wow, it's sad to hear that virtually every tour has major sound issues. P where is your pride?, pay the $ and get an expert in. If you can't can't mix in 11 horns then drop the hor section. I recall spending a fortune for front row at the o2 gig opening night - amazing gig but the sound was beyond bad - dull, muddy, kept dropping out etc.

I have always stated the obvious i.e. once he fucks up his live rep then his career will be over because noone will risk paying their hard earned $ in these hard times.

Good luck to the Chi-town fans - I pray that he gives you some respect.

I'm always fascinated about the sounds quality comments on his shows.

I understand that at the O2 the acoustics of the actual place are a little tricky, then there was some published information about how there was no real ownership of the sound stuff and eventually it was all sorted when a few new guys turned up (there is a very interesting article on the web).

I can only assume he has the same problem at other arena venues. My last concert was Hopp Farm and after a few minor tweeks I thought it sounded very good (from where I was standing) but I guess a concert 'in the round' will always be more challenging (although there were comments in the summer of 2011 that other festival dates suffered from poor sound too).

With all these reviews I do think where you are actually placed in the arena has a very big impact plus your own experience / preference must affect your perception on how good the mix was. Maybe Prince isn't that bothered with an 'off night' or there isn't any one that good that will work with him, or so many layers between 'The Man' and the techs that things get lost in translation.

Still, I'm jeolous I can't be there.