WOW!

Let me try 2 sum this up. Arrived4 soundcheck around 3:00 - 3:30 & there were about 25 people there, which quickly grew to about 100 or 150 aound 5:00. Seating was very civil (I got 2nd row, dead center), generally 1st come 1st serve, and Prince was seated behind us talking to and working the band thru "Extraordinary". He talked a little, joked a lot but was real hard to hear when he spoke. He complained a lot about it being cold, but nobody else seemed 2 b. When someone said "great seats" he said "your seat aint as good as mine". He thanked us for being patient, asked if we'd been "searched" on entry and if any of us had tape recorders or cameras. Of course we all said no.

Apologies if I forget any of the songs, but the soundcheck setlist included "Joy in Repition', Everlasting Now", "Paisly Park" and "extraordinary" a couple of times. "Paisley PArk" was hilarious as he called up members to do the chorus part. I know I'm leaving a song out but oh well. Wrapped up the check at 7 and everything was going smooth until...

For some reason, they announced that we all had to get up, go back out into the lobby and go through security, which nobody seemed to be able to figure out and immediately got a lot of people worried about thier seets. Agreements of honor were made out loud among the members to return to the seat you had....except it didn't exactly go that way...of course. One or two people were jocking other people's spots, which was pretty much all it took to start the domino effect. I was lucky enough to hang on to mine through everyone's good graces and politeness, but others weren't so lucky. Eventually, long story short, some of us members took to "policing" the situation ourselves and got some of it worked out. At one point a few cops and some ushers had to get involved. In all, it could've been a lot worse, but we all felt that if they were going to search us to do it when we first went in (duh). The "search" was a joke anyhow. I could've walked in with a machine gun if I wanted to and the poor 80 year old guy who was supposed to check all of us rabid, nervous fans never new what hit him. He really looked scared of us.

Oh well, in the end it was all ok, and the show was 2 1/2 - 3 of totally off the hook funk, building slowly, rising, fading, building up again, etc. The tempo was really good, but I've always thought that the piano medleys always go a little long. Anyhow: (If I can remember em all) In no particular order:

Rainbow Children
Muse 2 the Pharoah
Strange Relationship
Love Rollercoaster
When U Were Mine
Mellow
1+1+1 is 3
Family Name
Santana Medley
Free
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore
Starfish & Coffee
Raspberry Beret
Do Me Baby
Adore
Take Me With U
La La La Means I Love You
Anna Stesia
Sing A Simple Song (!)
Purple Rain (piano snippet)

And a few others I didn't recognize or forgot. Prince was very playful and funny, had a new haircut, looked great and played his guitar a LOT! He had club members dancing on stage and brought one girl up to sing 2 songs for her. What really struck me, having never spent much time near him, was his sense of humor more than anything.

2 words of advice: SEE THIS SHOW and if it's general admission and Prince asks if you've been searched, say YES!
Gotta go get some rest and do it all again tomorrow.

"If you came to get your Purple Rain on, you better hit the door!"
That was the theme for Prince's first show in Atlanta.
I missed the soundcheck, but I heard it was pretty good,making fun of Halle Berry and stuff. After the soundcheck they herded all the NPGMC folks out, then herded us all in. Thats when everybody who had a good seat for the soundcheck started bitching about somebody that was in their seat! Apparently nobody 'splained to them the concept of "general admission." It was funny to see people getting downright indignant because someone was in THEIR seat.
Anyway, the setlist is pretty much the same as the previous shows. The piano medley was different, I think. I loved this show for two reasons: a)mostly new material and b) fewer hits! He did do some older stuff, but NO HITS! It was great.
I just home so my mind is still kinda swiss cheezy. He called this one broad up on stage who had this outfit on.. OH LAWD. It looked like she ironed on every magazine picture she could find onto her clothes! Then he called this other one on stage and told her to sit down while he sat A Case Of U to her. THEN he calls this guy up there.. he didn't look like a Prince fan for nothing, but he was gettin his swerve on... and he did a split. Prince saw it and said, "do that again." He did. Prince says, "How many Heinekins you had? This is your brain on Beer!" It was hilarious.
The two best parts of the show, in my opinion, was the Santana Medley and Family Name. The man proves he's second TO NONE when it comes the guitar. It was funny, cuz Prince does 'Family Name' and Chas is the only one in the place jammin to it. Then Prince goes right into 'Take Me With U," and everybody else starts jammin. Am I the only one who likes anything offa the new album?
He popped a string during Take Me With U.
He did this one slow song about Abraham Lincoln called 'Avalanche." Now he's gonna say he don't buy nothin with five dollar bills or pennies cuz he don't like Lincoln.
The only encore was Anna Stesia. He did it well.
As for the merchandise, There were 3 t-shirts and 3 baby-tees. Musicwise, there was an autographed Rhonda Smith CD, A Rave 2000 VHS, and TRC CD. The Program was $30. I'll wait till its $4 on eBay. There was also a set of $80 ear wraps. "Please 2 Meet U Mr. Brokazhell, I'll be John Cheapskate just the same." There was also the obligatory guy in the parking lot selling the $10 bootleg shirts. Sad thing is, they looked just as good as the ones in the venue selling for $28!!!
The NPGMC folks stayed after he finished playing in hopes of hearing where the afterparty was, but they never said. I'm assuming they'll do it tomorrow night.
John Blackwell came out after the show and shook some hands. That man can pound them drums!
Well thats it for Nite One. Be back manana with Nite Two.
{has

