Prince has fallen into a bad habit of going all out in a select few cities and half stepping in others.

If Prince wants this club to work, someone at Paisley had better start keeping track of what cities are getting the soundchecks and aftershows on this tour and which ones are not. The next time around, the ones who got shafted should get their "special treatment." Don't keep giving the special treatment to the same couple of cities.

Club members who are not getting any perks are going to decline to renew their memberships if he keeps giving everything to the same 3-4 geographic areas.

I agree. It was a night and day difference between the show in D.C. and the show in New York. Prince certainly put on a great show in D.C., but the NYC show was far and away the better performance, and combine that with the soundcheck and a kick ass aftershow, well, u see my point. However, D.C. did get 3 shows and we only got one, so I guess it kind of evens out. Regardless, Rave, I think u have a good point.

I was just looking at the schedule posted on prince.org:

Kansas City -- April 12
Houston -- April 14
New Orleans -- April 15
Dallas -- April 16
Los Angeles -- April 19
Los Angeles -- April 20

My prediction is that the schedule was done this way so that Prince can do his "hit it and quit it thing" (no aftershows) in Kansas, Houston, New Orleans, and Dallas.

He left 2 days off between Dallas and LA to give him time to rest up for the LA shows. LA, like NY, might have celebs in the audience. That means LA will probably be getting the royal treatment, nice soundchecks, energetic shows, special aftershows are on tap for LA.

As good as NYC was, I envy my hometown of Buffalo for getting the chance to hear Dolphin.

If this club is going to work, Prince should make an effort to give a little perk to the fams in each city who joined his club.

I don't have any idea what you are talking about. Prince played three shows in DC... why? Well, having lived in MPLS for 20+ years and DC for 6 years, I can give you an answer... DC just has more hyped audiences! When he played Joy and SISIA, there were people who were crying... it was moving actually. No offense to my fellow folks from MN, but DC deserves to be getting this type of treatment on the regular.

Atlanta... same thing. Atlanta always gives mad love for Prince. NY... only got one show but also got a great aftershow.

So each of these cities got the treatment that they should--and folks on the East Coast could travel to his stops, so nobody got left out. As far as smaller cities that don't have as big a fan base, why should Prince go there as often? Prince pretty much played every city you can think of during the JOTY tour... so I really don't see which city is getting shafted?

Care to elaborate with examples?

Batdance, I hope U are right about LA getting the special treatment...That's exactly why I'm flying in 4 both shows...Like it or leave it, the aftershow is just gravy...No one should expect it or demand it, that's what makes them special when he does perform them nowadays...I mean damn, do U really think that he could put on an aftershow every night...And it's not just him working, it's his whole crew...As far as NY getting such a great night, maybe that was his gift to them after all that they've been through...Let them have there good times, Lord knows they've earned it in the last 6 months...

Well, I don't live in Chicago, but I know that it has a large and loyal Prince fanbase. There is a group of Prince fans there called The Chicago Nation. Chicago is a large city with a good size Prince fanbase and they should have received some kind of perks and apparently they didn't.

Personally speaking, in the last 4 years I have seen Prince live 6 times, and he did not perform an aftershow after any of the shows.

I had posted on another thread that my theory about why Prince performed 8 hours of music in NYC is because he was working overtime to impress his celebrity guests, especially Alicia Keys. He has not given any other city on this tour that much music in one night.

"He has not given any other city on this tour that much music in one night.[/quote]

Buffalo came pretty damn close! We didn't get all the guests but the aftershow was damn near 2 hours. We had Maceo and Larry too. You can't expect major guests to travel to smaller cities either. DC got Santana...so their is some uniqueness to different dates.

Y'all expect waaay too much from Prince. He's already gone out of his way with the soundcheck.

I think the point being made is that alot of extras are going to a few cities, while others get few or none.

I agree with the idea that Paisley Park should start keeping a record of where the aftershows are being performed so that the perks don't go to the same places all the time.

Why should someone in Saginaw, or Louisville, or Grand Rapids, or Cleveland, or Milwaukee keep paying Prince $100 if all of the perks are going to go to Atlanta, NYC, and LA?

the ticket price is the same for members and non-members. if he didn't have an NPGMC at all you would still be paying the same amount.

