, a VIP option will always be available for big shows (and most small ones too).

I actually thought the Troubadour and House of Blues shows were priced fairly, well at least the Troubadour. I don't think you're considering how accomplished Prince is as an artist, when thinking about his willingness to do small shows. His normal appearance fee could not cover what he's able to gross, so those shows are like charity work for him.

I know you left off the VIP tickets, but I still think it's a BIG stretch to believe 7,000 tickets a night this weekend took in $150 each. If I were to guess, I would say the shows possibly grossed $1 million each, but taking your calculations, it still would have been make up money for the lower takes from the previous 12 shows.

In my opinion, Prince is more than capable of having a widely succesful tour, but it requires reasonable promotion, which his penchant for last minute announcements don't allow him to receive. I said immediately when I noticed tickets on sale for May 27, 28, 29 that even with just two weeks notice, that's all he needed to sell out.

[Edited 5/30/11 18:45pm]

wow, i agree w/ a post by realtor! and as much as the forum sucks, it did kind of feel like "home".

also, i forgot to mention something that almost ruined the show for me last night. some dude (mid 40s) had too much too fast and took a spill in the aisle. his head literally knocked the top of the arm rest off a seat. blood was everywhere. all over him, all over the chair/aisle.

security didn't see it and his friends really did nothing about it other than help him to my seat (which of course i helped and led him to).

was just weird. i expect that a phish show not a prince show.

ihatephish said:

some dude (mid 40s) had too much too fast and took a spill in the aisle. his head literally knocked the top of the arm rest off a seat. blood was everywhere. all over him, all over the chair/aisle.

No one told me they were going to be handing out Darwin Awards! Sounds more like a highlight to me.

also, i should mention, though a lot further for us, im still glad prince chose the forum over the staples center. i've never been to a show at staples before, but i've heard its not ideal for concerts from many friends who have.

[Edited 5/31/11 3:23am]

ihatephish said:

wow, i agree w/ a post by realtor! and as much as the forum sucks, it did kind of feel like "home".

also, i forgot to mention something that almost ruined the show for me last night. some dude (mid 40s) had too much too fast and took a spill in the aisle. his head literally knocked the top of the arm rest off a seat. blood was everywhere. all over him, all over the chair/aisle.

security didn't see it and his friends really did nothing about it other than help him to my seat (which of course i helped and led him to).

was just weird. i expect that a phish show not a prince show.

I'm sure you're not surprised . . . but I'm generally disagreed with due to the way I say things, not usually what I say. But if we're all the same, life would be boring.

That's pretty crazy what happened. My only distraction was security swarming like the FBI on people attempting to take photos and/or film.

Prince's first show at Staples Center, March 29, 2004 was the loudest Prince concert I have ever attended. Just my opinion, I think that show completely changed his perspective and the way he looked at playing hits. Not just for the sake of the setlist being filled with the hits for the 2nd half of the show, but because that's the way the tour was promoted (Prince playing his hits) in L.A. and the response was literally unbelieveable. I'm sure there were some orgers at that show and they can attest, but that was the first and last Prince show I have ever been to where the fans cheered from beginning to end . . . LOUDLY. He surely was blown away by the support and to see him get choked up and have to pause several times was a far cry from now seeing him have to ask for audience participation and make so many attempts to excite with requests and pleas.

As far as the venue goes, the pluses are pretty blatant: plenty to do at adjacent LA Live, more spacious and comfortable seating options, higher quality food and beverages, and of course, cleaner restrooms that are more conveniently located.

If I'm just going to watch a concert and not care too much about the amenities or going anywhere immediately before or afterward, I would choose the Forum. Most of my friends that have seen him at both, especially the ones that didn't catch the Mar 29 Staples Center show, but one of the many others there, said they liked the Forum more, too. My biggest enjoyment per the Forum was the pricing, which afforded several trips and allowed many of my friends to go, instead of a select few. The $25 ticket prices made the atmosphere more down-to-earth and less

bourgeoisie.

Funny you brought up March 29, 2004-- that was my first Prince show and it was pretty amazing, like you said. He really seemed moved by the audience reaction; I think it was during Little Red Corvette that the crowd went so crazy he was visibly moved by the reaction. Purple Rain was also really powerful that night. It was a pretty good night to pick for my first P show, really.

As for last night-- I am really conflicted about my opinions of the night. I'm really glad I went, and ended up having good seats, but I guess maybe my expectations were a bit TOO high (as my only other show in LA was 4/14). Some parts were fantastic, some a bit disappointing. Doesn't help I was apparently coming down with something yesterday, I woke up this morning feeling like crap so last night was probably a bit askew in my head due to that.

I gotta say the bathroom situation SUCKED, at least for me, as a guy. The portapotty lines were insane (I know, the women are saying "guess what we go through!") but seriously-- if the Forum thought they had to do this, they could've done it MUCH better. There were what, 10 portapotties for the entire Forum?? (or were there at least 2 areas?) Either way, it was a joke, and I've seen more portapotties at truck stops in the middle of nowhere than I saw for ~8500 guys at the Forum. I ended up missing the first 3 songs of Prince's set due to being stuck in line, but I was expecting a long show and didn't want to have to leave once the show started. So I left after King's 1st or 2nd song when I realized I wasn't going to miss much. Didn't expect Prince to just come out with no gap. (Although I got scared something was up the way they were playing in the Loge level, that was truly bizarre, although I was in Loge 29 and almost exactly directly across from them so I could at least sort of see them) So as much as I've enjoyed the Forum, major MAJOR thumbs down for the botching of the bathroom situation.