Chas said:[quote. After the soundcheck they herded all the NPGMC folks out, then herded us all in. Thats when everybody who had a good seat for the soundcheck started bitching about somebody that was in their seat! Apparently nobody 'splained to them the concept of "general admission." It was funny to see people getting downright indignant because someone was in THEIR seat.

it sure sounds like you got a seat "upgrade" after coming back in or you`d be bitchin too:)

Thanx 4 the early reports from HOTlanta guys!!! I'm in Europe and it's nice 2 wake up with details ready 4 me It seems that the show was again a great experience, and the soundcheck had many magic moments huh?? It's a shame that some people had 2 give up on their good seats they had during soundcheck...
Looking forward 2 see it all myself, but when that will happen....hopefully soon!

Thanks so much for getting a report in so fast

bababooey said:

That's what I was thinking, too. I would like to hear from a few others about how this general admission seating worked out.

Didn't NPGMC say that the seats people got at soundcheck would be the seats they would have for the show?

What is the point of arriving at 3 p.m. to get in line for a good seat if you are going to lose your seat?

I'm about to go to bed now with the same thought on my mind tonight that's been there for the last several days...

Please confirm the Las Vegas show May 4th.

Please confirm the Las Vegas show May 4th.

Please confirm the Las Vegas show May 4th.

Thanks for the report!

Goodnight ya'll!

herbthe4 said:

The cops had to get involved?

bababooey said:

I didn't get an upgrade, I wasn't at the soundcheck at all. I got there late because of work. I paid my $125 like everybody else, I walked in after the soundcheck was over, I grabbed a seat, I sat in it for the show. End of Story.
Nowhere on any ticket stub or email did it say you were promised one particular seat. It said the first six rows were general admission. To me it was no different if there was no seats at all. First ones in stake their claim to a piece of real estate. Those who wanted assigned seats could have bought $85 seats and not joined the club. But there were people there calling the cops over and almost coming to blows over a seat thats 3 feet closer to the stage. Puh-leeze. Everyone was promised access to the soundcheck and a seat in the first six rows, not an assigned seat.
They herded people out after the sound check so that people like me, who don't have all day to sit outside a venue, could get a decent seat. And I did. It was an enjoyable night.

Thanx 4 the early report! What did you have to show for check-in? Did they you give laminates or anything to show you had a NPGMC seat?

.
[This message was edited Fri Apr 19 6:06:02 PDT 2002 by luvy]

Thank God 4 Muuuuusic, and thank u Prince 4 yours!


and thank u for the great report!




[This message was edited Thu Apr 4 5:52:17 PST 2002 by sosweetofspirit]

I would have been PISSED if I got there early to get a good seat, had to leave to be frisked & somebody was in MY (yes, MY) seat!!!

It's not the person's fault who took it IF they weren't at the soundcheck & didn't know, but DAMN they better get this shit right! Search me @ the door b/c once I choose MY seat, I'm STAYING... please???

Lastnight was the 1st gen admin seating. I'm sure all the bugs will work out. I'll be there tonight and will report tomorrow...

CalhounSq said:

I hear you! I'm thinking some of those folks probably arranged to take off work a few hours early and stood in line for hours. They "did the work" and deserved to get 1st or 2nd row.

The searches should have been done before the soundcheck so the people who waited the longest would be rewarded for the work they did to get the best seats.

"...I'm thinking some of those folks probably arranged to take off work a few hours early and stood in line for hours. They "did the work" and deserved to get 1st or 2nd row"...I took the whole week OFF! I plan on being early!

The people who were "bitching" were the one who made a point to arrive early enough 2 b "generally admitted" to the best seats, which is why I shook my ass down there at 3:00. It simply wasn't FAIR to herd us all back out and admit us again. I know what general admission means, thats why I got there early...

Great show.

NikkiDarling said:

A little. Nothing serious. Like I said, it could've been MUCH worse. The cool thing was, there were MANY people in the front center rows who managed to reclaim their spots who were really looking out 4 everyone else. It'd been just as easy 4 them to ignore it all since they had theirs.

Can you imagine the chaos in NY if they make people leave the seats after the soundcheck?

Many more tickets were sold in the NY presale than in Atlanta. Atlanta NPGMC members were dealing with the first 6 rows, while NY will have 15 rows to compete for.

