jjazznola said:

chocolate1 said:

I just deceided to go back through your comments after I saw the recent one about the Friday show being a waste of time, to see if you had attended any shows, or was just blowing smoke about something you thought you heard. Now I see you attended Friday night....
Did you go Wednesday also? It was really good. Really.
It was high-energy, and if Shelby and Live were off their games on Friday, they damn sure weren't on Wednesday.

I'm curious: Why is it that you think that this group is not the "real NPG" because you haven't heard of them?
Go to princevault.com: http://www.princevault.co...hp/The_NPG
When did this ever-changing lineup stop being "real"?
The way as I see it, as long as you get a paycheck signed by SOMEone from Prince's camp, and they say you're one of them, you've earned the right to be called a member of the NPG...

Also, I wish I could get invited to one of your friends' weddings, because NO wedding I've attended with a live band has had a group of players like THAT...

My

Ok, I did exaggerate about them sounding like a wedding band. And I did recognize Cassandra O'Neal who played well. However to me, anyone in a band called NPG should have played and toured with Prince. I don't think they've been a seperate band since 1993. I was hoping at least John Blackwell and Ida would be there and maybe Mr Hayes. Plus Hannah Ford tweeted earlier in the day that she would be there. Maybe she was but she didn't play. Shelby and Liv were probably on their game, I just tired of them after a few songs. Some of it was good and some of it really dragged. Where were the special guests that were advertised? That's what got me to shell out $80. I really wasn't expecting Prince to show again.

*

Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the exception of the drummer and the guitarist, isn't this the current NPG lineup minus Elisa?

SirLancelot said:

chocolate1 said:

What kind of night is that?

*

A really fucking awesome one.

Prince's set according to Twitter (might be incomplete):

*

Strays Of The World

Days Of Wild

Ain't Nobody

Big City

Superconductor

1999

All The Critics Love U In New York

Mutiny

Old Friends 4 Sale

People Pleaser

Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone

F.U.N.K.

Dark

Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)

Nothing Compares 2 U (with Tamar!)

Courtin' Time

Xpectation

Get On The Boat

Act Of God Medley

Piano Medley (Diamonds & Pearls, Ballad Of Dorothy Parker, Do Me Baby, Under The Cherry Moon)

Partyman

Plectrum Electrum

[Edited 8/26/13 3:04am]

Never mind...nwi.

[Edited 8/26/13 7:04am]

SirLancelot said:

Prince's set according to Twitter (might be incomplete):

*

Strays Of The World

Days Of Wild

Ain't Nobody

Big City

Superconductor

1999

All The Critics Love U In New York

Mutiny

Old Friends 4 Sale

People Pleaser

Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone

F.U.N.K.

Dark

Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)

Nothing Compares 2 U (with Tamar!)

Courtin' Time

Xpectation

Get On The Boat

Act Of God Medley

Piano Medley (Diamonds & Pearls, Ballad Of Dorothy Parker, Do Me Baby, Under The Cherry Moon)

Partyman

Plectrum Electrum

[Edited 8/26/13 3:04am]

Oh, now that's a SWEET concert. However, I don't think Prince should have charged ANY of the high prices he did, especially with the bait and switch moves, for EITHER his support musicians or the over-inflated Sunday price, especially for a "non-guaranteed" and "regular" setlist. Even in the sweet setlist above, there is not one song that he hasn't already performed elsewhere (a case in point, it borrows heavily from his Montreux shows). Also, the PR announcement from Winery regarding how Prince performed his fans earlier on the week, even though he was not required to, is just utter nonsense. Surely, it was damage control. I do not want to detract from the professionalism of the support/main acts (e.g. Shelby/Liv/NPG etc), however, it is plainly apparent that without Prince's current cache, they would not be successfully attempting to charge those fees. My only conclusion is that Prince seriously messed with his NYC fans.

- Strays Of The World (sung by Shelby & Liv)

-Days Of Wild(w/Ain't nobody)

-Big City

- 1999

- All The Critics Love You In NY (1999 beat and horn line)

-Mutiny

- Old Friends 4 Sale

-People Pleaser(w/Liv & Shelby)

- ??????