Batdance said:

Does this mean that Prince will play for 10 hours if Halle Berry comes to the LA show .

Better break out some extra B12 for ole boy

The trade off is that the smaller cities have fewer NPGMC members which means you don't have as long lines as we did in New York, and you will have a much more intimate experience with Prince during the soundcheck.

There were well over 400 people in the New York soundcheck, which meant he pretty much spoke from the mic and performed. But we didn't have any of the interactive conversations, no questions & answers, that the smaller cities were able to have.

NuPwrSoul said:

From the reports I have been reading, I would rather have more music than talking at the soundchecks. Some of the soundchecks are being taken up by too much discussion on topics that may not be of interest to everyone. Anytime that happens it means a couple of people are monopolizing the conversation by having one-on-one tete a tetes, debates and attempts at "deep conversation" with Prince and calling attention to themselves.

In my opinion, the best soundchecks are the ones where Prince responds to a few questions from various people and does not focus in one person. He rehearses the band, invites NPGMC members to the stage to sing background or play instruments even if its just banging a tamborine or ringing a bell.

I think the reality of getting an aftershow is based on the avaiability of another venue, etc. Atlanta was lucky that eleven50 was only two blocks away from the concert hall. The other thing that no one mentioned, was that when we got to eleven50, there was a seperate company there, hired by Paisley Park, to set up the sound system. They even had rented another drum set for John Blackwell, so that they didn't have to take the time to disasemble his, then move it. Najee and Greg Boyer walked in carrying their instruments. The only thing the NPG Crew brought in where the guitars, and maybe one of Renato's keyboards. Just my $0.02...

I have seen Prince shows 6 times in 3 different Midwestern states in the last 4 years. There was no aftershow for any of the shows.

My hometown is about the same size as Indianapolis or Cinncinati, and Prince won't perform aftershows here, even though this is a good market for him and thousands of people have bought tickets to his shows.

I have traveled to other Midwestern states to see Prince, and again, there were no aftershows after the shows I went to.

I don't think it had to do with availability of a venue. In 2 of the 6 times, there were afterparties announced in nice big club venues where stages where clearly available. Prince stayed in the VIP areas of these huge clubs which were designed for live performances and dancing and just did his "walk through."

I just did a quick Google search. If I read the archives correctly, Prince has performed shows AND aftershows in Atlanta FIVE (5) times in 5 years.

He gives an aftershow EACH and EVERY time he performs in Atlanta.

Aug. 1997
Jan. 1998
Nov. 2000
April 2001
April 2002

Atlanta has gotten MORE than its share. It's WAAAAAY past time to start giving some attention and perks to other places.

RavedIn2 said:

RavedIn2, I am not trying to rub this in, but don't forget about the autograph session he did at Turtle's with a three song concert (at a record store!) plus the three hour concert he did in the lobby of the Hotel Nikko just because the whole city was snowed in back in 1993!!!!!

Atlanta loves Prince, and he knows it!

AtlantaHatGuy said:

Well, other cities have been good to Prince and put a lot of money in his pocket.

As I said, Atlanta has received MORE than their share. It's time for Prince to show some love back to the other cities who have been good to him.

Batdance said:

No offense, but people in these cities should be happy that Prince plays there at all. Of course Prince should play every year in NY, DC, Atlanta, LA, etc. There are WAY more members in these cities. In DC, he played 3 shows, and the best seats I got for any show despite logging in at 10am to Ticketmaster was 7th row in the corner! I got there an hour early for the soundcheck and there were hundreds of people already there.

Think that happens in Saginaw, Cleveland, etc.? If you're in a small city, you're much more likely to get to talk to him at an intimate soundcheck, jump up on stage and play your guitar, etc.

Prince should keep on doing exactly what he's doing, and that is playing his concerts where it will reward the most members.

Batdance said:

Well, since 1997, Prince has played 8 times in DC, and during that period, he has played one 20 minute aftershow that was not worth the hassle involved.

He's played long aftershows in Denver and many other smaller cities during that time, so I still don't see the point.

As far as Atlanta, heck, they deserve it!

BanishedBrian said:

What has Atlanta done to deserve 5 shows and aftershows in 5 years? They haven't done any more for Prince than any other city.

