I wanted to post this earlier, but had to wait five days before I was allowed, due to being a new member. I just wanted to take a couple minutes to talk about my experience with the Chicago shows and how you, dear org'ers, helped redeem the Purple One for me.

I've been a big Prince fan for a long time now, but had never managed to see him live. This was largely due to the fact that I live in the Chicago area, and it was never feasible for me to travel to see him. So when the Welcome 2 Chicago show(s) were announced, I was more excited than I had been about anything in quite a while. I always try to get concert tickets as early as possible, just to make sure I DO get them, so I hopped in on the presale for Monday's show. I was so stoked, I literally started counting down the days.

And then Monday came. I had fairly high expectations, based on what I'd read about the man's legendary live performances (and what I'd seen on DVD). Still, going into any concert, I generally try to prepare myself for some degree of disappointment. Expect the worst and you'll be even more excited when you get the best, that kind of thing. One of the few things I REALLY wanted out of the performance was to hear him play guitar. I play myself, and Prince has long been one of my top five favorite guitarists. I know he's amazing and just wanted to hear that--at least a few minutes of it--live. Needless to say, that didn't happen. I do believe the lack of guitar was due to sound issues, as there were a few times he picked it up, played a few notes, then put it down, and it was obvious that things weren't sounding the way he wanted. But the sound issues themselves are inexcusable. I've seen people on this forum try to argue that it was his first show and they didn't have enough time and blah blah blah, but that's BS. I have seen countless concerts at the United Center, most of which are one-offs, where they have even less time to get everything set up, and NEVER have I been to a show there where the sound was more screwed up. Blame the sound guy or the fact that P was in Vegas the day before or whatever, but the situation was entirely in his control, and it should never have happened. Same goes for the setlist, overabundance of background singer led songs, etc. Now don't get me wrong, I had fun. I've seen so many people tear the show to shreds and talk about how horrible it was and Prince was fucking his fans over, etc. I wouldn't go anywhere near that far. I danced and sang and had a good time, and it was far from being the worst concert experience I'd ever had. But it was perhaps even worse than that. It was the most disappointing.

In some ways, it would have been easier if P had come out and not been able to sing or play anymore, or the band was terrible, or whatever. If the show and performers themselves had been outright BAD. But what made it worse to me was the fact that there was potential there. That I knew Prince COULD still deliver...he just didn't on this particular night. All day Tuesday while I was at work, I couldn't shake this heavy, sad feeling. The more I reflected on the night before, the more I just felt disappointed, betrayed. To be honest, it damn near ruined Prince for me. I was that let down.

And then I came to the Org. I have been a lurker here for years, but never really felt the need to sign up. Still, I've often found it informative when it comes to matters of His Royal Badness, so I came here to see what everyone was saying. And, among all the disappointment, I encountered a number of comments suggesting that his first-night shows in residencies are often disappointing, but that he would almost surely make it up on subsequent nights. Member after member seemed to echo this, and you all seem to be much more in the know than I am, so I started to believe it. I HAD to believe it. And on a whim, on the very morning of the day of the concert, I went to Ticketmaster to see if any seats were still available, and saw that they were selling nosebleeds for $30 (I am a man of simple means, after all). It almost felt like fate to suddenly stumble on such cheap seats. I knew I had to take the gamble, to give the man a chance at redemption. So I grabbed three cheap tickets, for my dad, my brother, and I. My brother went to Monday's show with me and was less kind about it than I was. He is not a huge P fan in general, and just wanted to hear some of the hits. My dad missed Monday's show, but is a lifelong musician himself, and I could tell some part of him regretted not getting a ticket, so he was glad when Tuesday came along. Both of them became Prince fans after Tuesday night's performance. Both of them talked about his singing and guitar playing nearly as much as I did, and that was quite a bit. And, perhaps more importantly, Prince completely redeemed himself in my eyes. I had told some friends before I went to Tuesday's show that I bought the tickets in hopes that I would get on Tuesday night what I had wanted Monday's show to be. And that was exactly what he delivered. From start to finish, the sound, setlist, singing, playing, even the stage lighting/effects were all spot on, and worlds apart from Monday's sad showing. After feeling terrible all day Tuesday (before the show), I spent Wednesday on a post-concert high, revisiting my Prince library while I was at work, reliving the greatness I had experienced the night before.

Now, does that all totally excuse what happened Monday? Certainly not. But I would say to those of you who only went to Monday's show and are ready to write the Purple One off that you should definitely give him another chance. After Tuesday's concert, I would be more excited to see him again than I was going into the first time.

And I just wanted to take another moment to thank everyone involved in this site for providing such a wonderful resource for Prince-related news and reviews. If it wasn't for this forum, Prince would have lost a fan and, even worse, I would have lost Prince from my life.

Thanks for your awesome report.

Welcome to the Org! Thanks for posting that, it was a great read & a fresh new insight on Prince's concert. I've learnt so much about Prince after stumbling onto the Org too, it kind of sucks u in.

I think I was one of the people encouraging those who had not seen his concerts before to not form an opinion based on Monday's show. I am so glad your family got to experience Tuesday as it was a beauty. A special one. Truly, Monday was the only troubled show of his that I have seen.

I know of no good artist in any field who does not hit jagged patches. Perfection could get dull. Happy that you got the range.