-Dark

- F.U.N.K

-Something In The Water...(only w/Piano w/Cassendra)

-Nothing Compares 2 U (Duet w/Tamar(????) )

Courtin' Time(instrumental with each NPG hornz getting a solo)

-Get On The Boat

-Act Of God

-What Have You Done For Me lately/Northside/Which Way Is Up/Dancing Machine/Partman (sung with girls )

Encore 1:

Piano Segment (first time in the event Prince played an instrument)

-How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore

-Diamonds & Pearls

-Strange Relationship

-The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker(w/Lyrics)

-Do Me baby

-Under The Cherry Moon

-The Beautiful Ones(w/lyrics)

-Moonbeam Levels

-Sweet Thing

Band comes back on stage

- Take Me With U

-Raspberry Beret

- Cool (w/Doug E. Fresh)

Encore 2:

-Blues Instrumental (w/ Larry Grahm on bass, Prince and Donna on guitar and Hannah on drums)

-Plectrum Electrum(Prince & 3rd Eye Girl only)

****Ida played guitar the whole show,with the exception of the last song

*** No merch

-

[Edited 8/26/13 11:27am]

SpiritOtter said:

SirLancelot said:

Prince's set according to Twitter (might be incomplete):

*

Strays Of The World

Days Of Wild

Ain't Nobody

Big City

Superconductor

1999

All The Critics Love U In New York

Mutiny

Old Friends 4 Sale

People Pleaser

Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone

F.U.N.K.

Dark

Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)

Nothing Compares 2 U (with Tamar!)

Courtin' Time

Xpectation

Get On The Boat

Act Of God Medley

Piano Medley (Diamonds & Pearls, Ballad Of Dorothy Parker, Do Me Baby, Under The Cherry Moon)

Partyman

Plectrum Electrum

[Edited 8/26/13 3:04am]

Oh, now that's a SWEET concert. However, I don't think Prince should have charged ANY of the high prices he did, especially with the bait and switch moves, for EITHER his support musicians or the over-inflated Sunday price, especially for a "non-guaranteed" and "regular" setlist. Even in the sweet setlist above, there is not one song that he hasn't already performed elsewhere (a case in point, it borrows heavily from his Montreux shows). Also, the PR announcement from Winery regarding how Prince performed his fans earlier on the week, even though he was not required to, is just utter nonsense. Surely, it was damage control. I do not want to detract from the professionalism of the support/main acts (e.g. Shelby/Liv/NPG etc), however, it is plainly apparent that without Prince's current cache, they would not be successfully attempting to charge those fees. My only conclusion is that Prince seriously messed with his NYC fans.

*

Going to have to respectfully disagree with you, SpiritOtter. The way I see it, this was always an NPG show with no guarantee of Prince showing up. It was initially billed as "Prince Presents," but that was removed from promotional material by the time the tickets went on sale. Besides, "Prince Presents" does not mean "Prince Performs." Yes, I do think that the ticket prices were too high, but people bought tickets of their own free will. Anyone who knows Prince, certainly anyone who posts on this site, knows that the likelihood of him performing at all of the shows was zilch, so if people bought tickets expecting to see him, then they have only themselves to blame. How did Prince mess with his fans? Was it deceiving to say that Prince might show up? He did. Twice. And since when does a performer have to play a "guaranteed" setlist? So most of these songs were played at Montreux. What are the chances that the NYC audiences were at Montreux? Not having a go at you, but I fail to see what Prince did wrong here. The NPG put on some shows, most people appear to have enjoyed the shows (Friday being the possible exception), Prince showed up for a couple of shows. End of story.

SirLancelot said:

Going to have to respectfully disagree with you, SpiritOtter. The way I see it, this was always an NPG show with no guarantee of Prince showing up. It was initially billed as "Prince Presents," but that was removed from promotional material by the time the tickets went on sale. Besides, "Prince Presents" does not mean "Prince Performs." Yes, I do think that the ticket prices were too high, but people bought tickets of their own free will. Anyone who knows Prince, certainly anyone who posts on this site, knows that the likelihood of him performing at all of the shows was zilch, so if people bought tickets expecting to see him, then they have only themselves to blame. How did Prince mess with his fans? Was it deceiving to say that Prince might show up? He did. Twice. And since when does a performer have to play a "guaranteed" setlist? So most of these songs were played at Montreux. What are the chances that the NYC audiences were at Montreux? Not having a go at you, but I fail to see what Prince did wrong here. The NPG put on some shows, most people appear to have enjoyed the shows (Friday being the possible exception), Prince showed up for a couple of shows. End of story.

