http://www.dailymail.co.u...ge_id=1773


Prince £31-a-ticket shows sell out in minutes
By ALEXA BARACAIA and ANDRE PAINE -

More than 140,000 tickets for Prince’s London concerts this summer sold out within 20 minutes, causing the internet booking site to crash.

Organisers immediately added a further six concerts at the O2 Arena - the former Millennium Dome - and these were also expected to sell fast.


Within an hour some fans were selling £31.21 tickets - capped by Prince in a ground-breaking move to make them affordable to everyone - on eBay at five times the asking price.


A tour insider said: “It sold out even quicker than we could have anticipated. Prince is in London meeting his promoters to discuss what dates could be organised next.”


In all, he will play 21 dates in London.


An audience of 1,500 lucky fans were able to see the US star at an extraordinary secret two-hour performance at Koko.

Little Britain star David Walliams, singers Mika and Will Young and DJ Chris Moyles were among the audience.

At 48, Prince remains untouchable as a musician and performer.

But this was also a reminder that while he was happy to walk among the people, he is evidently not of the people.

As such, his zealous bouncers ensured he was never actually touched by the crowd.

His late arrival - around 11.45pm - was to be expected.

That came after his - admittedly brilliant - band had launched into a funk workout that included a tedious trombone solo in the first song.

When he strolled on stage in a furry white hat and started yelping and sliding around during Satisfied, the audience reaction was noisily ecstatic.


But the mercurial singer decided to tease us, leaving the stage to his band again, before returning to say mockingly: "So many hits, so little time!"

After that, it should have been easy. But rather than the hits he teased us with, there was material from last year's merely adequate 3121 album, and plenty of playful showing off.

It was often incredible to watch, especially when Kiss got a welcome airing.

But a bizarre incident halfway through nearly scuppered the evening. Several fans were pulled on stage to dance and, amid a party atmosphere, one girl gave him a peck on the cheek.

Apparently joking, Prince fell to the floor, but a bouncer appeared and removed the fan from the stage.

Prince disappeared and then returned with his head wrapped in a towel, muttering darkly about being kissed by a stranger.

Suddenly, the atmosphere sagged noticeably. That made his recovery all the more remarkable with a simply awesome 40-minute finale.

There were great covers performed with vocalist Shelby J, including Gnarls Barkley's Crazy and Amy Winehouse's Love Is A Losing Game. ("Respect to Amy," said Prince.)

Then we got hits, including U Got the Look, followed by encores of Nothing Compares 2 U and Let's Go Crazy, adorned with Prince's squealing guitar.

He returned to the stage for one final speech in praise of the London crowd - and a promise that the 02 shows will be his greatest gigs yet.

Singer Prince sung the praises of British singer Amy Winehouse at his surprise gig.


The pint-sized purple one, who has expressed a desire to work with Winehouse, declared onstage: "Respect to Amy Winehouse, respect! What a voice!".


And in honour of his musical crush, one of his backing vocalists took the lead on Amy's song 'Love Is A Losing Game' from her hit album Back to Black, a song he's said to be keen to perform with her during his residency in London in a few months time.


Although Amy did not attend the show, due to performing commitments in New York, according to The Star, the singer said she would "drop everything" for the opportunity to work with the Minneapolis native.


She said: "I hope I can do the gigs. I'd do it with bells on - all day long."

The new dates are on 17,18, 28 and 31 August and 1 and 9 September, call 08719840002 for tickets.
[Edited 5/11/07 8:54am]

I love it. Prince is showing them how it is DONE!

Also NME reports on the sold-out tickets:

http://www.nme.com/news/prince/28295

I guess he's still got it.

how much do tickets usually cost in london, if 1 wants 2 c someone as big as the little fella' ?

Also here:

http://www.gigwise.com/ne...ntid=31541

I am happy for him. I am also happy that with all the garbage out here passing for talent, people want to see/hear real LIVE music by real musicians.

WoWWWWW


And I got my tix!!!!

thedribbler said:

Well my one ticket to see the stones at the same venue cost me £150, similar seats.. I've got tickets for five nights with prince that cost me £156

Other big names such as bonjovi have charged i think £60 for the O2 arena...

dazzjped said:

thanks 4 the answer
I wonder how much the stones got from that 150?

Prince is doing the right thing here, buthow much does he make on 1 ticket?

TOTALLY BRILLIANT!

I'm amazed! I didn't think he'd sell out 7, let alone put on 15 shows!

The Europeans don't seem to mind traveling then. There were quite a few at the Koko last night too. How do they do it!

funkyhead said:

Agreed!

I think these gigs are going to be amazing!!!

I hate to be a total killjoy, but I wonder how many were purchased by scalpers?

UCantHavaDaMango said:

Probably lots. But li'l man still gets his -- whoever bought 'em.

UCantHavaDaMango said:

Looking at Ebay, a hell of a lot.

Genesia said:

True. But if scalpers try to sell the tickets at crazy prices, there may be some empty seats, and some real fans won't get to go.

UCantHavaDaMango said:

JESUS!, as many as most gigs are subject to. Don't look for the negatives, just be happy!, on EBAY there are c1000 tix available out of 140k sold if that's any guide. The fact that tout tix are being sold with big mark ups is also a very positive sign. SEXY NEVER WENT AWAY!.

funkyhead said:

Oh, I am happy!

It was just a thought.

I must say i am not really surprised he 'did it'.

I mean, Prince hasnt scored any real big hits since 1996 in GB and Europe, and his album sells have gone down a lot, but i think most casual music lovers, who maybe only own Purple Rain, Sign of the Times and Diamonds and Pearls are aware of Princes capability to write great songs, and his gifts as a live performer.

That many people seemed to have lost interest in following his career closely after the mid nineties, doesn't they don't respect him as an artist.

I mean, look at the Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd, they haven't scored big hits since decades, but as live acts they are still popular, because of their live reputation and their big back catalogue.

OperatingThetan said:

Yeahmmm, i saw that. But some of the first 7 concerts still appears to be on sale at Ticketmaster. So is this news for sure?

Wow. Thats good

SquirrelMeat said:

These days travelling for one night for a gig to and from europe is pretty easy... I'm going to see pearl Jam next month in germany and holland, and the Return flights to both cost me £20.. now for me to get return to the O2 and back it cost £17 on the train and I'm in hertfordshire, 20 mins on train to kings cross!!!!

get a cheap hotel for the night and your sorted..

.. but yeah it's pretty amazing, its great prince is going to be right back on the map over here!!

Impressive

AWESOME! I hope that it continues.

:excited:OH MY GOD, I' THE HAPPIEST GIRL ON THE PLANET!,
got my tickets yesterday and that made me squeal with delight, then today i came home from work and just lgged on 2 ticketmaster 2 c if any were available and guess what..... i got 2 more 4 myself and hubby
i go on the 10th of aug, and the 13th of sept, BRING IT ON!!

The scalpers must think they can get a grip! Same thing was happening with the Musicology tickets...

To feature this thread on the homepage, we had to create a duplicate because of temporary technical difficulties:

http://www.prince.org/msg/12/227121

Please continue the discussion on the new thread. Sorry for the inconvenience.



Edit: Anxiety has helpfully provided more information on why we're doing this:

http://www.prince.org/msg/3/227095
[Edited 5/11/07 13:08pm]