I thought the sound quality last night was good, and possibly even better than 4/14 which was also good but maybe a bit on the muddy side. Last night sounded more clear to me. I still don't get the complaints about the sound at the Forum-- to my ears, it's not much different than Staples, which it seems like a lot of people hold as some gold standard for arena sound (although honestly I don't think either Staples or the Forum are 'fantastic', but I think the Forum at least holds its own, although it sounds like there's been some variability between shows)

Definitely think Prince was back on a bit of a high doing the 3 sold out shows this weekend, he did make a lot of references to 17,000 people. I thought the crowd was pretty good for most of the show although it did get a bit quiet sometimes. There was a bit of a "triumphant" feeling to some of the songs, I thought. But then other songs felt a bit like he was on auto-pilot. The Time covers were great, part of me would've liked to see The Time opening but the crowd was really into the encores. Beautiful Ones was great to hear again (probably preferred it without Misty's dance which while fine was a bit distracting from the song), I was so glad to see him go over to the piano and play a song, not just the sampler set (which doesn't bug me as much as it bugs a lot of people here!).

Compared to 4/14 I enjoyed the encores more from an energy level-- everyone left really fast on 4/14 (since people didn't know to stick around, it was a worknight, etc) so by the 3rd+ encores there were so few people it got pretty quiet. Most people at the Forum last night stayed at least through the 3rd encore (and probably 50-60% of the Forum stayed til the very end) so there was a LOT more energy for the encores. After the 4th encore, a lot of people did start to leave and it was a lot quieter in the cheering. I noticed a lot of people just sitting there, knowing to wait, but not making noise/cheering, etc. From where I was sitting it looked more like the staff was encouraging the wave to get the noise levels up than anything the crowd was doing on its own. I was glad it at least worked. People DID get really noisy when the band actually came back. Somehow I missed almost all of Prince's bike riding but did see it once. Have they always entirely left the stage and had to come back through the floor on past shows? I don't remember seeing the band leave the glyph area at all at my last show. Maybe my angle was just wrong to see it.

Overall, it was a great show, but not a FANTASTIC/mind-blowing show... if that makes any sense. I'm glad I went and got to see the last Forum show, but it didn't quite live up to 4/14 for me (I still think a lot of the magic of 4/14 came from everyone's expectations being blown up-- length, multiple encores, etc-- now those are all known/expected so the energy's different). Doesn't help that by missing the first 3 songs I missed a lot of the 'unique' songs to this show. :/ But hey, I got to see another 3+ hour Prince show, cost a bit more than last time but it was worth it. I'm glad I was able to be part of it all twice!!

(on a side note, it was definitely section by section about the pictures-- in my section security was being pretty tight when they did see someone taking pics (they took 3-4 people out of my section for pics) but the later the show went the less they seemed to be actively looking for people. I snuck a few pics towards the end [and got the wave on video] but nothing came out too great and I didn't want to spend the time it takes to make my phone decide to take a good pic)

[Edited 5/30/11 23:29pm]

Justin42 said:

Funny you brought up March 29, 2004-- that was my first Prince show and it was pretty amazing, like you said. He really seemed moved by the audience reaction; I think it was during Little Red Corvette that the crowd went so crazy he was visibly moved by the reaction. Purple Rain was also really powerful that night. It was a pretty good night to pick for my first P show, really.

As for last night-- I am really conflicted about my opinions of the night. I'm really glad I went, and ended up having good seats, but I guess maybe my expectations were a bit TOO high (as my only other show in LA was 4/14). Some parts were fantastic, some a bit disappointing. Doesn't help I was apparently coming down with something yesterday, I woke up this morning feeling like crap so last night was probably a bit askew in my head due to that.

I gotta say the bathroom situation SUCKED, at least for me, as a guy. The portapotty lines were insane (I know, the women are saying "guess what we go through!") but seriously-- if the Forum thought they had to do this, they could've done it MUCH better. There were what, 10 portapotties for the entire Forum?? (or were there at least 2 areas?) Either way, it was a joke, and I've seen more portapotties at truck stops in the middle of nowhere than I saw for ~8500 guys at the Forum. I ended up missing the first 3 songs of Prince's set due to being stuck in line, but I was expecting a long show and didn't want to have to leave once the show started. So I left after King's 1st or 2nd song when I realized I wasn't going to miss much. Didn't expect Prince to just come out with no gap. (Although I got scared something was up the way they were playing in the Loge level, that was truly bizarre, although I was in Loge 29 and almost exactly directly across from them so I could at least sort of see them) So as much as I've enjoyed the Forum, major MAJOR thumbs down for the botching of the bathroom situation.