The biggest problem with Prince fans is that they confuse what they WOULD LIKE with what they think they're SUPPOSED to have.
The complaining the past couple of days (on FB, Twitter, and here) was out of control...
The same people who whined, bitched, and complained bought the tickets anyway.

Countdown to the complainers now bragging about having the time of their lives... 5, 4, 3, 2....

SirLancelot said:

SpiritOtter said:

Oh, now that's a SWEET concert. However, I don't think Prince should have charged ANY of the high prices he did, especially with the bait and switch moves, for EITHER his support musicians or the over-inflated Sunday price, especially for a "non-guaranteed" and "regular" setlist. Even in the sweet setlist above, there is not one song that he hasn't already performed elsewhere (a case in point, it borrows heavily from his Montreux shows). Also, the PR announcement from Winery regarding how Prince performed his fans earlier on the week, even though he was not required to, is just utter nonsense. Surely, it was damage control. I do not want to detract from the professionalism of the support/main acts (e.g. Shelby/Liv/NPG etc), however, it is plainly apparent that without Prince's current cache, they would not be successfully attempting to charge those fees. My only conclusion is that Prince seriously messed with his NYC fans.

*

Going to have to respectfully disagree with you, SpiritOtter. The way I see it, this was always an NPG show with no guarantee of Prince showing up. It was initially billed as "Prince Presents," but that was removed from promotional material by the time the tickets went on sale. Besides, "Prince Presents" does not mean "Prince Performs." Yes, I do think that the ticket prices were too high, but people bought tickets of their own free will. Anyone who knows Prince, certainly anyone who posts on this site, knows that the likelihood of him performing at all of the shows was zilch, so if people bought tickets expecting to see him, then they have only themselves to blame. How did Prince mess with his fans? Was it deceiving to say that Prince might show up? He did. Twice. And since when does a performer have to play a "guaranteed" setlist? So most of these songs were played at Montreux. What are the chances that the NYC audiences were at Montreux? Not having a go at you, but I fail to see what Prince did wrong here. The NPG put on some shows, most people appear to have enjoyed the shows (Friday being the possible exception), Prince showed up for a couple of shows. End of story.

SirLancelot, good response. A rarity on the Org, but I concede - you are in fact right. I was falsely under the impression that the tickets went on sale BEFORE the "Prince presents" moniker was removed. But, in any case, Prince presents does not infer Prince performs. That said, I can understand some fans' frustration. I did not mean to suggest that the setlist should be guaranteed, far from it, but rather I think it would be useful to know when spending a reasonable sum of money to know whether to expect Prince to perform (or not, as the case was for the majority of the Winery shows). I think we are in agreement that the shows were on the expensive side. However, all said and done, I am far more in agreement with you - than disagreement. So, thank you for setting me correctly. You did so in a very respectful manner; another rarity on the Org. And, I have to say, the setlist on Sunday's show is really quite something else. I hope everyone enjoyed it!

xenophobia7 said:

- Strays Of The World (sung by Shelby & Liv)

-Days Of Wild(w/Ain't nobody)

-Big City

- 1999

- All The Critics Love You In NY (1999 beat and horn line)

-Mutiny

- Old Friends 4 Sale

-People Pleaser(w/Liv & Shelby)

- ??????

-Dark

-P FUNK(????)

-Something In The Water...(only w/Piano w/Cassendra)

-Nothing Compares 2 U (Duet w/Tamar(????) )

Courtin' Time(instrumental with each NPG hornz getting a solo)

-Get On The Boat

-Act Of God

-What Have You Done For Me lately/Northside/Which Way Is Up/Dancing Machine/Partman (sung with girls and Doug E. Fresh joined)

Encore 1:

Piano Segment (first time in the event Prince played an instrument)

-How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore

-Diamonds & Pearls

-Strange Relationship

-The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker(w/Lyrics)

-Do Me baby

-Under The Cherry Moon

-The Beautiful Ones(w/lyrics)

-Moonbeam Levels

-Sweet Thing

Band comes back on stage

- Take Me With U

-Raspberry Beret

Encore 2:

-Blues Instrumental (w/ Larry Grahm on bass, Prince and Donna on guitar and Hannah on drums)

-Plectrum Electrum(Prince & 3rd Eye Girl only)

****Ida played guitar the whole show,with the exception of the last song

*** No merch

-

Very good setlist for Sunday! In the end, Prince actually gave MORE to his fans in Ny then he promised. He only promised one appearance. I'd say he completed his mission to showcase his talented band & gave well more of himself beyond expectation. GOOD JOB PRINCE!!!

