I was gonna call this review "Gotta Broken Heart Again" due to the first
half of the show. But in the second half things picked up and changed for
the better so now we'll call it- "The Agony and the Ecstasy"!!

Prince- The Agony and the Ecstasy
Live in Omaha, April 7, 2004

I am a huge Prince fan and this was my fourth time seeing him. The last
time (ONE NITE ALONE TOUR in Kansas City) was THE best concert I've ever
seen in my life so frankly the bar was set pretty high for this one.

I got my tickets online at Prince's NPGMC the very MINUTE they become
available for pre-sale. I bought tickets for three different shows (Omaha,
Ames and Kansas City) had them paid for and was signed off in two minutes.
I should sure as HELL should have been right up front. My goal on this
swing was to do something I had yet to do- get on stage with Prince.

We arrived at will-call and picked up our tickets. We were indeed right up
front. Our tickets said "row 1" on them. We were ecstatic when we saw
them.

Imagine our horror when we were lead to our seats and found that they were
in the front row alright- BEHIND the horn "NPG STAND" with a view of ALMOST
NOTHING. Even the horn players moved around so most of the night all we
could see was the keyboard player's back. (He was facing the other way.)

I paid top dollar for these tickets and they were in the front row.
Literally. Yet they had the WORST sight lines of ANY ticket I've ever had
for ANY show EVER ANYWHERE. Smooth move, Prince. Way to treat your
hardcore fans who have kept you alive and in BMW's during the lean years!!

So visually it was a disaster. But it gets worse.

Sonically it was also a nightmare. We were RIGHT in front of the bass bins.
The other cabinets were flown overhead. When I saw this arrangement before
the show I said to myself "uh-oh. This doesn't look good. Where are the
front fills?" Well there weren't any!

So we got TERRIBLE sound. All bottom thumping against us and high-highs, no
mids or low highs. It was hard to even tell when they changed songs
sometimes. Again smooth move Prince! Stick your hardcore fans (many of
whom are musicians and know sound) in the limbo area where your sound system
is horribly unbalanced...

Now what about the music? The first half was VERY tepid. The opening track
MUSICOLOGY (the title track from the new CD) was only OK. By far the
weakest song I've ever heard him open with, either in person or in a live
recording or video. But from there the unimaginable happened.

It got worse.

They went into LET'S GO CRAZY for the second song and I have to say it was
THE worst version of it I've ever heard including local cover bands in bars
and perhaps even karaoke. Its a great song, uplifting and energetic, and
not too terribly difficult to play. Yet Prince and the NPG played the most
listless, uninspired version of it I've ever heard last night. The crowd
was on their feet but as I looked around I saw most of them had their hands
in their pockets as if to say "We want to be excited... but..."

And of course there was nothing but scowls in my section as we all realized
how much money we paid for this.

And still it gets worse.

There were robotic lights sitting on top the bass bins, directly at our eye
level. When I saw this before the show I again said "uh oh. Those things
are going to turn and go off RIGHT into our eyes from about 3 feet." And
they did. I could have gotten a tan from them.

So now during the 10% of the time I could actually SEE Prince probably half
that time I either had a 1000 watt light going off DIRECTLY IN MY EYES or my
eyes were still stunned from the last time. This was particularly profound
during one of my favorite tracks DANCE MUSIC SEX ROMANCE (or DMSR) from the
1999 album.

So at this point I can actually see Prince about 5% of the time. This
compared to the last tour where I was second row center and saw him from
about 15 feet ALL NIGHT LONG.

I was not at all happy.

There were also some LOOONG and not particularly interesting solos from band
members while Prince futzed around with wardrobe changes. This would have
been acceptable had everything else not been wrong up to this point. But in
this case it just added insult to injury as I spent minute after minute NOT
hearing and NOT SEEING people I didn't even pay for!

(And the first wardrobe change was a joke. He still had on the same pants
and shoes! All he changed was his shirt!)

Then the show started to turn around during the last of these solos. Renato
Nato (the keyboard player) and one of the new sax players whose name I don't
know went into an instrumental take of FREE from the album 1999. It was
nice to see this song touched upon as I have only seen it played live in the
PURPLE RAIN live video from 1983.