I thought the sound quality last night was good, and possibly even better than 4/14 which was also good but maybe a bit on the muddy side. Last night sounded more clear to me. I still don't get the complaints about the sound at the Forum-- to my ears, it's not much different than Staples, which it seems like a lot of people hold as some gold standard for arena sound (although honestly I don't think either Staples or the Forum are 'fantastic', but I think the Forum at least holds its own, although it sounds like there's been some variability between shows)

Definitely think Prince was back on a bit of a high doing the 3 sold out shows this weekend, he did make a lot of references to 17,000 people. I thought the crowd was pretty good for most of the show although it did get a bit quiet sometimes. There was a bit of a "triumphant" feeling to some of the songs, I thought. But then other songs felt a bit like he was on auto-pilot. The Time covers were great, part of me would've liked to see The Time opening but the crowd was really into the encores. Beautiful Ones was great to hear again (probably preferred it without Misty's dance which while fine was a bit distracting from the song), I was so glad to see him go over to the piano and play a song, not just the sampler set (which doesn't bug me as much as it bugs a lot of people here!).

Compared to 4/14 I enjoyed the encores more from an energy level-- everyone left really fast on 4/14 (since people didn't know to stick around, it was a worknight, etc) so by the 3rd+ encores there were so few people it got pretty quiet. Most people at the Forum last night stayed at least through the 3rd encore (and probably 50-60% of the Forum stayed til the very end) so there was a LOT more energy for the encores. After the 4th encore, a lot of people did start to leave and it was a lot quieter in the cheering. I noticed a lot of people just sitting there, knowing to wait, but not making noise/cheering, etc. From where I was sitting it looked more like the staff was encouraging the wave to get the noise levels up than anything the crowd was doing on its own. I was glad it at least worked. People DID get really noisy when the band actually came back. Somehow I missed almost all of Prince's bike riding but did see it once. Have they always entirely left the stage and had to come back through the floor on past shows? I don't remember seeing the band leave the glyph area at all at my last show. Maybe my angle was just wrong to see it.

Overall, it was a great show, but not a FANTASTIC/mind-blowing show... if that makes any sense. I'm glad I went and got to see the last Forum show, but it didn't quite live up to 4/14 for me (I still think a lot of the magic of 4/14 came from everyone's expectations being blown up-- length, multiple encores, etc-- now those are all known/expected so the energy's different). Doesn't help that by missing the first 3 songs I missed a lot of the 'unique' songs to this show. :/ But hey, I got to see another 3+ hour Prince show, cost a bit more than last time but it was worth it. I'm glad I was able to be part of it all twice!!

(on a side note, it was definitely section by section about the pictures-- in my section security was being pretty tight when they did see someone taking pics (they took 3-4 people out of my section for pics) but the later the show went the less they seemed to be actively looking for people. I snuck a few pics towards the end [and got the wave on video] but nothing came out too great and I didn't want to spend the time it takes to make my phone decide to take a good pic)

[Edited 5/30/11 23:29pm]

LOL...I don't know to feel happy for you or sad for you that March 29 '04 was your first Prince show! As humans, we get conditioned pretty quickly by first impressions and that crowd reaction was way out of the norm for him. Seeing him over 50 times prior to that, prepared me to not expect that type of energy when I go to Prince concerts. I hope you have been able to tame your expectations, because no need to be disappointed by things outside of his control.

When I read your post, I thought I was the one speaking...we have practically identical perspectives of the show. I actually was feeling horrible that day, but my spirits were picked up by some really cool orgers . . . GDB, AlwaysNmyHair86, alfbo, theAudience . . . to name four. I had absolutely no energy and had to go across the street to nourish myself and sit down for a while. For the entire concert, I didn't feel well, so I didn't want to offer a jaded perspective of the performance.

As far as the sound quality, I prefer the Forum's acoustics over Staples Center's. Prince (his sound crew) made several adjustments on a concert-to-concert, hour-to-hour, song-to-song basis. I think they did a pretty good job, but not spectacular.

The show, itself, was the most unique of all of them, in my opinion. There were high points that were never reached during the 21 Night Stand, including Troubadour and House of Blues shows. I counted AT LEAST five songs that he took to a higher level than all of the other shows:

1. The Beautiful Ones: Absolutely fantastic performance. It's one thing to do a song a little better than the few other times performed on this Stand, but he did it WAAAAY better than any of the other times.

2. Adore: I'm surprised I didn't notice any comments about this song. I venture to say it was the best performance he's ever done of this song, wish there were was more feedback on that one.

3. Scandalous: Now, I've heard him go really deep on this one several times, but for the sake of the 21 Night Stand, clearly, clearly his best performance.

4. Let's Go Crazy/Delirious: Not so much the Let's Go Crazy part, but more of Delirious, Morris Hayes was phenomenal! Again, I'm pretty surprised I didn't see much feedback on that song.

5. Let's Work: Yet another song he took to a level that wasn't reached on any of the previous nights.

So, some VERY high points in this show and many more solid, solid performances of songs.

I guess the reason for the conflicted feelings are similar to mine?

Purple Rain: It missed and it missed badly. If Prince had done some press conferences, interviews, etc and explained WTH he's really trying to do . . . and wanting us to do . . . per the Forum, it MIGHT have worked. Instead, he was just rambling on and doing what I chastise people for doing all around the world: not making sense.

Encore #3: The disorganization among Maceo Parker, Nikka Costa, the fans dancing, and himself was difficult to observe. His cues to Maceo were not really received properly (throughout the show) and his handling of Nikka Costa was rather pathetic. She kept a positive attitude even through his bizarre communication methods. The entirety resulted in a package that was more like a take it or leave it scenario rather than something reflective of an exciting climax to a weekend and a 21 Night Stand.