Only he can get away with pulling this off.....

SpiritOtter said:

SirLancelot said:

*

Going to have to respectfully disagree with you, SpiritOtter. The way I see it, this was always an NPG show with no guarantee of Prince showing up. It was initially billed as "Prince Presents," but that was removed from promotional material by the time the tickets went on sale. Besides, "Prince Presents" does not mean "Prince Performs." Yes, I do think that the ticket prices were too high, but people bought tickets of their own free will. Anyone who knows Prince, certainly anyone who posts on this site, knows that the likelihood of him performing at all of the shows was zilch, so if people bought tickets expecting to see him, then they have only themselves to blame. How did Prince mess with his fans? Was it deceiving to say that Prince might show up? He did. Twice. And since when does a performer have to play a "guaranteed" setlist? So most of these songs were played at Montreux. What are the chances that the NYC audiences were at Montreux? Not having a go at you, but I fail to see what Prince did wrong here. The NPG put on some shows, most people appear to have enjoyed the shows (Friday being the possible exception), Prince showed up for a couple of shows. End of story.

SirLancelot, good response. A rarity on the Org, but I concede - you are in fact right. I was falsely under the impression that the tickets went on sale BEFORE the "Prince presents" moniker was removed. But, in any case, Prince presents does not infer Prince performs. That said, I can understand some fans' frustration. I did not mean to suggest that the setlist should be guaranteed, far from it, but rather I think it would be useful to know when spending a reasonable sum of money to know whether to expect Prince to perform (or not, as the case was for the majority of the Winery shows). I think we are in agreement that the shows were on the expensive side. However, all said and done, I am far more in agreement with you - than disagreement. So, thank you for setting me correctly. You did so in a very respectful manner; another rarity on the Org. And, I have to say, the setlist on Sunday's show is really quite something else. I hope everyone enjoyed it!

*

Thanks for your respectful response too, SpiritOtter. I took these shows for what they were. Expensive NPG shows. I certainly wasn't going to fly out to NY for them. However, had they taken place three weeks later, when I'd moved to NY, then I would have gone to 1 or 2, but with the full knowledge that I was paying to see the NPG and anything else would be an added bonus. I personally would have been happy with a 6-hour show featuring the NPG, Alice Smith, Luke James, Doug E. Fresh, Cee Lo Green, Larry Graham and Prince. After watching the dross that was the VMAs, I'm just happy that there are still people like this doing their thing.

SirLancelot said:

SpiritOtter said:

SirLancelot, good response. A rarity on the Org, but I concede - you are in fact right. I was falsely under the impression that the tickets went on sale BEFORE the "Prince presents" moniker was removed. But, in any case, Prince presents does not infer Prince performs. That said, I can understand some fans' frustration. I did not mean to suggest that the setlist should be guaranteed, far from it, but rather I think it would be useful to know when spending a reasonable sum of money to know whether to expect Prince to perform (or not, as the case was for the majority of the Winery shows). I think we are in agreement that the shows were on the expensive side. However, all said and done, I am far more in agreement with you - than disagreement. So, thank you for setting me correctly. You did so in a very respectful manner; another rarity on the Org. And, I have to say, the setlist on Sunday's show is really quite something else. I hope everyone enjoyed it!

*

Thanks for your respectful response too, SpiritOtter. I took these shows for what they were. Expensive NPG shows. I certainly wasn't going to fly out to NY for them. However, had they taken place three weeks later, when I'd moved to NY, then I would have gone to 1 or 2, but with the full knowledge that I was paying to see the NPG and anything else would be an added bonus. I personally would have been happy with a 6-hour show featuring the NPG, Alice Smith, Luke James, Doug E. Fresh, Cee Lo Green, Larry Graham and Prince. After watching the dross that was the VMAs, I'm just happy that there are still people like this doing their thing.

