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Thread started 04/10/17 5:42pm

67Cadillac

Prince's Best and Worst Tours?

Ever since his passing, I've become more and more fascinated by Prince as a performer, the way he structured his shows, his seemingly boundless energy, his interaction with the crowd and his bands, etc. Each tour seems to offer something different, whether it be a serious artistic statement or a loose party type of atmosphere.

I'm not sure if this has been discussed here before, but I thought I'd open up a discussion on Prince's most and least memorable tours.

My personal rankings:

1. Lovesexy - in terms of presentation, length, focus and energy, this is Prince at his peak, and in many ways I don't think he was ever as daring or intense onstage again. I love the early run of pre-Purple Rain tracks, the last time I feel he performed most of those songs with any real verve. The piano set, the Black Album tracks, the encores, everything was great this tour.

2. Dirty Mind - the tour where Prince seemed to fully evolve into his definitive image, pushing the envelope of sexual expression onstag, as well as fine tuning his signature live sound.

3. 1999 - I love this tour because it Prince in between the somewhat cult-ish following he had before 1999 but before the mega-stardom of Purple Rain seemed to somewhat pigeon hole him for a bit. He still has the mystique of his previous tours, and with the Revolution really falling into place, his live sound has been perfected.

4. Musicology - I feel like this is where Prince fully recovered from his somewhat disappointing 1990s' phase and really connected with what made him Prince again. I loved everything about this tour - the song selection, the pacing, the band, the acoutic set. The hits sounded vital again and Prince just seemed energized like he hadn't been in a long time. The opening night in L.A. is one of my three favorite Prince bootlegs.

5. Welcome 2 America - I just love this tour; I know some think it was corny, but Prince just seemed to be enjoying himself so much, especially during the L.A. tour. Certain songs - Controversy, The Beautiful Ones, Little Red Corvette - sounded better than they had in years, and the shows were long and often unpredictable at points (the hits medley aside).

Worst:

1. Hit N Run Tour 2000 - Dull. Lifeless. Rushed. I've listened to three shows from this tour and found each of them more boring than the next. The Purple Rain songs - that marching band piece at the beginning of Darling Nikki - were performed like he was waiting for a bus.

2. Welcome 2 Australia - As much as I love Welcome 2 America, I hate this tour. It was pretty clear that Prince had run the format into the ground, and the shows just seem completely devoid of energy and involvement.

3. Jam of the Year - I've seen lots of hate for this tour, and while I do enjoy certain shows (Mobile, for example) the shows just seem so poorly thought out and scattered. The electric piano set is almost cringe-worthy for me. The band had no character, and Prince didn't really play all that much guitar. One bright spot: this tour has the best versions I've heard of When Doves Cry.

5. Nude - Prince's first real 'greatest hits' tour, the first one where he didn't really play with a sense of purpose and just went through the motions. There are some consistently strong performances of songs throughout the tour and some good shows (Tokyo), but overall I often pass over this one.

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Reply #1 posted 04/10/17 6:20pm

214

Where is SOTT Tour?

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Reply #2 posted 04/10/17 6:29pm

IamBryan

214 said:

Where is SOTT Tour?

The tour that never came to the US.... His biggest mistake of his entire career...

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Reply #3 posted 04/10/17 8:08pm

fen

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Lovesexy was certainly his most ambitious and theatrical, and I love the inclusion of the Black Album tracks (Superfunkycalifragisexy particularly). Unfortunately, I was too young to experience these first hand, but from the recordings I’ve heard I’d struggle to choose between Lovesexy and SOTT. I also love the raw intensity of some of the early-mid 80s shows.



I’m I correct in thinking that the SOTT film was intended as a substitute to touring in the U.S? It may have been a mistake not to tour, but I’m glad that the film exists.



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Reply #4 posted 04/10/17 10:04pm

sonshine

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IamBryan said:



214 said:


Where is SOTT Tour?