And it all took off from there.

Soon the horn player was off at our side picking people to pull on stage. I
have seen Prince 3 times previously and he always does this- pulling
audience members on stage to dance for a song or three. I knew it was going
to happen. They were pulling the people from our area. I debated whether I
still wanted to go or not. The show was terrible so far. Would I be faking
it trying to get on stage and look like I was having a good time? Why would
I want to get up there and be a part of it?

I decided (in a flash) that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and
decided to go for it. I grabbed my fiancée's hand and headed over. We
were the last two people let in and I received a stern warning from a
stagehand- DON'T TOUCH HIM!!

At the time I thought I must have looked like trouble or something but I
found out later they told EVERBODY that.

So we made our way up on the stage and found a nice spot to dance. And
that's what we did. Prince and the band danced around and jammed in and out
of us. He walked right by a couple of times. Inches away. NOW THIS WAS
WORTH $77!!

Plus it was cool to look out and see what he sees- an arena full of people who are
all dancing and having a great time.

So I'm up there, doing my best white boy moves, checking out the musical
gear, making eye contact with all the musicians and saying "good job" in the
non-verbal code we musicians have worked out for communicating with each
other while we're playing.

Then the band goes into KISS from the Parade album- one of his all time
biggest hits and a song my bands have played for years.

During the second chorus and he saunters my way for like the fifth time. He
has the crowd sing. "You don't have to be rich..." I'm singing in my
throat voice and I can tell I'm flat. The band is using in ear monitors so
there are no wedges and I can only hear the music coming from underneath and
over us. Hard to find the pitch...

So I give up and with Prince 6 inches away from me I shift into the falsetto
scream half of the chorus "Ain't no particular sign..." Which I have to say
I do pretty well for a white boy. I still remember the first time I ever
sang the falsetto part at a party when I was just learning the song and
there were a couple of black people there. Their heads whipped around when
they heard me as if to say "who's making that sound? Can't be that white
guy!"

Well Prince did the same thing.

Through his in-ear monitors he heard me and STUCK HIS MIC IN MY FACE.

It was the purple one that looks like a gun.

I said to myself "what the hell", grabbed the mic (he was still holding it)
and let the damn chorus FLY.

I couldn't see his face. I was just concentrating on doing the best vocal I
could in front of 12,000 people being hardly able to hear myself. But from
what I hear his face lit up and he mugged for the crowd in that "damn, white
boy can sing" sort of way.

So I did it. I made it up on stage with Prince (and my fiancée) and danced.
Then I also got to take a chorus of KISS in front of 12,000 people (and on
the jumbo video screens I would find out later). Wow. Now THIS was worth
what I paid for it!

And you know what? The whole time we were both holding the mic I still
never touched him!!

So I have a new goal!! =)

When we got down everyone started congratulating me and telling me how well
I sang. That was very nice. Of course I had flyers for my band THE SPECIAL
PEOPLE CLUB in my pocket promoting our upcoming gigs and website to hand
out. I AM ALWAYS PREPARED! This is where I found out I was on the video
screens as EVERYONE in the place recognized me for the rest of the evening.

In fact several people thought it was staged it went so smooth. I assured
them it was 100% spontaneous and that it was the fulfillment of a lifelong
dream- to perform with Prince. I told them I only sang it so well because I
had a band we do that song!

Other plusses of the night-

The encore was a solo acoustic set that he did alone in a chair that spun
around. Very cool.

The last song was the BEST version of PURPLE RAIN that I've ever heard!!
After years of being truncated live he actually performed the whole song
this time- all three verses and I'd never heard the second two sung by
Prince in person before. Talk about full circle! They did the first song
on the album TERRIBLE and the last one WONDERFUL.

And that pretty much sums up the show for me as well.

Also the security guys gave us people in the first row (they checked our
tickets to make sure we belonged there) wristbands and no one without one
was allowed against the barricade. And the enforced it, too. That was
nice.

And of course Prince GAVE us his new album as we walked in. That was a nice
touch that I hope more artists emulate. Arena tickets are expensive and CDs
are cheap to produce. So that's a nice way to say "thank you" and get your
new music out there if you haven't sold in big numbers for awhile (which is
Prince's situation).

