DAMN. And, so, I'm guessing the show is sold out tonight, for sure. And I don't have no connections for the venue he's playing. Sigh. Another Prince show missed.

I guess I have to demote my fan-rating down to "wannabee".

herbthe4 said:

yeah, there was no afterparty last night... one of the guys with prince's crew came and told us... i thought he was kinda rude about it, but that might just be because i was a little disappointed about it, because i live 4 hours away and won't be able to make an afterparty tonight...

oh well... if there is an afterparty tonight, be sure to keep us updated...

http://www.npgmusicclub.c...verup.html



this was just posted under NPG Commentaries on April 2nd... i find myself perplexed after reading it... it sounds to me like it's attacking people who do covers... prince did several covers on "emancipation," has done live covers of hendrix and stevie wonder... not to mention all of the covers he's doing on this tour... i'm not sure that i understand this...

3 guesses:

1. response to the "cripple girl brought to tears" crap
2. response to Alien Ant Farm's cover of MJ's Criminal
3. response to the techno/electronica Prince tribute album

EllisDee said:

OR -

the essay cites disdain at covers that add cuss words - obviously talking about Cake's "I Will Survive"?

And hey - I find THIS statement pretty damn laughable: "Mayb it is time 2 start educating r youth" yeah... how bout starting with Spelin.

I'm also a bit puzzled about this essay (though I agree with certain parts of it). I guess it's mostly against radio playing covers instead of the original, and I think this is true. There are so many covers out there, I don't know how often I find out that some songs are actually covers or sample melodies from old classics.

BTW - Thanx for the reports!

Chas said:

Apparently "nobody 'splained" to you (or you didn't bother to read) the system that the NPG Music Club established for these shows. Get a clue and play by the rules, or at least admit that you are breaking them and stealing seats from others who were there first...sigh...

Although, I don't really blame you for your ignorance (even though your arrogance at thinking you know what is going on is pretty funny). Prince's organization ultimately gets the blame for not being organized and not having someone out there to sort things out. Oh well, I got my seat back in the 2nd row, but I do feel bad for those who were screwed out of theirs.

NikkiDarling said:

The crazy thing that before the soundcheck there was no search and then AFTER the soundcheck there was no search. They just made everyone get up and leave and walk right back in for no reason.

Hi all... I was also at the concert and soundcheck. I brought my younger sister, who is a casual Prince fan, and she really enjoyed it, so that was a lot of fun for me.

Prince was in a great mood at soundcheck--I particularly enjoyed his impression of Halle at the Oscars.

Re: the seating thing. In defense of those of us in the back rows, we didn't hear that we were supposed to come back to our original seats. All we heard was "Clear out to get searched, then come back to find seats." Whoever made the original announcement (security, I guess?) couldn't be heard from where I sat (back row, right side facing the stage), so we just took the word of those passing it back. We got pretty excited actually, and rushed out so we could be first back in. When we got back we ended up in third row center, and were very happy to be there--until the very distressed original inhabitants of the seat came back to reclaim them. My sister got a little pissed (she's used to general admission shows where generally anything goes), mostly because the girls who came back to the seat told us we "HAD TO MOVE." We didn't particularly like being told we had to do anything. But, after a minute, I figured it wasn't worth fighting over seats that were maybe 10 feet closer than where I was originally, so I grabbed my sister and we went back to the original spot. Sorry to those we temporarily displaced! Gotta say, I don't think going back 2 rows made the show any worse! It was great from any seat--the people in the back of the balconies seemed to be rocking pretty damn hard.

Just a suggestion for future shows--take a roll of "My name is" stickers and put your name on the seat when you get there--that way, if you have to get up, you've got your seat when you get back.

Or, a suggestion for NPGMC--print tickets for the seats that get sold at the presale, and attach them to the seat. When people arrive for soundcheck, they can pocket the ticket for the seat they picked out, and use that as proof of ownership for the rest of the night.

Jessica said:

That's a great suggestion!

NikkiDarling said:

HAHAHA!! You all are SICK!!

NuPwrSoul said:

Thank you sir...

I had plenty of time to think of it while I was watching everyone get worked up over their seats. I must say, I was very glad the cops got called in--there was a gorgeous young man in an Atlanta PD uniform trying to get things under control--I really enjoyed the sight.

calldapplwondery83 said:

i kinda thought the same thing... that he wasn't against live covers, just against the radio playing covers... but then i remembered that he did release "bethca by golly wow" as a single, and that was a cover... so i dunno... anyway... an interesting article nonetheless..

Jessica said:

Achtung! Show us your papers, citizen!

Y'know, I just don't understand this new search procedure they're doing on this tour. Sure, they've had searches at Paisley Park before, but otherwise, the most you could expect at a Prince show was a going-over with a metal detector. Now everybody gets groped. And sadly, in this post-9/11 era, the sheeple, erm, people put up with it.

Pat-down searches won't keep recorders, weapons, or drugs out. The proof is in the "One Nite Alone" bootlegs that have already been announced.

Hey, what a about some more reports from Atlanta 4/3 ?
Nobody been there?

calldapplwondery83 said:

Well, how many do you want? There are 3 reports right here in this thread.

matt said:

That's cuz the folks doing the searching clearly do not know what they're doing. I'm all in favor of the search procedure esp. if it keeps crazies out, or at least disarmed. There are far too many loonies running around these days.

NuPwrSoul said:

No, it's because there's one place on a person's body where they're not allowed to touch, and that's where the contraband goes.