The tour that never came to the US.... His biggest mistake of his entire career...


yeahthat
It's a hurtful place, the world, in and of itself. We don't need to add to it. We all need one another. ~ PRN
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Reply #5 posted 04/11/17 2:08am

thisisreece

Best Tour: ONA Tour. The bootlegs from this tour blow me away. Unusual setlists pulling from his deeper catalogue (with a few favourites sprinkled in), with an even stronger focus on musicianship than usual. Prince absoultely slays on the guitar and keys, and its possibly the best configeration of his live band: John Blackwell on drums (!), Rhonda Smith on bass, and Renato Neto (I know others think different, but I love Renato's sound).

Worst: From what little I have seen of it, it is the Jam of the Year tour. The bootlegs bore me and I have no incentive to explore than further than I have.

.

Hundalasiliah!
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Reply #6 posted 04/11/17 3:32am

TheFman

That's a hard one. There are 4 on par tours imo, for different reasons.
PR tour: the mystique, the 'mega', those songs!

Parade Tour: the music - what songs and how they were played
SOTT: the decor, the grandeur
Lovesexy: the originality and cheer genius

Personally, perhaps SOTT is just a little tad below the other 3.

The 'Parade' is the one I would listen to mostly, but (cliché) the PR tour must be the winner - that was the only one which felt like 'once in a lifetime' - seeing the biggest one on the height of his popularity.


All what came after, I couldn't really care for.

PS wow this forum has an 'edit' button, i wonder why almost nobody uses it!

[Edited 4/11/17 3:34am]

[Edited 4/11/17 3:35am]

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Reply #7 posted 04/11/17 2:58pm

ufoclub

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The Nude Tour had some of his best dancing.
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Reply #8 posted 04/11/17 5:03pm

gandorb

This is limited to the ones I have heard or seen, which means many of the less ballyhooed tours aren't included.

Best

1. Parade

2. Piano and Mic

3. TGE tour

4. Lovesexy/Purple Rain

5. One night alone

Worst

1. 20ten

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Reply #9 posted 04/13/17 8:52pm

sro100

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sonshine said:

IamBryan said:

The tour that never came to the US.... His biggest mistake of his entire career...

yeahthat

I saw it in the U.S.

Ruperts.

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Reply #10 posted 04/13/17 8:53pm

sro100

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Best: Musicology, Purple Rain, Lovesexy.

Worst: Nude, 3121

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Reply #11 posted 04/13/17 9:19pm

MD431Madcat

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Best: Parade,


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Reply #12 posted 04/13/17 9:20pm

riocoolnes

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sro100 said:

Best: Musicology, Purple Rain, Lovesexy.

Worst: Nude, 3121

lol 3121? The residency? or 21 nights?

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Reply #13 posted 04/13/17 9:28pm

riocoolnes

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I just heard Prince parade tour in Tokyo and man combined with the other shows on the Tour this has to be top 5 with LoveSexy, Sign O' The times, Dirty Mind, ONA. Purple rain was also fantastic.

Musicology, 1999, Nude (minus outside concerts sometimes but La coruna and tokyo are awesome testiments), and Diamonds and Pearls were Good tours.

Jam of the year, Hit N Run 2000, LOL, were yuck.

Inconsisent tour has to be Welcome 2 tours Like madison sq garden and Chicago night 2 are supposed to be legendary possibly top 25 all time. but then other dates complete fell flat.

Honorable mention. Piano and Microphone very good stuff just different type of tour.

Never hear anyone talk about NPS , Act 1, Act 2, controversy tours

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Reply #14 posted 04/14/17 1:31am

rusty1

IamBryan said:



214 said:


Where is SOTT Tour?



The tour that never came to the US.... His biggest mistake of his entire career...


It sure was
BOB4theFUNK
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Reply #15 posted 04/14/17 12:19pm

Philly76

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riocoolnes said:



sro100 said:


Best: Musicology, Purple Rain, Lovesexy.



Worst: Nude, 3121




lol 3121? The residency? or 21 nights?


21 nights was rather Planet Earth
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Reply #16 posted 04/14/17 12:40pm

kewlschool

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Um. The Live Out Loud Tour. AWESOME. Should be on the list. Montreux 2009 is great too.(Not really a huge tour there though.)