Atlanta should be removed from the Prince tour list for the next 2 or maybe 3 even years while he spends that time giving shows and aftershows in places where he has been neglecting his fanbase.

Batdance said:

Prince goes where the fans turn out consistently and are funkiest at his shows. Sorry if it hurts, but that is the truth.

BanishedBrian said:

Nope. I disagree. Giving perks to the same places year after year will do nothing to increase his fanbase. By spreading the perks around, it gives additional people an incentive to join.

Playing aftershows in Atlanta and the West Coast every year is not going to encourage someone in Ohio or Wisconsin to join his club.

Batdance said:

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree on that point. In DC, there were a lot of people expressing interest in the club... my guess is that he got more new members per show in DC than any concert in Milwaukee is going to get.

By the way, people in Milwaukee got to see one of the premiere's for the NPG Dance Company and did not turn out at all. NY, DC or Atlanta would have turned out.

During the JOTY tour, DC, Atlanta and NY all had instant sell-outs, whereas a lot of smaller Midwestern cities had thousands of empty seats. So obviously there is not enough demand in these places for him to go there as often, and Prince doesn't forget the loyalty some cities have shown.

BanishedBrian said:

I don't think it's possible to predict who would have turned out for Mayte's dance company show.

However, I know for certain that Prince played Summerfest in 2001 and 20,000 tickets were sold. That is a show of support that should not be ignored. A city that does that for Prince at this stage of his career deserves to receive some perks, which he has not been giving to them. Have DC, Atlanta, NYC, and LA turned out an audience of 20,000 for Prince lately?

Atlanta, LA, DC, etc. have all gotten their perks. People in those cities have gotten their chance to jam on stage with Prince, sing backup with Prince, dance on stage with Prince, received a guitar pick or hat etc.

It's time for people in other areas who have supported him to get their "special moments," too.

Batdance said:

Fair point, but it still was a disappointing turnout.

Batdance said:

Well, I know during JOTY, DC sold out US Air Arena (I think it was 19,000+), NY sold out Jones Beach, etc. I can't remember exact totals, but I would vouch for the fact that there are simply more Prince fans in these cities. Not to get into a racial debate, but this has a lot to do with the fact that these cities are more diverse than a lot of Midwestern cities.

Batdance said:

This is simply not true. The soundcheck in DC was so crowded that nobody except Divinity really got to talk to him for more than 2 seconds. Nobody got to go on state, etc. I would have much rather been at the Indianapolis or Buffalo soundchecks where this was possible. NPGMC members in these cities got much better seats that members in DC. I got to the soundcheck at 4:00 and sat in the 10th row. What's so "special" about that? DC has gotten one lame 20 minute aftershow in the last ten years in which we had to wait outside for two hours.

Trust me, you haven't missed much. Nobody has gotten "left out" as you say.

BanishedBrian said:

The aftershow situation needs attention. There is no reason at all to give Atlanta 5 aftershows in 5 years while other cites he plays NEVER get an aftershow of any kind.

His decision to give 8 hours of music to NYC just made it all the more glaring that he gives so much to a handful of cities and so little to others that show him the same or more support.

The soundchecks could be handled differently. The emphasis should be on music, not on talking. It should be a working session where the NPGMC members can observe the rehearsal.

Cut out the discussions, debates on religion, copyright laws, etc. Nobody wants the soundcheck time wasted by Joe Slowmo droning on and people trying to audition for Prince.

RavedIn2 said:

Are sure about these dates? I'm not sure that those dates can be right...

He played in Atlanta in Jan. 1997--no aftershow.

August 1997 was the JOTY tour, but I don't recall him coming back that direction in Jan. 1998 (I could be wrong... but I think he ended up in Oakland around that time...it's been a while). His next stop in ATL should have been the fall '98 shows, right?

Nov. 2000 & April 2001? He played there twice during the Hit N' Run? Heck, I'm not from ATL, so someone who knows please speak up.

Even if these dates were right... are you sure he played separate concerts and aftershows on each occassion?

That's right--he played Hit n' Run twice--actually three times, (because he played 2 dates in April 2001.) He played an aftershow in Nov. 2000 at the same place he had his aftershow last week, but I am not so sure about in April. I know he had an afterPARTY, where he just went to the VIP section at this club downtown, but he didn't perform.