Nightcrawler said:

The technical problems in the beginning and the long delay after that killed the flow of the whole gig. That's not Princes fault. The curfew (and there is one) wasn't Princes fault either. And the bad sound (especially the guitar) also wasn't his fault. If all of these things wouldn't have happened, we would have gotten a good, long concert. The setlist was perfect as was Princes performance and his energy. Too bad for Cologne, but certainly not a sign that he doesn't deliver anymore.

Why do you think that the technical problems are not down to him? Instead of a line check done by engineers in the afternoon, maybe the artist himself should show up and play a proper soundcheck. I guess the half empty arena didn't help at all. Maybe they shoud have turned down the sound a bit.

aprilsnow said:

Nightcrawler said:

The technical problems in the beginning and the long delay after that killed the flow of the whole gig. That's not Princes fault. The curfew (and there is one) wasn't Princes fault either. And the bad sound (especially the guitar) also wasn't his fault. If all of these things wouldn't have happened, we would have gotten a good, long concert. The setlist was perfect as was Princes performance and his energy. Too bad for Cologne, but certainly not a sign that he doesn't deliver anymore.

Why do you think that the technical problems are not down to him? Instead of a line check done by engineers in the afternoon, maybe the artist himself should show up and play a proper soundcheck. I guess the half empty arena didn't help at all. Maybe they shoud have turned down the sound a bit.

???

if there is an 11:00 curfew that is still plenty of time if you start by 8:00

oh well. I saw a concert in CA that was short because of a curfew, and I was irritated because we sat through Larry and Chaka, then Prince's set was like 75 minutes. It was a really good 75 minutes, true, but it was disappointing.

remko said:

lust said:

Just got back to hotel. I lost $1200 on the cancelled Oslo concert (not that my problems mean anything) so I forked out to come here before flying home to nz from London tomorrow. What a fuckin waste.

I'm sorry for you. Really am.

Hope he will go to your side of the globe and there will be a second chance.... (for Prince, that is )

[Edited 7/28/11 14:26pm]

That's awful!

Feel so sorry.

Things always even out though. You have some good fortune coming your way.

Faith.....peace.

ForbiddenFruit said:

aprilsnow said:

Why do you think that the technical problems are not down to him? Instead of a line check done by engineers in the afternoon, maybe the artist himself should show up and play a proper soundcheck. I guess the half empty arena didn't help at all. Maybe they shoud have turned down the sound a bit.

???

The third tier was closed off completely and covered by curtains, most of the second tier wasn't sold either. It was the floor and the first tier that were nearly sold out. It looked okay, but I don't believe the journalist I talk to. She said 12.000 tickets were sold.

EllasFella said:

Please stop moaning about Prince you lot! At least you got to see him in the flesh & hear his beautiful voice tonight! I'd pay the price of your ticket just to hear him play a paper & comb & the spoons if he graced our country with a visit. You moaners just don't know how lucky you are to have spent some time in the same room as him! Gees-o!

There was absolutely nothing to moan about Kiss, A love Bizarre, PR or Alphabet Street. But some people just know he can be so much better than tonight and that is a little frustrating - especially if you travel far.

Sounds like it was a good show, just too short

Believe me or not...it wasn´t his fault...even the girls were waiting for some more funky stuff beside the stage...but then go away...we saw them....I think they were surprised too.

I saw him in different places in Germany since 1988...and everywhere he played 120 minutes minimum....except Cologne.

I think he don´t mind if there are 20.000 or 10.000 or even 5.000 people...he just like to play, to perform...and even for those people who like to dance on other stuff than the hits.

[Edited 7/28/11 16:49pm]

NDRU said:

Sounds like it was a good show, just too short

NDRU said:

Sounds like it was a good show, just too short

can't entirely blame him if there were technical problems

Seriously, I can not understand why some of you still stand by P after this most horrible concert of all time. Maybe you hadn't been there, maybe you share a secret belief with the man, maybe you are being psychologically twisted by his wishiwashi-comments on love, god and spirituality.

If the little chap would have a bit of love other than to his ego, he would have handled this misery last night in Cologne differently.