99.9% of everything I say is strictly for my own entertainment
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Reply #17 posted 04/14/17 12:57pm

67Cadillac

I've seen some hate for them but I enjoy all the Act 1 and 2 shows I've heard. It was the last time for me that Prince felt close to his prime for me before the symbol period.

Live Out Loud was a very strong tour. The Ogden boot is one of my favorites.

Welcome 2 has some fantastic shows (MSG and several of the L.A. shows - 4/14 being my favorite) but the concept got tired after awhile. Australia was lame and utterly lifeless. I wish there were quality recordings of the Chicago shows, those seemed like a step up.

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Reply #18 posted 04/15/17 5:53am

HypnoBlue

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Top 3 for me no doubt are Parade, SOTT, and ONA.

His worst imo - NPS, Hit n RUn 2001, D&P

Overrated - Lovesexy

Underrated - Controversy, Nude

Despite everything, no one can dictate who you are to other people - prince 1958-2016 storm
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Reply #19 posted 04/15/17 9:15am

leecaldon

If you've only listened to shows from a tour, then it's very difficult to make a judgement - you're missing half of the show. And if you've watched it on a screen, you may have a much better idea, but it's still difficult to feel the energy that was there in the moment.

Saying that, it's still a valid exercise....

(excluding aftershows).

Best:

Lovesexy

Sign O the Times

Parade/Hit N Run

One Nite Alone (attended)

3rdEyeGirl/HitnRun I (attended)

Least good (this is tough):

Nude

Jam of the Year

Hit n Run 2000 wasn't his strongest, but at the time I would have said it was the best show I'd ever been to by anyone, period.

Have yet to watch a Piano & a Microphone show.

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Reply #20 posted 04/15/17 9:25am

OldFriends4Sal
e

ufoclub said:

The Nude Tour had some of his best dancing.

I just never cared for the dancing... even though he had Jerome Wally Gregory / Cat Wally Gregory, the dancing was a lot different, not as focused on the dancing as much as it being visual cherography.


The Nude tour dancing was another sign of him 'following trends' to me, a lot of the dances were stuff people were already doing. It was too obvious to me.

I love his 1999 moves, or the moves that were like someone in their room dancing to music and then doing the dances at the club on the weekened.

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Reply #21 posted 04/15/17 12:10pm

mothyham

the best thing about this Prince fan forum is the distinct lack of taste in it's members.

You like all the stuff I hate.

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Reply #22 posted 04/15/17 12:27pm

gandorb

mothyham said:

the best thing about this Prince fan forum is the distinct lack of taste in it's members.

You like all the stuff I hate.

Hard to believe that someone would hate the Parade, PR, SOTT, Lovesexy, and Musicology tours, which are the ones most frequently mentioned here. So which ones do you prefer?

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Reply #23 posted 04/15/17 2:29pm

GTsymbolover

No bad one for me, not one, in my mind no such thing is possible, this is Prince we are talking about, his tours/shows were legendary!
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Reply #24 posted 04/15/17 5:38pm

ufoclub

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OldFriends4Sale said:

ufoclub said:

The Nude Tour had some of his best dancing.

I just never cared for the dancing... even though he had Jerome Wally Gregory / Cat Wally Gregory, the dancing was a lot different, not as focused on the dancing as much as it being visual cherography.


The Nude tour dancing was another sign of him 'following trends' to me, a lot of the dances were stuff people were already doing. It was too obvious to me.

I love his 1999 moves, or the moves that were like someone in their room dancing to music and then doing the dances at the club on the weekened.

Pre-Parade era, his dancing style in concert never appealed to me. It was too much like someone in their room dancing and then going to the club and dancing... which was regular people. I was impressed by the superhuman, the too quick to be real, or the stylistically cool and bizarre. The SOTT movie really illustrated his potential to me with things like Housequake and Hot Thing being completely different styles of movement that no one was doing at any local scene where I was.

