Which tour do you feel has been the "best" over the past few years? What makes a tour the "best" is completely subjective...

Beginning with the L4OA Charity Tour and continuing through the One Nite Alone:

I've seen them all except for ONA, which I hope to rectify soon. I have heard the Chicago bootleg however, and it seems that the songs kind of drag on...which is cool at Paisley or an aftershow. But at a concert of mostly "popular song" fans, and where the best tickets are $125, it doesn't seem to work If I pay that kind of money, I want to be made to get up and dance...and watch him dance as well. Most of the reports have him playing a lot of guitar...a la the Hit N Run shows last year. And "The Rainbow Children" just does not work as an opener. So even though I haven't actually witnessed this show yet...and may not get to unless he starts posting new dates earlier...it seems lacking

The Hit N Run shows last year were good, but not the best. The stage setup was minimal and the songs got old quick. Plus there was the whole medley thing he couldn't kick. Again...a lot of guitar playing and little dancing. Plus at the Atlanta show I attended I was subject to the Funky Baldheads AND Milennia. Pure torture...and I was on the FRONT ROW It still didn't matter. This tour seemed like an excuse to go out and make money.

Prince: A Celebration...was this ANY different than the Hit N Run shows? Only lasted a couple of weeks and the setlists seemed identical. Disappointing

L4OA Charity Tour...my first Prince concert experience in Birmingham, AL. So it may be a little biased. Now that I've witnessed 6 other concerts, you could definitely see the rust in this tour. The only real gripe I had was the encore turned into another drawn out jam. This concert did have my favorite Prince concert moment EVER...when he took the piano to sing HCUDCMA. He began singing and so did the audience...EVERY word. He finally gave up and had this look on his face like "OK...you want to sing it...go ahead." I had no idea that many people knew the words to a B-Side. Awesome But still not the best.

Jam of the Year...this is the one that gets my vote...for many reasons. Mike Scott was in the fold and there was a lot of dancing by Prince. He was still cussing...which I still miss for some reason. The setlist was perfect IMO. Nice mixture of ups and downs. "JOTY" was the perfect opening song...I loved the way he would walk down the steps at the beginning. The band would start jamming, and then suddenly he would appear at the top of the steps...VERY cool 8)

I saw two of these shows...my favorite being in my hometown of Knoxville. He was in an awesome mood. He played "When U Were Mine" and "A Case of U" solo on his guitar with the lights turned down (My second favorite moment). He played "Alphabet Street" during the piano portion...and scolded us during the song for rushing into the "drive her...to TENNESSEE" part...so he played it again (My third favorite moment). He began playing "Face Down" and my friend and started the "play that muthafuckin' bass" chant...and many others followed suit. I think he was surprised that someone from Knoxville would know about it. That song was so tight night...during his solo he put one leg over the bass neck and was playing and jumping around in circles...too cool. He also played two or three encores. My best concert ever...AND the best tour

What about you guys?

Peace,

Matthew

Having not seen the ONA tour quite yet I was hoping that the title of this thread was a statement rather than a question.

Anyways, I vote for the Gold Tour.

every tour is better than the tour be4,except the Gold Tour in 95´.He becomes better and better from time 2 time.I love Act II,NewPowerSoul (Rotterdam/Brüssel/Paris) and hope 2 see ONA soon in europe.The only thing i missed,he danced very rare now.

i'd probably say JOTY only because it was the first time since Purple Rain that i got to see a Prince show.

mattmcbr said:

For me it is the One Nite Only tour. I've heard the hits so many times before that it was refreshing to see him play songs that he has rarely played before. The band was on the one and sounded fantastic! NPG Radio Ya'll!!!!!

Still waiting for the ONA tour to come to Europe, so for now I'm voting for the August 1998 NPS tour of Europe.