Facts are:

- don't blame the promoter or the venue: both hava had countless years of professional experience

- don't be so silly to blame either Cologne or german audiences in general. if it wasn't a sell out, it's due to people's axperiences with P's divaish behaviour during previous shows in the area (and there were a few)

- after the break P shouted the name of the sound enginerr to the audience, stating that any complaint should be adressed to the poor chap who abviously couldn't handle the situation. But seriously, after having been pro for more than three decades the blame is entirely on P himself. He can soundcheck in the afternoon and eventually fire and hire another sound-guy, if the one in attendance hadn't been to his liking.

- many attended terrible-sound-shows during this tour, which puts evidence to the assumption that P is carrying the most tone-deaf sound-engineers with him (or hires them in the individual cities).

- his quality-control is completely lost. how can you leave the stage after one song, have no announcement read for 25 minutes and then reappear wiht constantly throwing the word soundcheck around plus complaining about the sound-guy?

- people should sue Prince, not the local promoter for serious health-damages after this volume-horror in Cologne. And remember; it's not the first time that people complained about the loudness-factor during this tour. I remember Rotterdam I quite well, or rather unwell.

Let's face it: Prince is really unreliable in his deliverance, it can be heaven, but it's mostly been hell in the last couple of years. He should retire or go jam with Larry Graham somewhere secretly for the rest of his life. His creative peak is long gone, his creativity is waning and on top of that he is unable to deliver professionally on stage. What a waste of time, money, energy and patience with and on the guy.

Doalwa said:

Just got back and I really don't know what to make out of tonights show. It was my fourth show and by far, the worst. The sound was terrible, it got a little better after the break, but it was still way too loud and distorted. Prince seemed to be in good spirits, though, he smiled a lot and seemed to be really into it...which makes it all the more perplexing that he stopped the show without any notice after about 75 minutes...even if there was indeed a curfew, why promise the audience that he'll play the whole night? That was probably the main problem tonight, why can't he just communicate with us. Simply disappearing from stage after one encore, if you can call it that after 75 minutes, is just unprofessional. Anyway, the one highlight for me was his dancing on Kiss, he really tore it up, almost like in the good, old days [Edited 7/28/11 16:37pm]

i think you got it wrong, he is professional, thats why he says he will stay the whole night long.

It is a throw away comment.

sad you didnt get the whole show, but at least you have the spoons.

powersoul99 said:

Doalwa said:

Just got back and I really don't know what to make out of tonights show. It was my fourth show and by far, the worst. The sound was terrible, it got a little better after the break, but it was still way too loud and distorted. Prince seemed to be in good spirits, though, he smiled a lot and seemed to be really into it...which makes it all the more perplexing that he stopped the show without any notice after about 75 minutes...even if there was indeed a curfew, why promise the audience that he'll play the whole night? That was probably the main problem tonight, why can't he just communicate with us. Simply disappearing from stage after one encore, if you can call it that after 75 minutes, is just unprofessional. Anyway, the one highlight for me was his dancing on Kiss, he really tore it up, almost like in the good, old days [Edited 7/28/11 16:37pm]

i think you got it wrong, he is professional, thats why he says he will stay the whole night long.

It is a throw away comment.

sad you didnt get the whole show, but at least you have the spoons.

well, then why didn't he stay the whole fucking night?

nonesuch said:

Let's face it: Prince is really unreliable in his deliverance, it can be heaven, but it's mostly been hell in the last couple of years.

I have hardly read any bad reviews of his shows. Even this one has some people saying it was good.

NDRU said:

nonesuch said:

Let's face it: Prince is really unreliable in his deliverance, it can be heaven, but it's mostly been hell in the last couple of years.

I have hardly read any bad reviews of his shows. Even this one has some people saying it was good.

well, maybe you haven't read many anyway. Take a look at the reviews of his first Rotterdam-show.

It was not good, audience sucked big time and the sound was horrible!!!

Poor Prince, crazy germany people throw beer plastic cups....

and only were yelling when they were angry.

lame. lame lame.

Don't blame Prince, blame this fucking Lanxess Arena! Prince you did best you could, and I love ya <3 I have seen 6 shows this tour, and most shows were amazing, of the most amazing shows i ever seen.. but this was sad.. it's a horrible way 2 end my tour so far..