Fortunately, he came back with Encore #4 and went on to end the show on a high note. As far as the energy in arenas for Prince shows, I've long given up on high expectations since that night 7 years, 2 months, and 2 days ago. I've seen him over 30 times in between, and the fans just aren't as boisterous as they were that one particular night.

I laughed when Prince asked the crowd to take their cell phones out and not one cell phone appeared out of the darkness, pretty funny. Now, I know that wasn't reflective of fan interest, but more of the emphasis on no picture taking during his show.

But how much of that $4 million dollar gross does Prince put in his pocket? According to Billbaord Magazine major artists usually walk with about 34% of the gross after all costs involved. Obviously Prince saved money by not having to break down and move everything but all the production staff had to be paid for everyday. So maybe 50% or 60% of the gross tops. Anyone have an idea?

purplepurple said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Another interesting aside (or maybe not ) were the comments from the Caribbean cab driver who picked us up after the concert. He has been a long time resident of LA and drove many folks to the Forum in the last couple of months. He stated that many people in LA have the impression that Prince is broke because he is doing so many concerts for discounted dollars at a historic but neglected venue such as the Forum. Then we discussed the HOB concerts. I stated that one of the HOB concerts were for charity, that I heard about. Then, I also stated that Prince, in the Sunday concert, stressed his love for the old Forum with its peeling paint and needed upgrades and he encouraged people to push to keep it as a venue for MUSIC, after mentioning groups he saw play there (including his own LOL). I pointed out that Prince could have made a lot more money by doing a residency at some fancy swag venue in Las Vegas. He thought about it for a moment and agreed with me. Then he paused and said, "I've heard that a Prince concert is always a good time." I said I totally agree with that and told him that if he has the chance for one more weekend, not to miss it!

I imagine like all of us Prince has multiple reasons for doing things. Music, artistic expression, ego, money.

He probably does have fond memories of the Forum..and Prince doesn't experience the run-down aspects the fans do: the outdated parking lot, the peeling paint, the crappy sound..

As for the $25 tix, he probably DOES have some "love" for the common man and wants to get people from "the hood" in the door.

But.... you have to also consider that once demand went up, the prices went up. If he really wanted to have the common man see him, all the tix would have stayed $25, or maybe $50 to make it feasible. There would be no VIP bullcrap. That element of the Prince show is pretty lame, sitting at little tables for $500. The front of the stage should be GA, with people ready to party.

He also would have made the Troub and HOB shows cost less.

Bottom line, I think Prince is doing these residencies primarily because they cost less. No expenses of transporting the band and equipment. This weekend, here is what he grossed probably: (I will not count those $400 and $500 seats because who knows how many are actually bought and not comped.)

Colonnades: Estimating 6000 x $25 = 150000

Pit: Estimating 500 x $50 = 25000

Loge: Estimating 4000 x $50 = 200000

Good Loge: Estimating 4000 x $150 = 600000

Floor and VIP: Estimating 3000 x $150 = 450000

Times Three Nights, all sold out = Over 4 million dollars.

Not slighting him at all; he deserves the money and delivers a good show. But it's naive to think he is doing everything for charity or art. It's a little bit art, a little bit business.

[Edited 5/30/11 13:34pm]

[Edited 5/30/11 13:35pm]

[Edited 5/30/11 13:36pm]

Opps. Not sure I did that post correctly so here it is again -

But how much of that $4 million dollar gross does Prince put in his pocket? According to Billbaord Magazine major artists usually walk with about 34% of the gross after all costs involved. Obviously Prince saved money by not having to break down and move everything but all the production staff had to be paid for everyday. So maybe 50% or 60% of the gross tops. Anyone have an idea?

Imaginative said:

ihatephish said:

some dude (mid 40s) had too much too fast and took a spill in the aisle. his head literally knocked the top of the arm rest off a seat. blood was everywhere. all over him, all over the chair/aisle.

No one told me they were going to be handing out Darwin Awards! Sounds more like a highlight to me.

DEVOLUTION IS REAL.

bwdinhb said:

Imaginative said:

No one told me they were going to be handing out Darwin Awards! Sounds more like a highlight to me.

DEVOLUTION IS REAL.

dlp45 said:

Opps. Not sure I did that post correctly so here it is again -

But how much of that $4 million dollar gross does Prince put in his pocket? According to Billbaord Magazine major artists usually walk with about 34% of the gross after all costs involved. Obviously Prince saved money by not having to break down and move everything but all the production staff had to be paid for everyday. So maybe 50% or 60% of the gross tops. Anyone have an idea?

Buying the $4 million gross...hmmm...pretty high figure to reach when some of Loge seats were still sold for $25 and $50 this past weekend. I'm guessing he made about a $1 million net for the weekend. He can, and has, netted much more on a single night at Staples Center. Like everything else though, Prince handles his business unlike any other artist, so can't really use the protocol for typcial major artists and apply to him.

For comparison sake, he was contracted for $4.8 million to play one night, at Coachella, in April of 2008.

Realtor said:

Justin42 said:

Funny you brought up March 29, 2004-- that was my first Prince show and it was pretty amazing, like you said. He really seemed moved by the audience reaction; I think it was during Little Red Corvette that the crowd went so crazy he was visibly moved by the reaction. Purple Rain was also really powerful that night. It was a pretty good night to pick for my first P show, really.