By the time of the Nude tour and even beyond like Rock in Rio... Prince was moving like a funk superhero to me. Even the Tick Tick Bang stuff in the movie was great and bizarre.

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Reply #25 posted 04/19/17 3:50am

dustoff

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Since everyone seems to hate the Jam of the Year tour, I'll defend it: It was a good tour, at a good time. Prince was finally over his often pointless fixation with hip-hop, and he'd yet to start jazz-ifying everything in his catalogue. He was still cursing like a motherfucker, and jumping from his piano to the splits without any apparent effort -- both would end soon enough. Larry Graham wasn't around. It wasn't an intimate tour, but Prince made it feel that way. He was drawing from his hits (without turning them into samples), and Emancipation (which still felt fresh), and Newpower Soul (another underrated fan un-favorite). The band weren't flashy, but they seemed to do exactly what Prince wanted and needed.

I wonder if the reason people like to slam on JOTY is that, at the time, everyone was pissed at Prince about their Crystal Ball orders. I get that it wasn't all-the-time, white-hot Prince-at-his-best, but there was nothing out of place on this tour.

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Reply #26 posted 04/19/17 5:18am

NorthC

I'll second that, dustoff, although by the time the Jam tour reached Europe, Larry Graham was around, but I loved it. Prince, Larry, Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini... It was as close as you could get to seeing Sly and the Family Stone live. And he wasn't only over his fixation with shithop, but also over his "Prince is dead" fixation and he was playing the old songs again. I went three times and enjoyed them all. cool
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Reply #27 posted 04/19/17 5:44am

jaypotton

Totally subjective and also reflective of your own personal experience at the concert but...

Parade was first time I saw him live so has special place in my mind.

Lovesexy was and remains the most ambitious, amazing and clever show by any artist ever!

21 Nights in London was amazing for the sheer audacity and volume of shows even if it was a greatest hits review.

Also really enjoyed the shows with 3rdEyeGirl as he seemed revitalised.

But for sheer amazing personal experience it has to be the three ONA shows at Hammersmith in 2002 along with the the aftershow at the New Marquee in Islington. They just seemed so intimate and for the hardcore fans rather than the masses. Very special.

Worst for me has to be the D&P shows at Earls Court in 1992 and the Act 2 shows in 1993.

Middle ranking would be the Nude Tour in 1990 and New Power Soul in 98.

Never saw ULE much to my ongoing disappointment.
'I loved him then, I love him now and will love him eternally. He's with our son now.' Mayte 21st April 2016 = the saddest quote I have ever read! RIP Prince and thanks for everything.
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Reply #28 posted 04/19/17 6:38am

BoraBora


I see the Nude Tour frequently indicated here on the org as one of the worst of P career.

To my direct experience (I was in Nice 1990) the only reason I can try to understand that judgement is that it came after the stellar Lovesexy Tour.

It was funky, it was funny, it was trendy (yes it was, but in the nice meaning of the term) and it was simply well played with a nice band.
Obviously the Lovesexy Tour was more original and special, but it isn't a fault of the Nude Tour.


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Reply #29 posted 04/19/17 6:58am

bonatoc

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ufoclub said:

Pre-Parade era, his dancing style in concert never appealed to me. It was too much like someone in their room dancing and then going to the club and dancing... which was regular people. I was impressed by the superhuman, the too quick to be real, or the stylistically cool and bizarre. The SOTT movie really illustrated his potential to me with things like Housequake and Hot Thing being completely different styles of movement that no one was doing at any local scene where I was.

By the time of the Nude tour and even beyond like Rock in Rio... Prince was moving like a funk superhero to me. Even the Tick Tick Bang stuff in the movie was great and bizarre.


If you know of a club where regular people dance like Syracuse's "Irresistible Bitch/Possessed" and "Baby I'm a Star", give me the address, quick!

The Colors R brighter, the Bond is much tighter
No Child's a failure
Until the Blue Sailboat sails him away from his dreams
Don't Ever Lose, Don't Ever Lose
Don't Ever Lose Your Dreams
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