I'm just glad I got to see Shelby, Liv and the surprise of Alice Smith performing. All 3 won me over. The next day, I went to Amazon online and purchased songs that Liv Warfield and Alice Smith sang at the Wednesday show. I already have Shelby's 'North Carolina' single, but my only regret is that I didn't get a signed copy of Shelby's cd, while I was there, but will wait for her album to come out that I read is due in December of this year. So I'm satisfied with what I got out of it, and my decision to attend the show was specifically to see Liv and Shelby perform. I wonder how Alice Smith's performance was last night. Waiting for reviews of that performance in particular, but still glad the advertisement confusion/mess is over between the promoter and venue owner.

[Edited 8/26/13 8:14am]

Great setlist last night. I perfer this to the 3rd Eye Girl shows, which by the look of the setlist are quite repetitive.

xenophobia7 said:

- Strays Of The World (sung by Shelby & Liv)

-Days Of Wild(w/Ain't nobody)

-Big City

- 1999

- All The Critics Love You In NY (1999 beat and horn line)

-Mutiny

- Old Friends 4 Sale

-People Pleaser(w/Liv & Shelby)

- ??????

-Dark

-P FUNK(????)

-Something In The Water...(only w/Piano w/Cassendra)

-Nothing Compares 2 U (Duet w/Tamar(????) )

Courtin' Time(instrumental with each NPG hornz getting a solo)

-Get On The Boat

-Act Of God

-What Have You Done For Me lately/Northside/Which Way Is Up/Dancing Machine/Partman (sung with girls and Doug E. Fresh joined)

Encore 1:

Piano Segment (first time in the event Prince played an instrument)

-How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore

-Diamonds & Pearls

-Strange Relationship

-The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker(w/Lyrics)

-Do Me baby

-Under The Cherry Moon

-The Beautiful Ones(w/lyrics)

-Moonbeam Levels

-Sweet Thing

Band comes back on stage

- Take Me With U

-Raspberry Beret

Encore 2:

-Blues Instrumental (w/ Larry Grahm on bass, Prince and Donna on guitar and Hannah on drums)

-Plectrum Electrum(Prince & 3rd Eye Girl only)

****Ida played guitar the whole show,with the exception of the last song

*** No merch

-

SirLancelot said:

Was it deceiving to say that Prince might show up? He did. Twice.

Well hold up. Keep in mind this came after previous City Winery produced events where he did not show up. In retrospect, now that he has shown up, there has been some unintention deceit, yes.

The shows were advertised with so much open ended innuendo because the promoters and performers themselves weren't sure Prince would show, but were led to believe there was enough possibility to hint towards it.

In other words, the desperate promoters are trying to stage Prince shows, or at least Prince drop ins, without having a contractual obligation for them. This is the result.

These weren't billed as straight up NPG shows, or "come see Prince's backing band" shows alone, they did use Prince's name, and they did put it in the press that he showed up to the City Winery in Chicago. Had it just been a NPG night, no metion of Prince, that alone would have been enough to start rumors Prince might show. Consider that yesterday, people stood around Bushwick, based on a Twitter rumor Jayz, Timberlake, and Beyonce were doing a free show on a random building. Or Radiohead rumors at Occupy Wall Street's camp in Lower Manhattan. It doesn't take much.

But the stress or uncertainty for a fan, paying inflated prices and then finding out Prince did appear at some shows but not others, is frustrating. Shows promoted and priced as if Prince is showing, but tentative enough, because he just might not, is pretty shoddy.

The expectation that a Prince fan should pay more to see hodge podge assembly under the name NPG, as headliners, than they would to see a fully produced Prince show (or even a fully produced NPG show), sort of reeks of taking Prince fans for granted, because they're used to getting ripped off, or used to secret shows. The fact is, the night Prince showed, the attendance was so low, they told people to stick around for the 2nd show. They had to do last second promotion, and tweet when Prince was showing. People joked that would happen, and it did. At no point did City Winery say "these are our special guests for tonight" if you want to return your ticket or upgrade for the Sunday show, head to the box office. Doug E. Fresh for example, isn't really a special guest in NY, because he's everywhere, all the time, and has a 3rd career making these types of apperances locally.

It's clear that City Winery isn't to blame here. They're just trying to cement a relationship with Prince and get him in the building. But it does start to reflect poorly. Remember, there was the Carnegie shows, the warmups for those shows, and now this...and Prince finally played. He did perform. Okay, but you also had fans who didn't get to see Prince, who paid the same money. 3 times this has happened in NY in the last year. So there is something frustrating about how it was handled.