As for last night-- I am really conflicted about my opinions of the night. I'm really glad I went, and ended up having good seats, but I guess maybe my expectations were a bit TOO high (as my only other show in LA was 4/14). Some parts were fantastic, some a bit disappointing. Doesn't help I was apparently coming down with something yesterday, I woke up this morning feeling like crap so last night was probably a bit askew in my head due to that.

I gotta say the bathroom situation SUCKED, at least for me, as a guy. The portapotty lines were insane (I know, the women are saying "guess what we go through!") but seriously-- if the Forum thought they had to do this, they could've done it MUCH better. There were what, 10 portapotties for the entire Forum?? (or were there at least 2 areas?) Either way, it was a joke, and I've seen more portapotties at truck stops in the middle of nowhere than I saw for ~8500 guys at the Forum. I ended up missing the first 3 songs of Prince's set due to being stuck in line, but I was expecting a long show and didn't want to have to leave once the show started. So I left after King's 1st or 2nd song when I realized I wasn't going to miss much. Didn't expect Prince to just come out with no gap. (Although I got scared something was up the way they were playing in the Loge level, that was truly bizarre, although I was in Loge 29 and almost exactly directly across from them so I could at least sort of see them) So as much as I've enjoyed the Forum, major MAJOR thumbs down for the botching of the bathroom situation.

I thought the sound quality last night was good, and possibly even better than 4/14 which was also good but maybe a bit on the muddy side. Last night sounded more clear to me. I still don't get the complaints about the sound at the Forum-- to my ears, it's not much different than Staples, which it seems like a lot of people hold as some gold standard for arena sound (although honestly I don't think either Staples or the Forum are 'fantastic', but I think the Forum at least holds its own, although it sounds like there's been some variability between shows)

Definitely think Prince was back on a bit of a high doing the 3 sold out shows this weekend, he did make a lot of references to 17,000 people. I thought the crowd was pretty good for most of the show although it did get a bit quiet sometimes. There was a bit of a "triumphant" feeling to some of the songs, I thought. But then other songs felt a bit like he was on auto-pilot. The Time covers were great, part of me would've liked to see The Time opening but the crowd was really into the encores. Beautiful Ones was great to hear again (probably preferred it without Misty's dance which while fine was a bit distracting from the song), I was so glad to see him go over to the piano and play a song, not just the sampler set (which doesn't bug me as much as it bugs a lot of people here!).

Compared to 4/14 I enjoyed the encores more from an energy level-- everyone left really fast on 4/14 (since people didn't know to stick around, it was a worknight, etc) so by the 3rd+ encores there were so few people it got pretty quiet. Most people at the Forum last night stayed at least through the 3rd encore (and probably 50-60% of the Forum stayed til the very end) so there was a LOT more energy for the encores. After the 4th encore, a lot of people did start to leave and it was a lot quieter in the cheering. I noticed a lot of people just sitting there, knowing to wait, but not making noise/cheering, etc. From where I was sitting it looked more like the staff was encouraging the wave to get the noise levels up than anything the crowd was doing on its own. I was glad it at least worked. People DID get really noisy when the band actually came back. Somehow I missed almost all of Prince's bike riding but did see it once. Have they always entirely left the stage and had to come back through the floor on past shows? I don't remember seeing the band leave the glyph area at all at my last show. Maybe my angle was just wrong to see it.

Overall, it was a great show, but not a FANTASTIC/mind-blowing show... if that makes any sense. I'm glad I went and got to see the last Forum show, but it didn't quite live up to 4/14 for me (I still think a lot of the magic of 4/14 came from everyone's expectations being blown up-- length, multiple encores, etc-- now those are all known/expected so the energy's different). Doesn't help that by missing the first 3 songs I missed a lot of the 'unique' songs to this show. :/ But hey, I got to see another 3+ hour Prince show, cost a bit more than last time but it was worth it. I'm glad I was able to be part of it all twice!!

(on a side note, it was definitely section by section about the pictures-- in my section security was being pretty tight when they did see someone taking pics (they took 3-4 people out of my section for pics) but the later the show went the less they seemed to be actively looking for people. I snuck a few pics towards the end [and got the wave on video] but nothing came out too great and I didn't want to spend the time it takes to make my phone decide to take a good pic)

[Edited 5/30/11 23:29pm]

LOL...I don't know to feel happy for you or sad for you that March 29 '04 was your first Prince show! As humans, we get conditioned pretty quickly by first impressions and that crowd reaction was way out of the norm for him. Seeing him over 50 times prior to that, prepared me to not expect that type of energy when I go to Prince concerts. I hope you have been able to tame your expectations, because no need to be disappointed by things outside of his control.

When I read your post, I thought I was the one speaking...we have practically identical perspectives of the show. I actually was feeling horrible that day, but my spirits were picked up by some really cool orgers . . . GDB, AlwaysNmyHair86, alfbo, theAudience . . . to name four. I had absolutely no energy and had to go across the street to nourish myself and sit down for a while. For the entire concert, I didn't feel well, so I didn't want to offer a jaded perspective of the performance.

As far as the sound quality, I prefer the Forum's acoustics over Staples Center's. Prince (his sound crew) made several adjustments on a concert-to-concert, hour-to-hour, song-to-song basis. I think they did a pretty good job, but not spectacular.

