Only Prince can legally scalp tickets to his own concerts for General Admission and receive excessive money for those tickets. Until recently, we (NPG Club Members) could at least log onto a ticket pre-sale, providing we could figure out how Ticketmaster had actually spelled the password, and be guaranteed a seat with our name on it. Then Prince decides he is going to improve seating for us and takes the sales away from Ticketmaster, only to charge us more for the show than before and not guarantee any of us a seat, creating a possible stampede for a seat, and then don't leave cuz you'll lose the seat you paid $150.00 for. All this can be yours because you offered up your $100.00 a year just to get this special treatment. Am I missing something here? How is what Prince is doig to all of us now any different or better than the average street scalper? The $150.00 ticket turns into $250.00 ticket, plus a day off from work to stand in line in possible increment weather, and who knows what that ticket is going to get you once you have it. Once you have achieved all this, you could be in for a real surprise given Prince's notorious moodiness. Might be a great show that starts on time and never leaves you doubting your decision to go through all this, or it may not start on time and leave you wondering what the heck you were thinking. Are we at church, a concert, a party, what? Are we supposed to part like the Red Sea, because sometimes you just can't tell whether he is saying love one another, or love each other separately. I've gotten the message loud and clear now after over 20 years of following this man and his many messages. I am not a fanatic, my wife and myself just truly appreciate his incredible musical talent. It is the only release we often have from our otherwise overbearing and hectic lives. Going to a Prince show is an incredible pick-me-up for both of us. It often reminds us that it's okay to let loose from time to time. So why are we being treated over and over like we are so unimportant when it comes to his shows? Why do we have to pay higher prices for less? And why, even though we realize this is what we are doing, do we continue to do this year after year? Is it because Prince really views us all as fools as we continue to follow his oftentimes ridiculous rules? And still, whatever it takes to get a seat, many of us will continue to be treated no better than common cattle, just so we can say we were there. I'll continue to go to shows but dammit, don't make me pay scalper prices to Prince, himself!

is a scalper/ticketmaster gonna get you into the soundcheck and possible aftershow?and no way am i gonna stand in line all day to be in the first few rows(i`ll leave that to the "superfans",row 15 is fine with me,well worth the cash i think.i`ve had shitty seats to more than one show,prince or otherwise,and i would have paid $125 to be a lot closer EVERY time.

prince doesn't charge extra for presale tickets. they are the exact same price you will find on ticketmaster.com for rows 16 and on. since when did a $125 ticket turn into $250?

just talkin' loud.....

The $150 ticket turned into $250 due to the right to purchase these tickets costing us $100 to join NPGMC 1st.

Oh you big baby...GET OVER IT!! Did someone twist your arm? This is America and therefore you have a choice. So...
quityourbitchin!!

Yes this is America and we have rules and regulations! Get real and face the facts Prince in charging us extra for good seats by making us join his club to enjoy the first 16 rows. Prince makes his rules and regulations we pay $'s and then we follow them for some odd reason. This is legalized scallping.

The $100 is not just for concert seats, it's for unreleased music, after shows, etc... You don't have to join. Just go to the concert miss the sound check, and sit in the back.

Don't judge something until you either go to the show or talk to someone who went. From what I've heard the general seating has worked very well.

I have been to 52 shows since 1984. I have been to sound checks. I have met the guy, talked to guy and hung out in many city's with the guy. Prince has changed in many ways over the past 18 months. Look back before the whole NPGMC thing and you will realize what I am talking about. We were supppose to get new music at the music club. There is only 1 download available there. WOW $100 for 1 download.

tntsteele said:

And what about the peeps who paid their $100 and got seats in the balcony, had their soundcheck cancelled, and got no aftershow?

What did we get for our $100?

LOUISVILLLEPRINCEFAN said:

O, so your problem is that now normal fans get into sound checks and get good seats? The club clearly said that there would be no downloads so the 1 is a bonus. We will be receiving at least 4 cds.