So all in all I was very satisfied. I got my money's worth and had the time
of my life. On stage with Prince and my sweet fiancée and for a cherry on
the sundae I got to take a vocal chorus in front of 12,000 people.

Not bad for $77. But do something about those sight lines for the poor
shmucks behind the horn stand!!

Can't wait to see where my tickets are in Ames and Kansas City!!

Richard Schultz
Special People Club
http://www.spcband.com

Sorry this was so long! Things only seem really real to me after I write about them!!

I do believe this is my absolute favorite concert story.....until Saturday when I have my own.

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

I hope you do!! Be sure to post it here and if you could perhaps send me an org note about it as well. Sometimes I can't make it to the org on weekends. I'd love to hear your story!!

Our local paper reviewed it as well. They did not forget to mention me. Cool!

http://www.omaha.com/inde...id=1060173

dammit. Now I wish I would've gone to tha omaha show with you. CRAP!!

krebsne said:

Very cool!

I forgot one thing in my original review.

AFTER we got off stage we did NOT go back to our seats. We watched the rest of the show from the OTHER side of the stage. From there it was amazing. Crystal clear sight lines and sound. Made all the difference.

I should have put that in and I apologize for omitting it.

In fact, you were a few feet away from me when you took your "new" spot in the auditorium. You did a great job and had a chance of a lifetime. I am jealous.

I do agree with the shaft on the seating. My girlfriend and I got our advance tickets and saw S4 Row 1 seats 3 and 4 and I was grinning ear to ear. I thought: "Were going to be close enough to the stage where he'll spit on us [unintentionally, of course]." Imagine my surprise when I discovered we were a good twenty feet from the stage and there were five rows to either side of people. I also purchased the tickets immediately.

I come to find out that the people in the five rows to either side of the stage were contest winners. This was some sort of promotion by Qwest Center. WTF?!? I had a nice line of sight, so I can't complain. But, I will anyways. If we aren't getting the best seats, what is the purpose of the presale benefit? I was quite ticked especially when I saw a majority of those in these sections clearly are not Prince nuts.

As far as your review of the concert: Right on the money. Too many lulls. The crowd was unsure what to do for the first half. I felt like I was at Catholic service with all of the sitting and standing going on. I was pleased by the concern, but not overjoyed. It may be a result of having front row tickets in KC for ONA.

That's my two cents. Take if for what's it worth . . . two cents.

I should also add that there were some snafus with the seat layouts. There were numerous people around me that had a seat number but no corresponding seat, i.e., they had row 4 seat 13 when the seats were only layed out to 10. There were seven people in my area with this problem.

krebsne said:

Priceless!



That's f**ken GREAT!

I don't know how you are coherent enough to write that all down! I would be STUNNED if that happened to me. I had the chance to sing with Sheila E once, but I chickened out. It was in a small club and I was right up front. She was asking people to come up and sing. This awful chick got up and couldn't even carry a tune! She was probably drunk. Anywho, glad your concert experience was saved and congrats on getting a mention in the newspaper!

VinaBlue said:

Well I am a bit of a verbal person...

VinaBlue said:

Strangely my musical career started much the same way. It was a junior high dance in a VERY small town in Nebraska. The local high school cover band played. In retrospect they were probably terrible but they were the first live band playing rock music I had ever seen. They did AC/DC, the CLASH, WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU, that sort of stuff. This was 1984 and Van Halen's album of the same name was brand new. They had learned JUMP but no one in the band could sing it. To make a show out of it they asked for someone from the crowd to sing it. Like you I chickened out even though I knew all the words and sang along at the top of my voice every time I heard it on the radio or MTV. So of course this other dork gets pulled up, makes a joke out of it and just screams and hops around- wasting a perfectly good opportunity to perform!

I vowed never to let that happen again and when there's a chance to do something I DO IT. And God has blessed me w/ enough talent to pull it off. I am extremely thankful for that.

Hey krebsne, maybe Prince will give you an encore tonight in Ames I'll be watching for ya!