The show, itself, was the most unique of all of them, in my opinion. There were high points that were never reached during the 21 Night Stand, including Troubadour and House of Blues shows. I counted AT LEAST five songs that he took to a higher level than all of the other shows:

1. The Beautiful Ones: Absolutely fantastic performance. It's one thing to do a song a little better than the few other times performed on this Stand, but he did it WAAAAY better than any of the other times.

2. Adore: I'm surprised I didn't notice any comments about this song. I venture to say it was the best performance he's ever done of this song, wish there were was more feedback on that one.

3. Scandalous: Now, I've heard him go really deep on this one several times, but for the sake of the 21 Night Stand, clearly, clearly his best performance.

4. Let's Go Crazy/Delirious: Not so much the Let's Go Crazy part, but more of Delirious, Morris Hayes was phenomenal! Again, I'm pretty surprised I didn't see much feedback on that song.

5. Let's Work: Yet another song he took to a level that wasn't reached on any of the previous nights.

So, some VERY high points in this show and many more solid, solid performances of songs.

I guess the reason for the conflicted feelings are similar to mine?

Purple Rain: It missed and it missed badly. If Prince had done some press conferences, interviews, etc and explained WTH he's really trying to do . . . and wanting us to do . . . per the Forum, it MIGHT have worked. Instead, he was just rambling on and doing what I chastise people for doing all around the world: not making sense.

Encore #3: The disorganization among Maceo Parker, Nikka Costa, the fans dancing, and himself was difficult to observe. His cues to Maceo were not really received properly (throughout the show) and his handling of Nikka Costa was rather pathetic. She kept a positive attitude even through his bizarre communication methods. The entirety resulted in a package that was more like a take it or leave it scenario rather than something reflective of an exciting climax to a weekend and a 21 Night Stand.

Fortunately, he came back with Encore #4 and went on to end the show on a high note. As far as the energy in arenas for Prince shows, I've long given up on high expectations since that night 7 years, 2 months, and 2 days ago. I've seen him over 30 times in between, and the fans just aren't as boisterous as they were that one particular night.

I laughed when Prince asked the crowd to take their cell phones out and not one cell phone appeared out of the darkness, pretty funny. Now, I know that wasn't reflective of fan interest, but more of the emphasis on no picture taking during his show.

I guess I just have good Prince luck. Honestly, I don't remember 3/29/04 being particularly loud but maybe because I had nothing to compare it to (in terms of Prince shows) I just figured it was an excited/typical crowd. I DO know it was an amazing show, and since it was (sort of) the first night of Musicology and was so special, that's what prompted me to drop everything to go to 4/14.. (when 2 of my 4 Prince shows were 3/29/04 and 4/14/11 I feel like I have pretty good Prince luck!) Honestly I didn't expect he could top 3/29 when I went on 4/14 but that opinion changed about 30 minutes in... That said, it does really screw up my internal expectations for Prince shows when I've lucked into seeing him at the top of his game multiple times.

See, I was feeling mostly fine during the show-- felt a little weird before it but totally got sucked into the show and forgot I wasn't feeling 100% until I tried to scream or whistle and I was having trouble making noise. But I think knowing I was getting more worn down I probably had a subconcious issue with the show. I'm glad you brought up the points you did, though, since I'm still in a bit of a fog about the show and still trying to totally form my opinions.

I'll definitely agree that Beautiful Ones was great (maybe it had nothing to do with not having Misty dancing, maybe it was just simply a much, much better performance on 5/29 than 4/14!). It's never been a big favorite of mine, I do like the song and enjoyed hearing it 4/14 but it was a highlight on 5/29. I think the crowd got a LOT more into certain songs (like Let's Work, Let's Go Crazy, etc) and he really played off of that. Being as 4/14 was a Thursday night and most people had been working, etc, it was interesting to see the energy level difference. 5/29 definitely had the crowd a bit more into dancing/cheering than 4/14. (not that the 4/14 crowd itself was bad, it just wasn't a full house, and being a worknight I think mellowed some people) I think at its top-- which happened a few times-- the 5/29 crowd was a lot louder than 4/14. (beyond just differences due to the numbers in seats)

I hate to admit Scandalous and Adore aren't my favorite songs so I probably didn't notice them being better than normal just due to that. (did I violate some unwritten rule admitting that?) I do remember enjoying them more than on 4/14. It's funny though how some songs of Prince's I don't "get" until I see an amazing live performance.. like honestly, I never thought much of Peach until I saw it on 4/14 and now I LOVE the song. So S&A are still growing on me as live songs.

I liked the speech about keeping the Forum what it is, not building stuff all around it, etc-- but I agree, WTH does he know about the future of the Forum that he's not sharing with us? It'd be helpful to know what we can do other than cheer and clap when he says not to tear it down. After these shows I have more of a soft spot for the Forum than I ever did before (and I always had a huge soft spot for it-- growing up in LA it was the center of the known universe for all intents and purposes!), even if I did miss 3 of the songs due to mismanagement , but what is supposed to be going on?

The Purple Rain performance was the weakest of the 4 times I've seen Prince (best was probably the 3/29/04 performance). Can't put my finger on why, just didn't click for me either. 4/14 it was nearly 15 minutes long if you count the intro and everything and it felt like about 4 minutes. 5/29 was about 10 minutes long and it felt like about 15.