Chas said:

no, i think somebody needs to explain to YOU the fuckin meaning of general admission... general admission is FIRST come first serve.... which means if i get there for that soundcheck and i get my seat, and you don't get there until a few hours later- that seat is still my seat because i was there FIRST... it would be like seeing someone walk out to the bathroom and you leap over 5 rows and jack their seat... that's disrespectful... i didn't stand there all day to have someone take my muthafuckin' seats...

some of these people were so greedy, that if someone had left something on the seats to hold it as theirs, people would move it... i left my sunglasses on my seat, and came back, and they had been moved several seats down... these greedy people must think they're slick or something... anyway... enough of that... the problem was that we should have been searched on our way in... well, that and greedy bastards that like to snatch seats...









greedy and blind... where i was standing, everyone was jamming to that song... i jammed harded to that song than any other song of the night... it was without doubt the highpoint of the evening...

herbthe4 said:[quote]



You know there will always be a few jokers who'll wreck shit. For every 2 people of honor, there will be 1 of dishonor.

i also have to give mad props to the people who moved out of other people's seats, once they realized what was going on... i have a lot of respect for them... even if they give us a lot of lip...

i also have a lot of respect for all of the people sitting around people who losts their seats who fought with them and backed them up... the situation could have been much worse than it was, but at one point, i did hear a police officer say something about kicking all of us out until he could figure out who was there first and what was going on....



ANYWAY, having seen lots of concerts in my time, i must say that this is the absolute best show i've ever seen... prince mixed it up like i couldn't believe...

the soundcheck was great... i've never seen him in such a great mood before... he was just joking around with all of us.... it was kinda like hanging out with him or something... the only thing i regret about the soundcheck was that pussied out of singing with him on "paisley park"... i just about jumped up when he asked for people, then i sat back down once i started thinking, "oh, shit, what if i croak or something"... i know the song inside and out, but i figured that once i realized that i was on-stage with prince, i would have lost it... so, i stayed put... the 6 people who went up there did a great job though...


also, it was a great surprise to walk in and just see the band jamming and wonder where prince was... then turn around and see him just sitting there staring at everyone a few rows back... that was pretty awesome... i couldn't even watch the band rehearse, because i knew he was back there... my fiance told me, "everytime i look back there i want to start screaming like a little girl"... i asked her not to...


the show was amazing... as good as "rainbow children" material sounds on cd, it sounds so much better live.... especially "family name"... that was by far the best moment of the night.... i have no complaints about anything he sang.... the second best moment of the night was "anna stesia" and then the piano set... that shit was hot...

the santana medley, "when u were mine", the WNPG radio thing... all great... oh, and "a case of u" live... even better than the download... hard to believe, but true...

and the band... this is probably the best version of the NPG i've ever seen... (still like tommy barbarella better than renato, but not by much)... and johnny b. well... oh hell... i left there thinking sheila what? michael who?

and ronda was lovely and funky as ever...

i also enjoyed meeting a lot of the other npgmc members... i was very impressed to see the wide array of people who are club members... like everyone looked so different and everything... i saw old, young, white, black (peurto rican, everybody just a-freakin')... sorry, couldn't help myself... anyway, it was a very diverse group of folks...

i don't know if i met any orgers or not... i think i met herb... i'm not sure about anyone else...

i was the guy in the rainbow childred t-shirt with the girl wearing the love4oneanother t-shirt... i have a lot of earrings and dyed hair (a mix of purple haze and vampire red) with one diagonal line shaved into the top... if i met anyone, let me know who you are...

all of the club members i met were very nice people (exception being those who liked to jock other people's seats)...

all in all, it kicked friggin ass... 8)

herbthe4 said:

You left out the part where he yelled at the little girl with the oxygen tank.

BanishedBrian said:

oh yeah, i almost forgot... one of the people who went up to sing "paisley park" had downs syndrome, so he yelled at the kid for not being able to enunciate the worlds properly and messing up the rhythm... then the kid tried to give him a cd where he had re-written the entire "lovesexy" cd, and all hell just broke loose...

BanishedBrian said:

I didn't hear about the incident with the little girl with the oxygen tank, but I did hear that Prince drop kicked some guy's seeing eye dog..

RE: General Admission

Taken DIRECTLY from the npgmc website:

All members can now buy concert passes 2 the tour directly from the MEMBER RETAIL section 2 days b4 the general public. Just buy the pass from r site and pick it up at Will Call the night of the show starting at 5pm. These concert passes will get u in2 the NPG Music Club Section at the concert which will cover the first 15 rows (or closer depending on presale volume) of the concert venue. All seats within this section will b GENERAL ADMISSION and u can get ur seat starting right at the soundcheck.

Read that last sentence twice, OK?

i hope he plays joy in repetition in kansas city

NikkiDarling said:

ROFLMAO. Yall are too much

I would have come to the show, but they would have had to wheel my oxygen tank in, and I was GOING to leave my re-edited Purple Rain video... I finished "the Beautiful Ones" for him - you know - after he ran out the place...

Man - I'm gonna drive to every hole in the city tonight looking for that aftershow party.

Where'd he do the aftershow party last Thanksgiving - wasn't it 112?

otan said:

Club 1150. They didn't have anything last night.