So you had a great time because you got to sing to a bunch of people, not because you enjoyed the concert. It sounded like a very negative review overall to me...I hope I don't end up in the front row like that...sounds like a total ripoff. They shouldn't even sell tickets for those seats if you can't see anything from them. That is just stealing money and not the way to treat your best fas.

RupertZ said:

I agree with you A THOUSAND PERCENT. To me, that ranks among the shadiest of NPGMC dealings...and we're talking about a company that charged me $20 for a 12th-generation recording of a Korean PPV special of The Beautiful Experience that was barely watchable.

$75 and getting the ticket buyer's hopes up like that? You're supposed to get GOOD SEATS. Even if they're not right up front...we can understand that only so many people can be right up front. But if I get seats like this I will absolutely contact the BBB once again, LAWD. But I will, because if Ticketmaster can't sell tickets with an obstructed view without telling people first, then why can NPGMC?

And of COURSE I understand that they HAVE to hold so many good seats for radio contest winners...but how 'come none of them were in obstructed view seats? Is Prince bringing people up for the dance portion to make up for the fact that they couldn't see most of the concert?

well its true when u sang in the mic his fac elight up and he gave us all a look like damn .....lol....well to me it looked like u was enjoying the hell out of the concert and being up there would make it the best concert in my eyes but that is me....

what i thought was really nice of Prince he gave away tickets to active miltary.. they sent the e mail out about 2 and miltary was standing in line . My hubby like damn cause he just got out.we got there super early so we sat and watched everyone...

RupertZ said:

True. I reviewed the entire experience. Of course getting on stage really kicked it into high gear! But prior to that, from an audience member standpoint in my seats it was a TERRIBLE show. It was however much nicer from the audience after we got off stage and watched it from the other side. It sounded better, too. Bottom line- it really makes a BIG difference where your seats are.

RupertZ said:

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking while I was sitting there for the first half of the show. Believe me I made up my mind then and there to come up here and warn my fellow org'ers about it. And I did.

Just so happens my warning comes with a really, really nice coda!!

hotwitu71 said:

I wish I could have seen it! Hope I can find a *cough* copy of it somewhere.

And something else that is occuring to me as this all sinks in. Prince had in-ear monitors. I had his mic. That means he had MY VOICE piped directly into his head as loud as if it were his own and it made him *smile*.

That brings tears to my eyes, it really does. All these years of listening to his records and being moved. Inspired to play myself. Then for one shining moment I got to return the favor and please *him*.

I am blessed. Thank you God. For the ability and for opportunity and for each day of life and all the people in it. Wow!

hotwitu71 said:

And yes, by then I was. I mean I had my honeybunny fiancee with me who had never seen Prince before and I GOT HER ON STAGE. We were on cloud nine right then. We're getting married in 9 days so this was our last little fun thing before the relatives come to town and it becomes all about the wedding. So that alone was worth it. Just looking into her eyes, watching her look around, etc.

Being close to Prince and having him walk by- awesome.

Dancing with Rhonda. Awesome.

Dancing with Candy. Awesome.

The singing? Just so far over the top I still can't believe it happened. I mean you don't even dare WISH for stuff like that!!

i just had to say this was a really really great show ... maybe it was because i had second row tickets ... maybe it was because i wasn't on stage ... maybe it was just because i enjoyed the music and prince played his ass off! the entire show was great and i even converted a new prince fan. i'm sorry krebsne had such a horrible time ... until he got on stage.

ive been to many late night gigs at paisley and i have to say that the new tour has that kind of "i'm havin' fun and i wanna show off" vibe that frequented the park in the mid-late 90s. plus it shows off prince's mad guitar skillz.

glad to see him work icnttpoym into the acoustic set. very nice. now, hopefully the bootlegs surface.

RupertZ said:

theblueangel said:

You know I've been thinking about it and I bet they thought of it this way- you can see *something* at all times. Maybe it was the back of the keyboard player or Candy or John Blackwell's head but in truth there was always *something* to look at. Just not PRINCE very often, which is of course who I laid down my money to see.