And I hope City Winery has been VERY liberal about returning box office no questions asked, if anyone did happen to want their money back.

[Edited 8/26/13 9:10am]

[Edited 8/26/13 9:23am]

paulludvig said:

Great setlist last night. I perfer this to the 3rd Eye Girl shows, which by the look of the setlist are quite repetitive.

True but just once I'd like to see a blazing 3rd Eye Girl rock show at a club or theatre. C'mon Prince, NYC needs some more shows! He hasn't played any official NYC Prince shows in a few years.

jjazznola said:

paulludvig said:

Great setlist last night. I perfer this to the 3rd Eye Girl shows, which by the look of the setlist are quite repetitive.

True but just once I'd like to see a blazing 3rd Eye Girl rock show at a club or theatre. C'mon Prince, NYC needs some more shows! He hasn't played any official NYC Prince shows in a few years.

3rd Eye only plays clubs and small theatres

SpiritOtter said:

SirLancelot said:

Prince's set according to Twitter (might be incomplete):

*

Strays Of The World

Days Of Wild

Ain't Nobody

Big City

Superconductor

1999

All The Critics Love U In New York

Mutiny

Old Friends 4 Sale

People Pleaser

Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone

F.U.N.K.

Dark

Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)

Nothing Compares 2 U (with Tamar!)

Courtin' Time

Xpectation

Get On The Boat

Act Of God Medley

Piano Medley (Diamonds & Pearls, Ballad Of Dorothy Parker, Do Me Baby, Under The Cherry Moon)

Partyman

Plectrum Electrum

[Edited 8/26/13 3:04am]

Oh, now that's a SWEET concert. However, I don't think Prince should have charged ANY of the high prices he did, especially with the bait and switch moves, for EITHER his support musicians or the over-inflated Sunday price, especially for a "non-guaranteed" and "regular" setlist. Even in the sweet setlist above, there is not one song that he hasn't already performed elsewhere (a case in point, it borrows heavily from his Montreux shows). Also, the PR announcement from Winery regarding how Prince performed his fans earlier on the week, even though he was not required to, is just utter nonsense. Surely, it was damage control. I do not want to detract from the professionalism of the support/main acts (e.g. Shelby/Liv/NPG etc), however, it is plainly apparent that without Prince's current cache, they would not be successfully attempting to charge those fees. My only conclusion is that Prince seriously messed with his NYC fans.

Exactly to the bolded. this happens to NY fans every time, and I for one am sick of it. It's either some silly game being played like the "Where's Fluffy?" fiasco, prices are through the roof, it's a "charity" event, or the shows are only for his celeb friends...the list goes on.

Even though the Sun show seemed like a great concert, the whole City Winery fiasco left a bitter taste in my mouth. If and when Prince does come back to NY, hopefully it's for an official run of Prince shows, none of this he "might" show up and perform nonsense to sell tickets for his band members.

treehouse said:

SirLancelot said:

Was it deceiving to say that Prince might show up? He did. Twice.

Well hold up. Keep in mind this came after previous City Winery produced events where he did not show up. In retrospect, now that he has shown up, there has been some unintention deceit, yes.

The shows were advertised with so much open ended innuendo because the promoters and performers themselves weren't sure Prince would show, but were led to believe there was enough possibility to hint towards it.

In other words, the desperate promoters are trying to stage Prince shows, or at least Prince drop ins, without having a contractual obligation for them. This is the result.

These weren't billed as straight up NPG shows, or "come see Prince's backing band" shows alone, they did use Prince's name, and they did put it in the press that he showed up to the City Winery in Chicago. Had it just been a NPG night, no metion of Prince, that alone would have been enough to start rumors Prince might show. Consider that yesterday, people stood around Bushwick, based on a Twitter rumor Jayz, Timberlake, and Beyonce were doing a free show on a random building. Or Radiohead rumors at Occupy Wall Street's camp in Lower Manhattan. It doesn't take much.

But the stress or uncertainty for a fan, paying inflated prices and then finding out Prince did appear at some shows but not others, is frustrating. Shows promoted and priced as if Prince is showing, but tentative enough, because he just might not, is pretty shoddy.

