this is all according to a person (and other staffs) that works at 3121.

as much as they respect prince and his demands, they're starting to get fed up with him. before 3121, these staffs were working regularly. now, with these last minute cancellations, they have no income. it was speciallly hard for them the weeks before christmas when there were no shows at all.

personally, i dont know if prince and his entourage realizes this issue, or if they even care. i understand it's his "house" (at the moment) and he has every right to go in our out of his house, but if you're going to invite visitors in to your house and expect your staffs to serve your guests, i think a little consideration and respect would be nice.

sounds fishy to me. wouldn't considerations like this be ironed out in the early planning phases when they're making their agreements for prince's tenure?

Anx said:

For wait staff?

lovemachine said:

for staff of the hotel and its nightclub, sure. wouldn't that make sense?

Anx said:

I can't imagine Prince would work out a system to give bartenders the tip money they would have made if he decided not to show up.

Are we all really that surprised? This topic was brought up many times before he even started in Vegas. How many orgers knew he wasn't going to last long, he'd be tired with it soon, he doesn't like to be tied up to something...?

I feel so bad for fans who bought tickets, plane tickets, hotel reservations... and for those who really wanted to see him perform.

lovemachine said:

Exactly. The bartenders and waitstaff live on those tips. He took a lotta money out of their pockets.

malbena said:

for your info: he seemed to be very, very happy last weekend in both the regular- and aftershows..... Especially during the aftershows. This man is all about the music, he's just not so good at business. Also, I think his (or the Rio's) deal with Ticketmaster isn't going very well, he's probably too exquisite for it. But from a musician's perspective he must be very happy! And it showed, not tired at all!
After 23 years of being a fan he exceeded all my expectations.....he's the best performer out there, we'll just have to deal with his obscurity at times! He's no Celine Dion, ya know.....

Genesia said:

This is true, and still I must say that the bar-staff was very friendly and motivated! One of the guys prepared my drink the second night last weekend before I could order it.....but that probably has a different reason.....

lovemachine said:

but isn't the hotel in some way involed for these employees' livelihood as well?i see the point that's being made here, but certainly the rio has more of a responsibility to its employees than prince does. i'm not saying at all that prince would work out any system for the staff, but i'd think the hotel would have some kind of contingency plan in place, especially if they knew anything about how flakey prince can be.

Anx said:

not really, because if prince is leasing the place, he has total (or more) control of the venue. so when club rio became 3121, prince and his people decides who to keep and who to let go, how the club should look, how the club should smell, how to club's temparature must not reach over 75F. and therefore, whoever stays, works for prince, moreso than rio.

I bet they all signed something that stated there was no guarantee that Prince would perform just like the fact there was no set time he would take the stage. When the club was dark over the holidays I ate at the Jazz Cuisine and it was totally dead for a Saturday night. The entire staff was standing around with nothing to do. It was odd. Great food but still wierd. It will all be over soon though.

pkidwell said:

as always it goes back to lack of promotion. there are many ways to get the word out about a new restuarant and discounts, vouchersand/or prizes to offer to entice folks to come. oh well.....

Prince is a Private person...That's all good and well, but what is NOT good is the simple fact he has NO regard for ANYONE else! I'm not at all surprised by this since rumors are flying that he kicked everyone out of his house (P.P.) in MN....again! He could care less that it affects people and their families. He is crappy to his fans too. Shameful, it really is!

Seems like Vegas isn't the big deal he wanted it to be, but the reason it isn't is soley because of HIM. Not promoting his owm "Club" is like him not promoting his albums. It's like he just thinks that by some miracle.....or telepathy...people will know when he will or will not be there...and when he's there - HE THINKS they should be there! This is how it's always been and will most likely always be.

Just saw on the TV...I think it was E-Entertanment and Soup all the talk of the "Celebs" in Vegas over New Years! The talked about Britney, Kid Rock, Pam Anderson, Tommy and his 4 band gig on Freemont Street (which looked Cool, by the way), but I didn't hear them murmer the word...PRINCE!