So I bet those ticket master obstructed view seats are behind overhangs or whatever where you literally cannot see the stage or field or whatever. They can't guarantee you that you will see Donovan Mcnabb all the time, either! So really that was my objection- that I couldn't see *Prince* (or Renato or Mike Scott either!). But honestly I could still see *something*.

I still say its shady and someone (like maybe Prince!!) should have walked down there during rehearsals and sat there and had them run through the lighting programs and they might have realized that they were NOT "premium" seats!!

I also wish someone had checked the sound there and put in some sort of front fill speakers. I bet Prince or whoever walked around with their damn in-ears in and said "sounds fine". DOH!!

And yes I bet this is why they draw the stage dancers from this section. Otherwise they would be even more disgruntled!! Gotta give us poor schmucks something!!

That is a really great story. I cannot get my own experience from Tuesday nite out of my head, and I am trying to move on but no luck! You just never know what will happen. My front row seats were fantastic and I could see Prince 95% of the time. Of course the sound was deafening but that is what you are gonna get on the front row. After awhile everyone sounded like a chipmunk, including my singing along with the tunes . I wanted to go onstage very badly since it would probably be my only chance ever but the gate was on the other side. I would have climbed over the fence but not without an invitation, they frown on that. ha Prince did shake his ass at me so close that with a boost I could have grabbed it. But hey, I aint all crazy like that and wouldn't want to get tossed! It sounds like you seized your opportunity with gusto and did everything right! I applaud you and you got Prince's attention in the right way, by just doing your thing, having fun, and giving it all you got. You got it right all the way, I'm sorry your seats sucked !!!

For the record, I'll be at the 3 Ohio shows...and if I have seats on the side of the gate, I will HAPPILY trade with someone on the other side...it could be your chance to dance with Prince!

I'm sure this will come as a shock to many of you, but I'd rather hear Prince sing "Kiss" than this guy. If I want to see bad kareoke, I'll go to a bowling alley on Saturday night.

I know exactly how you feel about singing into the mic and watching Prince's reaction...when I belted out a falsetto "Call Me!" at the Lakeland ONA show he made THAT look and said "brutha i'm scared of you!" I realize that I'm not the only person he has ever said that to, but he meant it...I KILLED it. Ask anyone who was there.

The best thing about it, krebsne? That happy feeling you have in your gut? It'll never go away.

RupertZ said:

RupertZ- Relax G! If I wasn't clear this was during a chorus that HE WASN'T singing! He was walking by pointing his "gun" mic over the crowd. I was singing like any other person there. He heard me and stuck the mic in my face. No body got me instead of Prince. That WOULD blow! Even for me. Hell I can hear myself sing that song every day in the shower for free!! I would only pay $77 dollars to be in a concrete sports arena to hear one person sing it- PRINCE!

Oh and I was at the Ames show last night and he stuck the mic in three people's faces trying to do again what he did in Omaha, so he must not have minded! He did it twice in KISS and once in TAKE ME WITH U.

They were all women and the first one RAN AWAY wavying her arms. She was scared to death at the idea of singing. The second meekly put in a couple of words but she either didn't know them or wasn't a singer or both. Prince made faces at her like "c'mon, that was terrible". He tried one more time and the third moved her lips and tried to sing but I could not hear her over the music. She may have done well- I couldn't tell.

And for the record it was not in any way "bad karaoke". It was a least "good" karaoke quality!!

theblueangel said:

Yeah, I've seen him do it before too, both in person and on *cough* videos I have. I know he has done this before. But he never did it WITH ME before!!

theblueangel said:

I hear you. I think its cool that Pince gives us hardcore fans personal experiences to cherish. Yeah its too bad everyone can't have them but their rarity only makes them that much more special. And he doesn't HAVE to do it for anyone. But he chooses to.

That is nice of him and part of what makes him the special man that he is.

We might not always like how he goes about it but I do believe he loves his fans and wants to please them as best he can while still being true to himself. His face was glowing last night in Ames and he seemed to be genuine in his thanks for the applause of the crowd.

krebsne said:

Small town Nebraska boy made good!

Now I gotta know which town - do tell, I've lived in a few (small Nebraska towns, that is)...

krebsne said:

its cool krebsne, dont worry baby, sing your heart out !!!