I have to agree encore #3 was just bizarre. Nikka's mic was mixed pretty horribly and there were just too many people up on stage. The Time songs were great, though, and the crowd really enjoyed it. I think it would've killed to have Nikka do the song alone before bringing fans up on stage. I think there were too many people on stage which caused all of the chaos-- no one could see anyone. It wasn't bad, it just ... didn't work. Can't explain it. I almost felt like Nikka didn't know she was supposed to do the song, and looked like she was trying to get away from everyone to perform.

and encores 4 and 5 definitely "fixed" the confusion of encore 3; I'm glad it didn't end with encore 3 simply because it was such a confused performance. Controversy was a great end to the night and definitely left things off on a high note-- I think everyone sensed it, I was shocked how fast people started streaming out after that.

In a way, maybe Prince was really pushing to make the night super special-- and unlike 4/14, where everything just clicked and worked, 5/29 just didn't. When it flew, it soared high-- but sometimes it came back down to earth. Again, not saying it was a bad show, far from it-- just maybe it didn't quite go down the way it was supposed to.

[Edited 5/31/11 16:26pm]

Well, back in Oakland after a long, brutal drive yesterday........

I wasn't feeling too crash hot on Sunday so decided to skip the opening and get to the Forum around 9pm and maybe catch the end of King. Weird, but both my son and I on the way over said we had a funny feeling that Prince was already on stage.......turns out we were almost right. Just as we were finding our Loge section the crowd was going crazy and sure enough Prince was rising:) I hopped down those stairs as fast as my high heels would let me, my two kids on my tail:)

I loved the show and that I got to share another night of Prince with my boys. My 12 year old was groovin' alongside me for the whole 3 hours, my 9 year old lost his mojo after an hour but was happy to bounce around in his seat.

Highlights for me:

Mountains

The Beautiful Ones - wow - unbelieveable - second time live for me ( San Jose 5/19)

Insatiable/Adore/Scandalous trifecta - I have been wanting at least one of these songs again ever since Oakland. He actually brought tears to my eyes Sunday night.

Future Soul Song - I love, love, love this song

She's Always in my Hair

oh and the mere seconds of Black Sweat:)

Maceo Parker - amazing

Prince slithering down the arrow, laying on the piano, pulling down his barely buttoned shirt, shaking his little booty and in my opinion giving us his all.

Loved his 'rasberry' outfit

Seeing him ride his bicycle out for the encore

I thought the crowd for the most part were very responsive and loud. Loved they got the wave going.

Probably the most personal moment for me was when my son told me the next day that he almost cried when Prince sang Purple Rain because he thought it would be the last time he would ever see him perform. I hope he is wrong.....

Some photos for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13373907@N02/sets/72157626855716744/

lancslass said:

Well, back in Oakland after a long, brutal drive yesterday........

I wasn't feeling too crash hot on Sunday so decided to skip the opening and get to the Forum around 9pm and maybe catch the end of King. Weird, but both my son and I on the way over said we had a funny feeling that Prince was already on stage.......turns out we were almost right. Just as we were finding our Loge section the crowd was going crazy and sure enough Prince was rising:) I hopped down those stairs as fast as my high heels would let me, my two kids on my tail:)

I loved the show and that I got to share another night of Prince with my boys. My 12 year old was groovin' alongside me for the whole 3 hours, my 9 year old lost his mojo after an hour but was happy to bounce around in his seat.

Highlights for me:

Mountains

The Beautiful Ones - wow - unbelieveable - second time live for me ( San Jose 5/19)

Insatiable/Adore/Scandalous trifecta - I have been wanting at least one of these songs again ever since Oakland. He actually brought tears to my eyes Sunday night.

Future Soul Song - I love, love, love this song

She's Always in my Hair

oh and the mere seconds of Black Sweat:)

Maceo Parker - amazing

Prince slithering down the arrow, laying on the piano, pulling down his barely buttoned shirt, shaking his little booty and in my opinion giving us his all.

Loved his 'rasberry' outfit

Seeing him ride his bicycle out for the encore

I thought the crowd for the most part were very responsive and loud. Loved they got the wave going.

Probably the most personal moment for me was when my son told me the next day that he almost cried when Prince sang Purple Rain because he thought it would be the last time he would ever see him perform. I hope he is wrong.....

Some photos for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.flickr.com/pho...855716744/

Thanks!

Realtor said:

dlp45 said:

Opps. Not sure I did that post correctly so here it is again -

But how much of that $4 million dollar gross does Prince put in his pocket? According to Billbaord Magazine major artists usually walk with about 34% of the gross after all costs involved. Obviously Prince saved money by not having to break down and move everything but all the production staff had to be paid for everyday. So maybe 50% or 60% of the gross tops. Anyone have an idea?

Buying the $4 million gross...hmmm...pretty high figure to reach when some of Loge seats were still sold for $25 and $50 this past weekend. I'm guessing he made about a $1 million net for the weekend. He can, and has, netted much more on a single night at Staples Center. Like everything else though, Prince handles his business unlike any other artist, so can't really use the protocol for typcial major artists and apply to him.

For comparison sake, he was contracted for $4.8 million to play one night, at Coachella, in April of 2008.

wow, 4.8 million for Coachella... good for Prince!

lancslass said:

Well, back in Oakland after a long, brutal drive yesterday........