I didn't give Vegas a chance in Hell when he went out there and I agree that it won't last very much longer. I think LA was more his "thing"...he could do WHAT he wanted WHEN he wanted and with WHOMEVER he wanted. I see him going back. Not trying to be a being a downer, just truthful.

If u go to Vegas and actually make it to a show I hope it's a good time!
[Edited 1/6/07 17:16pm]

well he is under contract so he's there till March. After that, of course he is gone.....TOUR TOUR TOUR

so what
tell em get a real fing job

so who employs the staff Prince or the Hotel? how the hell can you live off tips?

TimeHasBegun said:

You know, I was thinking the same thing! It was like he wasn't even there! Would have thought that the FIRST act they mentioned would have been Prince. And with that humongous Symbol logo on the side of the Rio hotel, who could not miss the fact that Prince is in Vegas? Very strange indeed...

oldpurple said:

it is hard to say who employs them. we do know that Prince leased the club space. however, that lease could have included club employees which means they are employed by the rio, or it could not have included the club employees which means they are employed by Prince.

as far as living off tips...it ain't easy! Most places pay you a bit over $2 an hour (that is all they have to pay "servers" by law). On top of that, the establishment figures up your sales for the day (or night) and they withhold taxes on your measly paycheck based on 10% of your gross sales. For example, if my ticket totals for the night were $300, I have to pay income tax, FICA, etc. on 10% of $300, so the employer just keeps that amount of your $2 an hour paycheck..meaning you virtually don't get a paycheck...so yes, you live off tips.

People, please remember this the next time you dine out or go to a club/bar! This is how your waitstaff gets paid, they only get about $20-$30 a week on their paycheck from their employer!! The tipping standard is 20% for good/excellent service, 15% for anythis less than good/excellent. Under no circumstances should it be less than 15% (unless your waitstaff just completely ignored you the entire night and never served you anything beyond like getting one round of drinks or the like).

txladykat said:

oh! If everyone felt this way, what a wonderful world it would b! Thanks Ladykat

txladykat said:

so the minimun hourly wage is? in the uk its around £5.00 per hour I think

oldpurple said:

minimum wage for say a worker at mcdonalds is $5.15 an hour...it is different for people who receive tips. People who receive tips are not entitled to the "minimum wage" that others are entitled too. Years ago, server's minimum wage was $2.13 an hour...and I am pretty sure it hasn't changed. I understand that some countries don't do it the way they do in the states. That is why there is always confusion. When people that come from countries that don't tip, they don't realize they are supposed to tip waitstaff in the US, as that is how they make their money.

I actually once had a conversation with a club member that said he didn't care what they got paid hourly, he refused to leave a tip (he was from a country that doesn't tip waitstaff). I don't think he was grasphing ahold of the concept that tips are the bread and butter for those in the food/beverage service industry.

txladykat said:

thats not fair or equal some one should take whoevers came up with that ideal to court surely they would win under equality laws?

before the venue became 3121, prince walked around and fired the erocktica staffs after the show.

he then fired the club rio gogo dancers, due to religious beliefs from what i heard, that same night they were dancing.

he kept the employees like bartenders and waitstaffs he thinks would best fit in his new club.

the staffs only work when 3121 is open.

as of late, from a reliable source, the wait staffs, under union, filed a complaint and will now be rewarded $5000 for those days that they didnt work.

they will split those amongst them.

onedayall7willdie said:

no way

Before the venue became 3121, I walked around and fired everyone.

Anyone can say anything...

.
[Edited 4/18/07 22:39pm]

Prince himself does employ all of the bartenders and waitstaff.
my husband works for him.
also, prince pays those bartenders $15 dollars an hour plus tips.
when he only has to pay them $5.
he has been very generous with them when he cancels a show also, and yes they have meetings weekly where prince does the speaking to the staff.
and yes he did fire the go gos.
among other things:)

This is the part of Prince that we dont get to hear about good on him.

oldpurple said:

exactly. notice how it got suddenly quiet in here. we went from employees receiving no income to $15 per hour.

whichever is true, i hope the employees are alright.