I hope I can get ticket 4 another show, or something is gonna 2 announced soon.

powersoul99 said:

Maybe we shouldnt blame Prince, after the problems how could he go on when he must stop by 23.00?

At least Germany has the spoons.

Yeah, I don't really 'get' why people are pissed off at Prince and booed him. If the sound in there was THAT bad and he just kept going anyway, they would've bitched about that, too. Seems to me like he couldn't win either way with these folks.

This was the worst Prince concert I´ve ever been to, and maybe not just the worst Prince concert but THE WORST concert by any major artist that I´ve ever seen.

The sound engineer was, as far as I know, the same guy who handled the sound in Rotterdam.

( A guy named John).

If I were John, I´d quit my job and let Prince know that it´s not cool and not very professional to put the blame on ONE guy and tell thousands of people that John fucked up and that he wishes everybody would just do their job just like Shelby does. That is just wrong and unfair, unprofessional and makes you wonder who is really in charge of this show.

Interestingly, the worst Prince concert I had ever been to before last night´s show was also in Cologne, same arena in 1998. People here seem to agree that that show sucked and that the aftershow was good, but I thought the aftershow sucked, too. But that was ok considering we paid 50Mark or 25€ back then.

Prince looked a hot mess on stage and it took him a long time until he noticed that hair dye was running down his face.Why that did happen is still a mystery to me. Isn´t hair dye more or less permanent? Does it drip when you sweat?

Andy should either play the guitar or not play it at all and maybe just sing ......but not just stand there on stage HOLDING a guitar. That Purple Rain intro was a joke. The whole show was a bad joke. The singalongs, the "Clap your hands!" chants, the "No curfew!" and "Party til you fall asleep" comments when you don´t even play more than 90 minutes and KNOW there´s a curfew, Shelby J dominating the whole show and singing a cover version, all those people on stage, the lack of passion, the lack of dedication while singing, letting other people sing most of his lyrics for him, or blaming this, that and the other for a bunch of things that already happened before and should have been dealt with before.

I went to see Ice Cube this month, and I hate to say it but I had much more fun at the Ice Cube concert, and that was just a rap concert...but Ice Cube had passion and energy and even though it was a rap show, the hypeman part and chanting and "make some noooooooiseeee" and "Clap Your Hands!" was kept to a minimum. You know there´s something wrong when a rap concert with a couple of rappers and a DJ uses less chants and hypeman action and is more cohesive and tighter and more passionate than a Prince show with a real band.

I know Prince can still deliver a great show, and maybe he´ll make up for this in Ireland, but the majority of those who were there last night and saw Prince´s ONLY Germany show during this tourand will probably never go to a Prince show again.

If I were him, I´d give my best if I let people wait that long and not tarnish my own legacy and reputation by fooling around on stage and playing half assed versions of songs that people usually love.

I was just standing there in shock and disbelief. I have never seen people booing at a Prince show or throwing garbage and beer cups on stage . This whole thing was a disaster, a disgrace and no matter how many people liked it or no matter who Prince blames for this mess, in the end it is HIS show and he should know better by now.

There´s absolutely no use in sugarcoating this. As long as his fans and his band members tolerate this, this will definitely happen again and again.

The best thing about that whole fiasco was the pizza and salad I had at Vapiano before the show, and of course spending some time with my friends and finding out that Prince is only human. It was an interesting experience. Not really positive, but interesting.

There are much more important things in life than having a bad night at a bad Prince show, shit happens, and I know he can get his act together just like he´s done before but this was really a bad joke.

I used to think that Prince on his worst day is still just as exciting or maybe even more exciting than any other artist in his prime but last night´s show proved me wrong.

I don´t need to see, let alone hear, two or three background singers, or dancers, or Prince dancing or doing the splits, I don´t need to hear certain lyrics to certain songs that he doesn´t want to sing anymore.....just go on stage and let your music and your lyrics and your singing create the magic, sit on a stool if you can´t run around all the time, sit at your piano and play for hours, I don´t care , as long as you don´t fool yourself and those who care about your music.