"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."--Benjamin Franklin, 1759

I wouldn't mind, say, metal detectors--those are fine with me. But when you search people by physically touching them, you've crossed the line of violating their bodily integrity.

At local NBA games, despite increased security measures that include a visual inspection of each patron (open your coat, turn around, shake the cuffs of your pants, etc.), the security staff has been instructed not to touch patrons. Why? My guesses: 1) they know it's offensive; and 2) they're concerned about potential liability (e.g., security thug gets a little too intimate when patting down a female patron).

I was at the show last night, GAWD what an awesome show, but it was really horrible how the seating was handled. There were folks waiting in line since 1 in the afternoon to get good seats, only to lose them to people with no respect at all. Those kind of folks make me wonder if they ever listen to a dam* thing Prince has to say. As for my date and I, we had awesome, dead-center seats, lost them to 2 losers, then spent the next 15 minutes being bounced around from seat to seat as each time we sat down the original "owners" would come to claim them. And yes, we were nice enough to move when asked, even though we never did get our seats back. In the end we did end up getting seats 4 seats down from our first ones, so it worked out OK for us, but it was still a major hassle for no good reason at all. As others have noted, we never were searched at all anyway.

By far the highlight of the evening for me was during the soundcheck when they played "Joy in Repetition". This has always been one of my all-time favorites and I would have never dreamed I would get to hear it played in such an intimate setting. It was a thrill I'll never forget. Prince was very relaxed and almost jovial, and I thought it was great that he didn't just get the sound right and leave. He played full versions of "Paisley Park" and "Joy in Repetition" just for us, and those weren't even in the main show.

I don't have much to add about the show that hasn't alredy been mentioned, except to say that it was absolutely incredible. Prince gets better each and every time I see him. One interesting thing was that the show started exactly on time at 8 on the dot. I have never known Prince to start on time before.

I was also a little disappointed about the after-party situation. Most of us hung around for a good 15 minutes after the show, and finally just gave up and left. No one ever did anounce that there wouldn't be a party.

BTW, I just heard from a friend at tonight's show. Apparenty there were no seating issues tonight, and the after-party has already been announced at Club 1150, corner of 14th and Crescent.

otan said:

roflmao

matt said:

I've been to high security events where pat downs are standard operating procedure... and it is done professionally and efficiently by trained persons of the same gender. In fact for a short while I used to produce events where we required patdowns and we never had any problem.

Jessica said:

ILLEGITIMUS NON CARBORUNDUM

EllisDee said:

Seems a lot of people don't. Check the general discussion forum.

Good to hear the show went well. I can't wait until he comes 2 Cali. I just hope we don't have the same problem about the seating cause folks in La are ghetto! And then if people r drunk awwwww snap lookout 4 some insideofu.

NuPwrSoul said:

Hmmm... the only events I've been to with pat-downs have been music events (mostly raves). OTOH, the truly high-security events I've attended, including presidential vists with the Secret Service on hand, have not had pat-downs. Instead, guests passed through a metal detector with a bomb-sniffing dog stationed beside it.

I will admit, though, that this was all before September 11th--I don't know what they're doing now.



Well, pat-down searches certainly don't keep drugs out of raves. All they seem to do is slow the line to a snail's pace.

Anyway, as a private promoter, it's certainly your right to require a pat-down as a condition of entry. However, if I were promoting events, I would rather treat my patrons with respect and not like common criminals. And I wouldn't insult their intelligence by pretending that pat-downs actually provide any meaningful amount of security.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. But I'll leave you with this:

And it is nothing less than sheer torture of the English language to suggest that a careful exploration of the outer surfaces of a person's clothing all over his or her body in an attempt to find weapons is not a "search," Moreover, it is simply fantastic to urge that such a procedure performed in public by a policeman while the citizen stands helpless, perhaps facing a wall with his hands raised, is a "petty indignity." It is a serious intrusion upon the sanctity of the person, which may inflict great indignity and arouse strong resentment, and it is not to be undertaken lightly.

Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 16-17 (1968) (footnote omitted).

Is it really necessary to repost someone's entire letter to add your 2 cents to it. If you want to respond to someone's posting - respond to them - I'm sure they'll notice it if they care to. This way other readers don't have to scroll past endless lines of text that is repeated over and over by others cutting and pasting. I don't know - maybe others don't find this annoying - but its getting so I can't stand coming in here anymore. Say what you have to say - don't cut and paste anothers text into your own posting . Puhleeze!!!!! Am I the only one who feels this way ?

Gemstoned said:

Quoting the relevant portions that you are addressing is good. Quoting the entire post and adding a one-line followup is bad.

Yeah we are going to have to disagree. Because it is not an issue of respect/disrespect or indignities. No one is calling for a stop and frisk in the middle of the street with people's hands up against a wall.

The way that the search procedures were performed were done so with utmost respect and regard for the person, with their safety in mind. True it may not find ecstacy pills, but that's not really what we were trying to prevent... more like weapons, tape recorders, and cameras... and we found all of them.

The folks who didn't have any of those things weren't fazed by the process, the line moved quickly, and everyone inside felt quite safe to know that they could get about the business or pleasure at hand, knowing that no one in there had a gun or knife to act a fool.
[This message was edited Thu Apr 4 21:59:14 PST 2002 by NuPwrSoul]

Prince's people are relying on the theater personnel to do the searches. The Atlanta theater must not have the personnel to do searches.

At the shows I went to in a different city, there were about 10 men and women all wearing "Event Staff" jackets doing the frisking and searching. They were professional and knew what they were doing.