I wasn't feeling too crash hot on Sunday so decided to skip the opening and get to the Forum around 9pm and maybe catch the end of King. Weird, but both my son and I on the way over said we had a funny feeling that Prince was already on stage.......turns out we were almost right. Just as we were finding our Loge section the crowd was going crazy and sure enough Prince was rising:) I hopped down those stairs as fast as my high heels would let me, my two kids on my tail:)

I loved the show and that I got to share another night of Prince with my boys. My 12 year old was groovin' alongside me for the whole 3 hours, my 9 year old lost his mojo after an hour but was happy to bounce around in his seat.

Highlights for me:

Mountains

The Beautiful Ones - wow - unbelieveable - second time live for me ( San Jose 5/19)

Insatiable/Adore/Scandalous trifecta - I have been wanting at least one of these songs again ever since Oakland. He actually brought tears to my eyes Sunday night.

Future Soul Song - I love, love, love this song

She's Always in my Hair

oh and the mere seconds of Black Sweat:)

Maceo Parker - amazing

Prince slithering down the arrow, laying on the piano, pulling down his barely buttoned shirt, shaking his little booty and in my opinion giving us his all.

Loved his 'rasberry' outfit

Seeing him ride his bicycle out for the encore

I thought the crowd for the most part were very responsive and loud. Loved they got the wave going.

Probably the most personal moment for me was when my son told me the next day that he almost cried when Prince sang Purple Rain because he thought it would be the last time he would ever see him perform. I hope he is wrong.....

Some photos for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13373907@N02/sets/72157626855716744/

I thought the light-up boots were pretty awesome... the slithering on stage didn't do much for me personally but I think a lot of people in the Forum really enjoyed it...

Thanks for sharing the pics! They're great!

dlp45 said:

Realtor said:

Buying the $4 million gross...hmmm...pretty high figure to reach when some of Loge seats were still sold for $25 and $50 this past weekend. I'm guessing he made about a $1 million net for the weekend. He can, and has, netted much more on a single night at Staples Center. Like everything else though, Prince handles his business unlike any other artist, so can't really use the protocol for typcial major artists and apply to him.

For comparison sake, he was contracted for $4.8 million to play one night, at Coachella, in April of 2008.

wow, 4.8 million for Coachella... good for Prince!

Justin42 said:

lancslass said:

Well, back in Oakland after a long, brutal drive yesterday........

I wasn't feeling too crash hot on Sunday so decided to skip the opening and get to the Forum around 9pm and maybe catch the end of King. Weird, but both my son and I on the way over said we had a funny feeling that Prince was already on stage.......turns out we were almost right. Just as we were finding our Loge section the crowd was going crazy and sure enough Prince was rising:) I hopped down those stairs as fast as my high heels would let me, my two kids on my tail:)

I loved the show and that I got to share another night of Prince with my boys. My 12 year old was groovin' alongside me for the whole 3 hours, my 9 year old lost his mojo after an hour but was happy to bounce around in his seat.

Highlights for me:

Mountains

The Beautiful Ones - wow - unbelieveable - second time live for me ( San Jose 5/19)

Insatiable/Adore/Scandalous trifecta - I have been wanting at least one of these songs again ever since Oakland. He actually brought tears to my eyes Sunday night.

Future Soul Song - I love, love, love this song

She's Always in my Hair

oh and the mere seconds of Black Sweat:)

Maceo Parker - amazing

Prince slithering down the arrow, laying on the piano, pulling down his barely buttoned shirt, shaking his little booty and in my opinion giving us his all.

Loved his 'rasberry' outfit

Seeing him ride his bicycle out for the encore

I thought the crowd for the most part were very responsive and loud. Loved they got the wave going.

Probably the most personal moment for me was when my son told me the next day that he almost cried when Prince sang Purple Rain because he thought it would be the last time he would ever see him perform. I hope he is wrong.....

Some photos for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13373907@N02/sets/72157626855716744/

I thought the light-up boots were pretty awesome... the slithering on stage didn't do much for me personally but I think a lot of people in the Forum really enjoyed it...

Thanks for sharing the pics! They're great!

loved the show....the outfits were great N the dancing is super...

love the twinz...there sooooooo hot....

saying loads of prayers 4 there mom N i have donated to there charity 2 pay towards the medical bill.

peace n love yall

WOLFY

His guitar rig was off on a few songs. I've never seen him mess with it so many times compared to the other 10 I saw. Maybe his bass solo threw everything off

legna said:

His guitar rig was off on a few songs. I've never seen him mess with it so many times compared to the other 10 I saw. Maybe his bass solo threw everything off

The fringes on that cape he was wearing got caught in the knobs as well. He swiped them away with his hand and a couple of them got pulled off and were hanging from the knobs. As long as he was looking good, I guess

purplethunder3121 said:

Cthulhu said:

First time Black Sweat got played since the beginning of touring last year in Europe.

I really hope there will be some changes when he comes back here again. (Yurp)

Actually, although I'm not sure if it was mentioned in the set list posted here, I think he also sang at least the first verse and chorus of "Black Sweat" during the "karaoke" set on 05/14/11. I remember he said something like "Excuse me, I've gotta do this for me" and then started into it.

purplekat said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Actually, although I'm not sure if it was mentioned in the set list posted here, I think he also sang at least the first verse and chorus of "Black Sweat" during the "karaoke" set on 05/14/11. I remember he said something like "Excuse me, I've gotta do this for me" and then started into it.

You're right.... i remember that too