[Edited 7/28/11 18:35pm]

To Prince´s defense, I must admit that the audience sucked big time. A bunch of sweaty, smelly and rude folks who started booing way to early and too much.

Then again, if this were a heavy metal concert, they probably would´ve torn down the roof and attacked the band. People were patient, but still rude.

KoolEaze said:

To Prince´s defense, I must admit that the audience sucked big time. A bunch of sweaty, smelly and rude folks who started booing way to early and too much.

Then again, if this were a heavy metal concert, they probably would´ve torn down the roof and attacked the band. People were patient, but still rude.

Oh, stop defending Prince. It was his show, he was in charge of everything, he appointed the sound-engineer, he appeared 30 minutes late on stage, he went off after one song, without telling anyone why, and you have the nerve to talk about "sweaty, smelly and rude folks"? Talk about prejudice here! Prince let people down big time, let's admit it. The concert in Cologne was the most soulless gig by any soul-star. And it made a lot of people wish that he would never come back again. Cologne is a cool place with a lot of cool people. So stop ranting about folks you obviously know nothing about. if these complaints would have been made by people from Austin, Texas or Glasgow or Avignon or Brussels - would they have been detected as "sweaty, smelly and rude" as well? Get a grip: Prince does not appeal to sexy young boys and girls. To most of them, he's an old fart - somehow smelly and sweaty. Undestandably so, I think after having witnessed this horror-show.

KoolEaze said:

To Prince´s defense, I must admit that the audience sucked big time. A bunch of sweaty, smelly and rude folks who started booing way to early and too much.

Then again, if this were a heavy metal concert, they probably would´ve torn down the roof and attacked the band. People were patient, but still rude.

Time to come "Home"

Soulstar77A said:

i think the audience in cologne was t really patient with him. i was quite astounded that it took so long til they started booing... This show was such a disgrace! I never thought that P could fall that deep

couldn't agree more. he has lost his artistic dignity.

I wasn't sweaty and rude, but very disappointed. The second cologne gig that sucked, what a shame. The last good cologne concert was the fabulous show in 1992 where I got an autograph on my ticket from Michael Bland before the show. And the aftershow in 1998 was great, too.

To win german and especially cologne's fans back, he should do something. Maybe a one hour special show on Stefan Raab's show "Tv Total". He even dedicated James Brown a whole show. He could do this show, apologize there and give a 45-minute tv-mini-concert or something.

And then play some german festivals next year, dear Prince. For instance "Rock am Ring", and you will win thousands of new and very young german fans.

[Edited 7/28/11 20:13pm]

[Edited 7/28/11 20:17pm]

Billmenever said:

KoolEaze said:

To Prince´s defense, I must admit that the audience sucked big time. A bunch of sweaty, smelly and rude folks who started booing way to early and too much.

Then again, if this were a heavy metal concert, they probably would´ve torn down the roof and attacked the band. People were patient, but still rude.

Time to come "Home"

The guy has no home anymore, I'm afraid. Think about it. If would have had a home, he would have displayed it last evening. He's lost somewhere inbetween creative drought, superstition and brashness. It's very sad.

Oh, I love Cologne and its people. But the audience still sucked and were rude but that is understandable. Absolutely no prejudice here. And some ladies smelled delicious I wasn´t talking about everybody.Sorry. The whole experience put me in a bad mood.

But you´re right about the show and Prince. See my post above. Definitely a big letdown.

I went there with very low expectations, but I didn´t know it would be THAT bad.And a lot of the things I disliked had very little to do with the venue or Cologne or the audience.

ludwig said:

I wasn't sweaty and rude, but very disappointed. The second cologne gig that sucked, what a shame. The last good cologne concert was the fabulous show in 1992 where I got an autograph on my ticket from Michael Bland before the show. And the aftershow in 1998 was great, too.

I was smelling of Burberry Sports and my neighbouring rows weren't smelling bad either. One thing I don't get is why you guys keep on talking about the second gig in Cologne that sucked. It suggests that it is due to the city that the Little One fucks up only when he gets there. I wasn't in Rotterdam on the first night, but according to the comments posted somewhere else on this site that gig wasn't any better either.