The year was 1998. The city on the West Coast was Los Angeles. Prince had a broken ankle, apparently was in pain, and cancelled the show as people were arriving at the venue.

The next night, he tried to perform in Concord, CA (here in the SF Bay Area), and it was an attenuated performance. At the show, he apologized for both the LA cancellation and the abbreviated performance in Concord.

Anyway, that's how I remember it.

As far as the main topic of this thread, I completely disagree with the gripes. Knowing that I could purchase my ticket at any time during the presale, show up at the venue at any time before the performance, and be assured no worse than 15th row - that's a HUGE improvement in my book.

There are as many opinions on how to distribute tickets to premium members, and they're all different. But even "Gary and Julia" must realize that there are only 2 "front row center seats" per show. Once you grasp that simple fact, well, it becomes a matter of opinion regarding the fairest way to distribute these 2 seats to a few hundred RABID fans. I think that rewarding those who stand in line the longest is fairer than a lottery or rewarding those with the fastest internet connection.

Prince never said we'd get discounted seats - not once. He did say we'd get the BEST seats, and he's trying to do that.

He is the musician and the seller. If you do not like it, do not buy his products. He doesn't "owe" you anything except what is part of the NPGMC agreement.

If you don't like how the NPGMC is being run, then simply do not rejoin.

COME ON THINK ABOUT IT PLEASE!!!

READ AND UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING


HE IS NOT SELLING OUT 3,000 SEAT SHOWS ANYMORE


WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS???

WE TIRED OF WHAT COMES ALONG WITH BEING A PRINCE FAN.
[This message was edited Sat Apr 13 14:51:27 PDT 2002 by LOUISVILLLEPRINCEFAN]

LOUISVILLLEPRINCEFAN said:

Just to show how impossible it is to follow your logic OR agree with you, I will remind you that BOTH you and your wife were given the opportunity to purchase two presale $150 tickets with a single $100 membership - total $400. So, even if you ignore the significant other membership benefits (does one need to list them AGAIN?!), then the new "cost" per ticket is $200.

Add in the soundcheck (how much would you pay if given the chance to be a part of it?), and the free aftershow (I'm told NYC was $40 per person), it's hard to see what on EARTH you are complaining about!

My word, just buy row 16 during the general ticket sale (if the scalpers and brokers don't beat you to it), pay Ticketmaster their "processing fee," and get back to feelin' good about your Prince concert experience!

Wow, I must have too much free time on my hands responding twice to this lame thread! Have these two people (Gary and Julie) really attended over 50 Prince performances and still be so completely ungrateful and unimaginative in assessing his efforts to give them a better concert experience? Damn!

My word, just buy row 16 during the general ticket sale (if the scalpers and brokers don't beat you to it), pay Ticketmaster their "processing fee," and get back to feelin' good about your Prince concert experience!

Wow, I must have too much free time on my hands responding twice to this lame thread! Have these two people (Gary and Julie) really attended over 50 Prince performances and still be so completely ungrateful and unimaginative in assessing his efforts to give them a better concert experience? Damn![/quote]

Its not the point of the money. Its the way it is handled! Prince is charging his fans a premium to enjoy the shows! This is wrong! We made him his millions and look at his attitude towards us. The people that have made my wife and myself who we are today are treated with respect. As I said before we will continue to go to the shows we just think it is wrong the way the true fans are treated!

Anyone ever think maybe Prince is trying to create a stampede for a seat?? I definitely agree everyone should be given an assigned seat. If we go through the hectic process of scrambling to make sure we got a presale ticket for sure, why then should the seat be given to possibly the last person to be issued a presale ticket, yet the one who chose to sleep over night outside the venue to make sure they're first in line for soundcheck?

On the other hand, maybe you're lucky. Although I purchased a seat from Ticketmaster, I called the venue before solidifying things to make sure it was a good seat. I was told, "yes it's in the 5th row & the 2nd seat in from the center aisle." Wrong. When I got there the seats were numbered 2,4,6 instead of 1,2,3 & I sat, yes in the 5th row, but behind a tall stack of speakers on the right side practically next to the wall which made it impossible to see Prince when he played on the piano or went anywhere close to stage right.....o.k. I'll quit whining, but I definitely see both points of view. Nevertheless I think it's definitely all about the hype.....as to the way true fans are sometimes treated - gotcha!

The old way of having passwords and getting preferred seats from Ticketmaster was cool in the smaller cities, but it wasn't the best way in the larger cities.

Last year on the Hit 'N Run tour I paid for preferred seats that were so far over to the left that it was obstructed view. I couldn't see Prince at all when he sat down at the piano.

Having NPG handle the member tickets is working out a lot better.

The password method had too many problems with scalpers getting the passwords and members sharing the passwords. Ticketmaster was too corrupt to handle the member tickets. Let them handle the public sales, but keep Ticketmaster away from the club member tickets.

The biggest problem with general admission is paying top price and you still have to line up and stake a claim for a seat.