ChickenLittle if that happened to you that sucks and you have legitimate gripe. How did that happen? Don't you like the new arrangement better?

Normal Fans?????

What is Normal???

I am a Fan! normal or otherwise. I have met alot of great people at the soundchecks as of late.

Make no mistake I wish all fans could go to the sound checks
I just don't think that you should have to pay for it and have it disguised as a music club.

what i want to know is what in the fuuu-- is increment weather?? LOL!! and how can you stand in it?? yeah prince is a jerk for making you stand in something that doesnt exist!!toooo funny!!!! tooooo funnny!!

You are right inclement

but at least I can admit to a mistake.

ask Prince if he can

tntsteele said:

On March 3, 2002, I was in Chicago for the One Nite Alone show. I had traveled 90 miles and spent $150 a night on a hotel room. Prince cancelled the soundcheck with no explanation and he didn't give us an aftershow.

I paid $100 for a club membership, $125 a ticket for seats in row 14 off to the side, got no soundcheck, and no aftershow.

I'm sick of this shit. I have been at Prince concerts and gotten seats in the back of the venues. I have done the work and paid my dues, waited in lines outside of clubs in the cold and snow. And STILL it is NEVER MY TURN. I'm FED UP with this bullshit.

PRINCE = PUNK OF THE MILLENIUM

You crybabies make me laugh....get a damn life. Join the club or not. Go to the show our not. But don't cry because of the rules..you big sissys.....

we need to listen although it was a great show he has some good points jehovahs witnesses can be critical sometimes I was a bit confused at the newyork show when q-tip let the word ass slip out and i feel that prince put him on the spot in front ofhundreds of people, I feel the mentality is i'll perform for u banished ones hpoe u get on my wagon if not i want nothing 2 do with u reguardless of how much u spend.

i havent been to a recent concert, HE WONT COME TO CHARLOTTE!!!!! but that is another story. those that have enjoyed the seating arrangements. by making it general admission it does cut down on scalping and that is what the majority of members wanted. prince is doing what other artist of his caliber are afraid to. The celebration, soundchecks, aftershows, cd's, downloads, album previews i mean come on!!! what more do you want?? some people would not be satisfied unless prince greets every concert goer with a handjob!! the general admission is a great idea.



beware little teefus and chicken bit

LOUISVILLLEPRINCEFAN said:

Jesus Christ, quit your whining. You pay $100 for four new albums, nothing more, nothing less. You get the perk of being able to get priority seating to his shows and access to the soundchecks. The tickets don't cost any more for club members, IN FACT... you save over ten dollars because you don't get changed the Ticketmaster service fee. You get FREE access to the soundcheck.

You will get your 4 CDs in the mail soon enough... so relax and lighten up. Nobody forced you to join... you can always buy tickets along with the rest of the public. Trust me, there are no bad seats when you are at 2,000 seat theatre, and you can get great balcony seats for $75 (and frankly, a lot of those seats are better than the orchestra seats that NPGMC members get anyways!).

Go to a Celine Dion, Madonna or Janet Jackson show at a 18,000 seat arena and then tell me that Prince is overpriced.

LOUISVILLLEPRINCEFAN said:

I meant, normal fans didn't get into sound checks before this, and we appreciate it. How did you pull it off?

I've been a member of the club from the start, and I did not join to get concert seats. The concert seats are just a perk. I was pretty surprised with the sound check thing.

ChickenLittle you really didn't answer my question. Do you like the way Prince has tried to remedy the problems, by taking ticketmaster out of the equation? They always stated that sound checks and after shows could be canceled. I know it sucks but that's the way it is.

tntsteele said:

I haven't had to deal with the remedy because I'm not in the mood to do any more traveling to see Prince. But I do think that spending $125 and $150 and then standing in line for a general admission seat is putting stress on people.

Sure, they can pay their $150 and line up later, but if they do, they run the risk getting a seat on a far wall behind a stack of speakers.

