Got 2 tickets off Ebay for $70 (and that was including shipping).

THEY WERE HALF COURT, LOWERBOWL, AND ONLY 10 ROWS BACK.

I honestly couldn't have asked for much better seats. Go figure, eh?


Anywho, the concert was not too far from being on time. There were a couple of technical problems, but nothing that took away from the show. In fact, one big problem was during the acoustic set where Prince broke one of his strings. Well...that meant that Takumi had to restring the guita, leaving prince with....the Hohner! So he pulled out "When U Were Mine," and a blues tune that referenced "The Rules." That was pretty kewl. He also did "Prince and the Band".

Missing was "The Question of U," "17 Days," and "What a Wonderful World." Instead of WaWWorld, Maceo came out and sang "Georgia on my Mind" in dedication to "The Genius, Mr. Ray Charles."

FANTASTIC.


Cons:

- The show was only just over 2hrs long.

- It seemed as though many of the songs themselves were trimmed.

- No real Afterparty.

- Missing songs.

- Missing the "lounging" skit with the Rolling Stone mag


Pros:

- The songs that were trimmed, were played HARDER and FASTER than when I saw him in Cleveland and Detroit a couple of months ago. This made some of the songs feel a lot more energetic.

- The crowd was rather pumped in the section I was in. That made for a great time.

- The woman next to me who just moved to GR from Texas. Beautiful, had a great voice, a great personality, and a wonderful laugh. Holla back at me if you read this.

- The shadows on the walls during the guitar solos. Depending on the lighting, they sometimes looked FANTASTIC.

- The variations in the set list due to the problems plus the inclusion of "Georgia on my Mind." Superior to "What a Wonderful World" only because I dig Ray Charles so much.

- That lead line into "I Feel 4 U" CANNOT BE TOUCHED. rar-rar

Sometimes, Prince mixes up the shows so we purpleheads that have seen the gig more than five times won't be so nonchalant about his performance. It was the Friday, July 23 show in Chicago when he did not perfrom 'The ? of U/The One/Fallin' set and went straight into 'Purple Rain' for the encore. It was also this night Maceo sang 'Georgia On My Mind' instead of playing WaWW. It was the same night, I was in line to go to the bathroom (it sucks being a woman at a concert) and Prince came back for his acoustic set and opened with 'Forever in My Life' instead of 'Little Red Corvette.'

Our treat that night was 'I Love U in Me.'

Hmmm, first time I ever hear someone mentions shadows on the wall...

Care to tell a little more about that? Wouldn't the shadows be cast upon the audience?

At Van Andel, there is bowl seating on only 3 "sides" of the Arena.

On the side without seating, there is a flat wall that had the shadows of Prince in perfect, humungous sillouette form, wailing on the guitar.


If you can see this in a concert (it's still kool when the shadow drops on the audience), it's an extra special treat.

So I'm not the only shadow freak?

Prince is still unmistakeable, even in a sillouette...

BTW, one of my favorite scenes in Purple Rain is when When Doves Cry is playing,
and you see Prince's sillouette against the lake...very cool, almost looks like Elvis.
One day I'm gonna paint n frame that for my home...

oh man, i saw those shadows too!! it was really really really cool. The Rules song was really funny. man, what a great show. he had fantastic energy! definitely satisfied for being my first prince concert.

aHHHH yes the shadows!!!!!
and Grand Rapids got an extended version of the rules
this is rule #1
ladies if the toilet seat is up dont be mad, just put it down, thats rule #1

ladies on Sunday thats my sports day dont bother me, Thats rule # 1

oh and ladies, Shoping aint no sport !

and thats rule# 1