I'm sure you're all like me....waiting (not so) patiently for some kind of tour announcement. I'm lucky enough to have seen Prince 7 times but it's been 10 years since I saw the man himself live in UK, it was the Gold Experience Tour, I know he's played since but I didn't get to see them. So the question I wanted to ask is what kind of venue would you want to see him play here in the UK. I've seen him in all the large indoor arenas in the UK as well as outdoors at Manchester Maine Road Stadium and in all honesty I didn't get anything from the outdoor show but have always been knocked out when indoors. I think some of the shows on the musicology tour were in smaller venues, something I don't think he's done over here or at least not much. Given that no-one in the UK can predict what demand would be like we could be looking at anywhere, where would you suggest he plays or where would you like to see him play?

Doctorfunk said:

I have seen him play at many sized venues in London, from the old Wembley Stadium, to the Hammersmith Apollo, to small clubs. I'd be surprised if he did anything bigger than Wembley Arena (my favourite place for him to play), but maybe he can only do the Apollo-type places now. The Apollo holds 2000. Maybe the Brixton Academy?

Remember, his comeback has only really been in the USA, unless you're a fan, in Europe he's been out of sight for the longest time. He won't be helping to open the new Wembley Stadium, that's for sure.

Max

Thanks for the reply, I have to say I'm with you on this. I'm sure some would argue it's not a comeback as he's never been away but in the UK I know many people thought he'd retired long ago. Unless you're an ardent fan like us on here then it's hard to see how much demand there would be for tickets. I think had dates been announced soon after the BRIT performance you could have seen an increase in demand but 12 months down the line I feel the opportunity has been missed. I doubt very much whether many people in UK would have watched the Superbowl for any reason other than the American Football game. Unless you were a keen Prince fan then you wouldn't have known in the UK that he was the Half Time show.
I'm no expert on venue numbers but gone are the days of Stadium gigs for Prince, and I doubt MEN, NEC or Wembley arenas would be the ideal either. However if the speculation on the 'Symbol' centre stage layout is to be believed it's difficult to see where can hold any shows. Unless one off dates are booked at these arenas to 'feel the market' I can't see it working. Personally I'd prefer to see 5 sell out dates at a smaller venue than see 2 nights at half full 'larger' arena.
As for opening Wembley Stadium...I can't argue with you. But they are talking about George Michael or Sting, for me personally if they were to play my back garden I'd shut the curtains...it's all about choice.

Igo2DaMax said:

I think Brixton Academy holds about 4,500. A string of dates there would definitely sell out. I can't see him selling out more than one night at Wembley Arena these days.

Nottingham Rock City - now that would be great to see Prince there!!! Too small though for it to happen. Boo
Carling Academy Birmingham or Custard Factory
My front room or bedroom !!! Anywhere really xx

i think you are all underestimating the demand to see a legendary artist like prince would be...if he had a wee bit of proper promotion and was playing the hits...i think he would still sell out wembley arena for 3 0r 4 nights ,any arena holding around 10 thousand would sell out in the big cities...remember it has been a long time since he has done a proper tour in the uk....secc in glasgow would be a sell out and that holds around 8000 ....
...
...remember he once sold out wembley arena 16 nights in a row???....i think it was the nude tour back in the early 90s....

his last two albums both sold just short of 100,000 copies each in the uk so he still as a resonable fan base here and then you would get all the 80s fans coming to see him ...
[Edited 3/15/07 11:45am]

I liked seeing him on his one nite alone tour because the venue was so intimate, I felt like I could nearly touch him. But then again the stadium concerts have such an huge vibe.
Maybe he should try both just to keep me happy!