The expectation that a Prince fan should pay more to see hodge podge assembly under the name NPG, as headliners, than they would to see a fully produced Prince show (or even a fully produced NPG show), sort of reeks of taking Prince fans for granted, because they're used to getting ripped off, or used to secret shows. The fact is, the night Prince showed, the attendance was so low, they told people to stick around for the 2nd show. They had to do last second promotion, and tweet when Prince was showing. People joked that would happen, and it did. At no point did City Winery say "these are our special guests for tonight" if you want to return your ticket or upgrade for the Sunday show, head to the box office. Doug E. Fresh for example, isn't really a special guest in NY, because he's everywhere, all the time, and has a 3rd career making these types of apperances locally.

It's clear that City Winery isn't to blame here. They're just trying to cement a relationship with Prince and get him in the building. But it does start to reflect poorly. Remember, there was the Carnegie shows, the warmups for those shows, and now this...and Prince finally played. He did perform. Okay, but you also had fans who didn't get to see Prince, who paid the same money. 3 times this has happened in NY in the last year. So there is something frustrating about how it was handled.

And I hope City Winery has been VERY liberal about returning box office no questions asked, if anyone did happen to want their money back.

[Edited 8/26/13 9:10am]

I'm almost afraid to say that I agree with a lot of what you said, as I don't want to sound like a whiner. . The promotion/advertisement was kind of shoddy, and that was the main problem. It wouldn't surprise me if some fans feel a bit slighted about the way the show was advertised, while some got to see Prince perform, and others who paid the same prices didn't. Yes, I know, everyone took a chance, but some fans probably wouldn't feel that way, if it didn't happen before, like with the Carnegie Hall situation, where that was confirmed, but Prince was a no-show, although everyone also knew he wasn't obligated to show up there.

M. Dorf wrote a comment, almost 2 days after the shows started, about the CW shows, being mainly a show featuring Prince's npg members, and not exactly an actual Prince show, and that Prince wasn't required to show up and perform. The event promoter was the one throwing hints that sort of misled some fans, so even if people say fans took a chance, it wouldn't have been so bad, if this didn't happen before to NY fans. Then the event promoter and City Winery hinted and made an actual announcement about the Montreux shows being aired at City Winery, and then that didn't happen either. (sigh...throwing my hands up like in the scene from the movie "Do the Right Thing"...:lol:) The whole thing was like a cat and mouse, Tom & Jerry chase for fans. This kind of thing didn't happen to the fans in Minne, just NY fans. What did we do to deserve this? It's almost like we're being spanked and don't know why. Yes I know, I sound like a spoiled brat.

I thought it would have been cool though, if it was done like the Minne residency, where instead, fans wouldn't know which band he was going to play with, for the scheduled shows. I think that would have been more cool, because it would have given fans a chance to see him perform with both bands, but I guess he may want to save that kind of thing for a bigger venue? Who knows. At the end of the day, I'm glad I got to see Shelby and Liv perform (including Alice Smith). At least I got that out of it, and happy those who paid the pricey tix for Sunday's show, got what they paid for. What's done is done though.

[Edited 8/26/13 10:50am]

I can't f*#king believe that he played Moonbeam Levels, and I missed it

Also, let's not forget...

Tickets were still available at the door, which speaks volumes...

3am on a Sunday night at a VIP prices is not standard, even in NYC.....

When you arrived at the club, you didn't know 100% if he was performing.

Also, also - Eveyone talking about it on my FB feed somehow got in free, last minute. Not sure how.

[Edited 8/26/13 12:13pm]

What happened?

pfunkpilot said:

-Nice piano medley, til some fool broke the mood

paulludvig said:

jjazznola said:

True but just once I'd like to see a blazing 3rd Eye Girl rock show at a club or theatre. C'mon Prince, NYC needs some more shows! He hasn't played any official NYC Prince shows in a few years.

3rd Eye only plays clubs and small theatres

They just played in Europe to a huge outdoor crowd but you are right, that's pretty much where they have played thus my comment.

5 hour show described elsewhere as "legendary" and "insane"........

and nothing on org, but smallness, in all its glory.

I guess the real fans were at the show

DexterDayglo said:

5 hour show described elsewhere as "legendary" and "insane"........

and nothing on org, but smallness, in all its glory.

I guess the real fans were at the show

Exactly!

[Edited 8/26/13 19:54pm]

LeRoy said: