I have been a prince fan for about 12 years (since I was 16) and have never before been able to see him in concert I'm going on the 7th August have tickets in blk 412 and then to the aftershow party with standing tickets. I would like to hear from people who have seen him before so they can give me their opinions of the gigs they have seen, will it be as good as I imagine?

I have only ever seen two bands before and never been to a big concert like this I'm so excited.

I have read some of the threads on here and I understand that its a posibility that he wont show at the aftershow, I'm preparing myself for this and of course would love it if he did but if he doesnt I'll just be happy to be surronded by other fans and listen to some great music.

Oh don't worry, you're in for a big treat!

My first time seeing Prince live was 17 years ago now... which is still probably relatively recent compared to some of the older fans here on the Org. He's never disappointed me with a live performance, that's for sure. That said, his shows vary a LOT. There have been times when I've seen a few different performances from the same tour, and some were significantly better than the others (more songs, longer performances etc). But you won't be disappointed, I'm sure.

My favourite Prince shows were all smaller venues, aftershows etc. My least favourite Prince concert was probably the really big shows like the Diamonds and Pearls tour... in Dublin it was basically tens of thousands of people in a field (the RDS) all pretending we could see fine That said, the O2 Dome looks really well laid out - it looks like there isn't a really bad seat in the house. Hope that proves to be true.

From my experience though, the shows I enjoyed less weren't really due to Prince, but more because of rude fans (you know, people elbowing and pushing, fighting to get to the front, acting like love-struck teenagers, sitting on their friends' shoulders and blocking the view etc). Hopefully we're all too old for that shit now

Thanks Ian good to hear your feedback. I'm Irish too but living in uk. I'm from Sligo.. Thanks for your post I'm new to all this..

synthiarose04 said:

Hey, Sligo is a lovely place, I was over in Collooney recently for a wedding actually I gotta ask though, how come you've been a fan for so long but you missed all the shows Prince did in Ireland?

Wow Collooney I know it well I lived in Easky / Enniscrone.. I could never afford to see him or I ws at college, I know its a cop out, I regret never making the effort!

You've only been to 2 gigs ever ?

hi
i haven,t seen prince live before either. i am so excited about concert. hope i get one of the 'good' ones.

DieTaylorDie said:

we all have to start somewhere.

Hi,

greetings from an Irish guy in Germany, I wrote a message just now, but the whole thing dissappeared . Anyway, the point of the message was, I have seen Prince live 4 times, 2 times at stadiums,and 2 times at arenas. have to say the arenas were by far the better. (Cork 1990, RDS 1992, Point Depot 1995 (Twice) ). had tickets to SOTT at Wembly, but as we all know he cancelled it, which almost broke my heart at the time . All the concerts were brilliant, and I was lucky enought at the first 2 to have been up front in the barrier section, where there was no pushing and other stuff which Ian mentioned. However at the arena, I was in the stands, and that was mindblowing as well, the second night was probably the best of the four concerts I have seen from Prince, he more or less burnt the place down, which was amusing considering, he was playing mostly music that no one knew. My Brother has managed to get tickets for London in august, and he is a Virgin as well, so I am curious what he will make of it, as far as I know he will be in a different part of the arena to me, which is probably a good thing, as I am sure I wont be able to shut up . Anyway, my advice is go there expecting nothing, and you come away with an experience that will want over and over again. All the best J

synthiarose04 said:

Im in Cork and saw Prince live each time he was in Ireland - my favourite has to be when he came to Cork, myself and my best friend got into the front area right under the stage, we were so close we were uncontrolable! I agree Ian, the RDS was a bit hard to see what was going on. The last two times were in the Point which was much better, this is the first time I am travelling abroad to see Prince and its like we are 17 again, so excited!! Ive seen U2 and various other brilliant live acts, but nothing tops Prince Live in my opinion.

Hi Irish Fan,

I am from Cork also, do you remember all the ola, ola ola, craic at the cork concert when he tried to play alphabet street? I was also up front for that concert, was an accident, my GF of the time was getting crushed before the concert even began, so they pulled her out, and those around me pushed me out as well, which was nice of them, up front there was so much space you could laid down and watched the whole thing. My only dissappointment was the concert should have started 2 hours later when it was dark, as the final 30 minutes simply blew my head off, with the lighting and so on. And I totally agree, I have seen most of the big acts over the yrs, apart from Madonna, and none come close to Prince live. Although, U2 come pretty close.

I've seen Prince 4 or 5 times now. The first time was the lovesexy tour ( I too had SOTT tickets an was heartbroken when it was cancelled) That summer I saw Madonna (who's that girl tour), Michael Jackson ( Bad tour), & Prince (Lovesexy) & needless to say Prince wiped the floor with them. I saw him twice that summer- the first time was on the first night of the tour in Paris & I nearly passed out hyperventilating coz it was just SOOOO exciting. The second time was at wembley which was as good, but for me it was just the whole occasion of traveling to paris & my 1st prince gig that made it so special. But those two concerts have set the benchmark for all others to beat (in my book) and none have quite surpassed the excitement i felt on that night in Paris.
So to all you Prince virgins (& I'm going with 1 of them on the 18th)hold on to your hats coz you're in for a treat.
I'm as excited this time 'round coz I've not seen him live since the Diamonds & Pearls tour, but I really think he's ready to regain his rightful place back at the top of the tree.

Hi there. Here's some feedback from the gigs I've seen

Act II - Wembley Stadium, London, August 1993
This was my first time seeing Prince and my first time in Wembley Stadium, so was very excited. I have good memories from the show but we were standing in Wembley, could not see the stage and the sound was so, so... Still I remember the start of Purple Rain sending shivers...

Ultimate Live Experience - Wembley Arena, London, March 1995
This was really brilliant: he played most of Gold Experience, which wasn't out so no-one knew the songs, but they still rocked. I remember being really impressed with that. Also it had Mayte flying around the arena on cables in her angel costume dropping gold dust on the crowd...

Jam of the Year - Wembley Arena, London, August 1998
Jam of the Year - Brixton Academy, London, August 1998
Similar setlist but totally different experience for those 2: 25 000 people in Wembley, 2 500 in Brixton. I also lived in Brixton at the time (I still own the flat there) so this was a local Prince gig - amazing! We queued all afternoon and were standing right at the front! So this rates really high in terms of experience, altough musically that period was not the best for me.

One Night Alone - Zenith, Paris, October 2002
This one tops them all. Good venue, great sound, musically perfect. Brilliant setlist with great live versions of the jazzy tracks from The Rainbow Children,and awesome new arrangements of old classics (Strange Relationship for instance, with jazzy horns replacing the keyboards). He also blew me away by doing a blistering version of Purple Rain right at the start of the set (it was the 5th song). On that tour he was doing 2 versions of that song: one softer, on the piano and one full blown, on the guitar. Well he started without a guitar like he was going to do the soft version, then a couple of bars into the intro, he says "wait a minute, something aint't right...", picks up his guitar, and gets into this awesome intro on the guitar, then into one of the best renditions of the song I've ever heard him play. The Beautiful Ones was another highlight. Also, Maceao Parker and Candy Dulfer were brilliant on sax, especially Candy on Nothing Compares to U. If you can get a recording of that show (I recommend it), check it out.

So there you go. I'm going to 5 shows at the O2, and 2 aftershows. I'm really excited! I can promise you that you won't be disappointed. The man is one of the best live performers EVER. And not only hardcore fans will tell you that.

Whitnail said:

Hi Whitnail - yes I do remember the "ole, ole, ole, ole" - I was like "let the poor fella sing!!!" Yeah the space up front was so cool, I couldnt believe my luck, especially as it was my first Prince concert. I reckon I still have the wrist band somewhere.... I also agree U2 are amazing live. I saw them in California back in 2001, I was so impressed, and I wouldnt be the biggest U2 fan. Saw Madonna in Slane - it was good. I reckon I am too old for Slane! I think I would have enjoyed it more if she was in the point or somewhere like that.

Cork was so crazy... of course that would have been during the madness of Italia 90, so there was no stopping the crowd from doing their Olé Olé thing It seemed like Prince got a giggle out of that. I've been to all of Prince's concerts in Ireland (my favourite was the second night in the Point Depot, during the Gold Experience / Exodus tour) and various other shows and aftershows around the UK and Europe.

Last time he came to the London (the ONA tour) I made it to the aftershow at the Marqee club, thanks mainly to the awesome Orgers I encountered down in London. Seriously, once word got around about the aftershow, I was half-dragged onto the tube by Orgers who knew where we were going. I'm very grateful I just wish I had appreciated that show more... I was SO tired, dead on my feet from queuing all day outside the Apollo etc. I really don't remember much of that performance!

His concerts are always a spectacle and you are in for a treat i recommend it! A quick resume and most of Prince's tours (although "The Earth tour" in theory is a residency") have a set pattern to the play list but you will hear a few gems and rare tunes no doubt! I first saw him in 1990 the nude tour at the nec and he played a lot of his early stuff and the classics as well as a lot from the Batman album as well as showcasing Graffiti Bridge tracks! It was an amazing event for me having followed his music since 1984! Next for me was the 1992 Diamonds and Pearls tour taking in the shows at Earl's Court where he played mainly album tracks accompanied by the Npg with a few songs such as bambi thrown in. Act II in 1993 saw the arrival of the Symbol and Mayte with album tracks and a few gems from the past including a superb version of "The Beautiful ones" The 1995 Gold Experience tour was a great chance to hear this album for the first time due to the warner bros dispute and covers added of "Proud Mary" amongst others. 1998 Jam of the Year tour albeit brief included appearances from Larry Graham and Chakakhan which mainly featured "New Power Soul" Material and the last time i saw him at the Hammersmith Apollo featuring "The Rainbow Children" and "One Nite Alone" songs as well as the finale of the unreleased and one of my faves "Empty Room"! Enjoy the "Earth Tour" Experience

yeah, that old ireland in the world cup thing was a laugh, and i think he did enjoy it, i read after somewhere that he was not sure what was going on, imagine that!!!!! Anyway, at the RDS 2 yrs later the crowd started it off again, this time he was very quick to point out, "if you start that shit again, I am leaving", lol, cool that he remembered. I made it into the Pod the night before he played there, he was with Bono in the private room, naturally i couldnt get in the second night, as only people who didnt like music and did not even know Bono were allowed in, not that after hearing the bootleg of the aftershow, i was happy, i think the second night at the depot wore him out, he was not expecting the turn out, basically after the first show word got around, and the place was packed on the second night. that night at the depot, they turned the lights on midway thru the concert, to calm the crowd down. unfortunately, I only have the bootleg of the first concert, as the place that made them burnt down on the night of the second concert, lol

shite, all this stuff is getting me worked up like a teen again, like the days of old, maybe we should start a thread on this subject, being a prince fan in the 80´s in ireland, actually, i will start one

peace and b wild

Nude Tour 1990: my first ever. It was amazing to me I think simply because it was my first as the stage set was pretty crap and the game boyz were annoying looking back at it now!

Diamonds and Pearls 1992 : Earls Court, so good I fainted. So much going on ,on stage ,one of my favs.

Act II 1993: Wembley Stadium. Just before the death of Prince. He was in a bad mood ,which made him play all the better!

Gold Tour : went to 5 nights, loved hearing all the new material. No Prince songs played apart from "7" and Peach , not a tour for faint hearted fans.

Jam of the Year : Missed it!

One night alone Tour: Went to 2 nights ,both different, very intimate, a totally different Prince experience.

synthiarose04 said:

Gosh, id love to see the look on your face when you get there, no one can touch this guy live, and i mean NO-ONE you are in for a real surprise!

Whitnail said:

No way, the bloke with the box of tapes on O'Connell Bridge burnt down? I remember those shows... and you're right there was a HUGE difference on the second night at the Point. Prince did seem tired, but they did a whole extra bit with way more songs.

ian said:

the place i am talking about used to be when you went over the hapenny bridge, thru the arch, and it was on the first turn left up stairs, i pissed myself when they told me what happened, i just thought, f.... typical

i remember thinking he seemed pissed off at wembley 93 but then again iwas pissed off cause i got near the front and fuckin fainted the wuss that i was back then! have since beefed up gained stamina and had an amazing time at an aftershow at the hippodrome in london jam of the year following the earlscourt show,my last experience was manchester appollo show which was excellent followed ny a party afterwards that p did not show up too but was still a good night dancing to prince all night.

cammille said:

All these memories - I was lucky enough to dance on stage with Prince at the Apollo - what a thrill that was. Been to 14 shows and aftershows already but every time is so different. People ask why I am going to 5 shows and 4 aftershows this time they think I'm mad. If only they knew what they're missing.

I've seen him 10 times plus... starting with Lovesexy 1988 ( I was 19 years old)... Forget the hype... its all just true... I'd love to be synical but after seeing Prince, every other gig/show is second rate... Know you are seeing the best.

Whitnail said:

LOL, I hear ya!!

I became a fan in the '80's but didn't actually see him for the first time until July 1990! Anyway is in a league of his own and nothing compares 2 him live. I am being fairly conservative in my concert going this time though as i would find it hard to beat my previous record in 1993 of 5 gigs in 8 days (birmingham twice, Edinburgh, Wembley and Sheffield) and 3 in 3 days in 1995 at the start of the "Gold Experience" tour! Let's all go crazy again

Whitnail said:

Oh wait I remember that fire... I lived just around the corner at the time. That place used to be pretty good for Prince bootlegs too.

Yeah fellow Irish orgers i remember the Cork gig so well with the crowd chanting the world cup laments etc LOL " Prince asked the crowd laughing" Who owns this stage ?" We had 2 move from near the front as being crushed & lifted off our feet But the nite was nite 2 remember.
The best gig has got 2 b the SLAVE gig in 95. Was an amazing up close & personal gig. He made it like 1 big party !! I was barely feet away from prince.
Times are a changing & i'm bringing my 2 sons 2 the Aug 24th show. They both live & breathe PRINCE lol (not my fault honest)
U will have a brill time seeing Prince live & will remember with fond memories for a long long time.
Have seen him 4 times up until now & never seen a better live performer 2 compare
(Nothing Compares 2 Prince) Now that sounds a little like a song title we know LOL
Have a Ball at the gigs ya all !!
Live4Love_Love2Live_____Pajoe

Pajoe said:

It would be interesting to read your 2 sons impressions of the show, assuming it is their first time. Hopefully, all the Prince concert Virgins will post their experiences, if they are not too stunned to form a sentence. Trust me, U will b mesmerized.