How did I pull it off? I was just a true fan. As I stated before I have been to 52 shows. I met Mike Scott about six years go ( the old lead for Prince ). He was kool and down to earth. The whole band was. My wife and myself were invited to many shows by Mike and everybody was just so kool. Since this NPGMC thing it all went down hill. We are still invited but it is truly different. Rhonda seems to be the same always kool calm and collected. The rest of the band is great too. Just Prince he is trying to shed that mysterious aura about him but he is doing it in biblical manner. It doesn't work we want Prince not a preacher.

I agree...The added benefit of "seated" pre-sale tickets was worth $100.00 per year. I always got somewhere in the first four rows. I doubt if I'll renew my membership next year or attend anymore concerts this year. There is no way I'm going to arrive at a venue for hours before a concert start time to stand in line just to fight for a seat.

I'm glad Prince tried to make the situation better, however, I hope he's going to rethink this descision or at the very least drop the ticket prices. In essence, this new plan is just "preferred" General Admission.

Don't even bother getting your flame-throwers out. I'm not debating, I'm just giving my humble opinion...

BanishedBrian said:

You are incorrect, Brian, the Club was sold based on the new music AND the concert perks AND the members only Retail section (which, by the way, is filled with crap).
[This message was edited Fri Apr 12 12:31:21 PDT 2002 by welcum2thedawn]

LOUISVILLLEPRINCEFAN said:

And "Silicon" ain't much of a song either. It's got some cool vocal effects but really isn't much of a song.

Did somebody say we all lived in a perfect world?
"Good Gawd"

LOUISVILLLEPRINCEFAN said:

What do you mean, "excessive money"? This is a capitalist society--a fair price is whatever the market will bear.

welcum2thedawn said:

Well, lol, I agree the Retail section is filled with crap, but I certainly did not join for that.

It is true that the soundchecks and seating preference were sale points, but I really don't see how he hasn't come through on those?

If you're a member, you get access to the soundcheck, period.

If you don't want to wait in line before the show, you can show up at 8:00pm sharp and be guaranteed better seating than any of the 1,500 or so people who bought tickets through Ticketmaster. What is so bad with only being "guaranteed" 15th row? Before this tour, that's closer than I ever got in the past having to compete with all the other Prince maniacs in DC pulling all-nighters at Ticketmaster. In 1997, a show at Constitution Hall sold out in 30 minutes--I had to scalp tickets. Later that summmer for the JOTY tour, I got to US Air at 7am to buy tickets and wound up in the upper deck of an 18,000 seat arena! I'll gladly take the current system... and after hearing U're Gonna See Me and Xenophobia, I'm excited about the four albums.

LOUISVILLLEPRINCEFAN said:

Stay on the subject. Prince being a preacher has nothing to do with him being a scalper.

Being friends with Mike Scott does not make you a true fan and is definitely out of the norm. What do you have against Prince inviting all of us to the sound checks?

DSMR wrote in the "obsession" thread:

"Here's the clincher that really did it for me that I thought was just WRONG- He started playing Anna Stesia and said it was a song we needed to hear during the turbulent times. I totally agreed and I love the song. About half way through Prince tells all the club members to raise their hands. He says to "put our hands out" and says that from no on all the good seats will be given to club members only and told everyone if they wanted good seats they had to join the club. This really pissed me off. During such an emotional and spriritual song Prince is trying to make money and using us. I felt like he was Pat Robertson on the 700 club. "Dig deep into your pockets and give me your money!" The NPG club web site was also on the screen. Very tacky.

I must say, that although we LOVED the Lakeland show, that part was kinda a kick in the stomach. IMMEDIATELY, after he talked about preachers just having their hands out wanting your money, then he said all of that. I didn't comment about it until now, but, yes, it did bother me. And I have NOT joined NPGMC ... yet.
[This message was edited Fri Apr 12 13:09:36 PDT 2002 by AmyThyst]

BanishedBrian said:

BZZZZZT! Wrong answer!

Chicago's soundcheck was cancelled. I think Saginaw didn't get one either.