Tips:- a. Go easy on the liquid intake. The amount of people getting up and down to go and get more booze or visit the loo was annoying. Fair enough before the concert, but whilst the main man is on stage? That’s just plain rude! I guess if you gotta go, you’ve gotta go, but tie a knot in it wherever possible.

b. If you’re staying at the Holiday Inn Express which I believe is the closest hotel to the O2 (just down the road about 15 minute walk…£189 for a double room on a Saturday night) and want something to eat instead of trekking back to the O2 go over the road to the Odeon Cinema complex. Its closer and they have a Nandos (chicken), Prezzo (Italian food) and Pizza Hut (self-explanatory!) which are all quiet compared to the restaurants in the O2 which are all pretty busy.

c. For goodness sake, if you’re going to the aftershow, instead of just standing and starring at the curtain waiting for the thing to move, have a dance! It’s not every night you’ll get to hear a DJ spinning I Wanna Be Your Lover so make the most of it. Plus it’ll make for a much better atmosphere, which may just entice Prince to play a little longer when he pokes his head round the corner. Look at it this way, if you were him and the place was dead because no one was getting down and enjoying the night, would you want to hang around?

d. Unless you want to be one of those who leans on the front of the stage, I wouldn’t rush to get to the Indigo for the aftershow. Standing in a queue will no doubt tire you out before you even get in there. Why not have a rest for a bit, grab a drink, chill out. The Indigo is a small venue and I found it was easy to get within four people of the stage once the show started. Even then, you can see the stage very clearly from anywhere in the club. I wouldn’t worry about upstairs either, that’s where the seating was and it looked like there was zero atmosphere up there.

e. Merchandise; I got a gold symbol pin badge (£12) which looked pretty good on my purple jacket, a programme (£25) and a silver symbol necklace (£15). All a bit pricey but very cool! They had tambourines with either the gold symbol on or 3121. I couldn’t justify £55 for one though. The 3121 fragrance (£32) is a perfume and not an aftershave as I thought it was, though the guy said both men and women can wear it. It’s not the best smelling fragrance I’ve smelt to be fair. I did get the One Nite Alone three CD set (£40) and N.E.W.S (£12). Be warned though, the merchandise stands open at 4:00pm but they won’t sell you the CDs until after the show “incase you break them up and throw them onstage”. I thought this was ridiculous, not only because I was going to take them back to the hotel before the show but also because they gave you a copy of Planet Earth on the way into the arena. Worse than that you could buy bottles of Smirnoff Ice to take into the arena; now, not that I’d want to, but if I decided to level the Purple One halfway through Lolita I know what item I’d choose between a glass bottle and a flimsy CD. The t-shirts were all skinny fit, even the mens, so unless you’ve been hitting the gym a lot lately you’ll not going to be able to get one that looks good. Fortunately, the man upstairs blessed me with a good body, but for all you chunky monkeys, I think Prince is trying to tell you something!

f. Ladies, if you’re in the upper tier don’t wear a short skirt. The amount of women who were climbing the stairs near us with only a copy of Planet Earth covering their crotchal region was staggering. Plus once you’re in your seat, your muffular area is going to be squarely in the eyeline of the guy sitting in front of you, should he chose to spin his head round for a sneaky peak…not that I did, or anything…honest!

g. If you’re getting the tube anywhere before or after the show, make sure you have plenty of coins handy to pay for your tickets. If it’s a Sunday or late at night the ticket desk won’t be open and the queues to use the ticket machines that accept cash in the form of notes was pretty long. From what I could make out you can’t use the tickets machine that lets you pay on your card unless you have an “Oyster” card as well or some such.

h. If you’re going to the aftershow and want to get up close and personal with Prince keep a close eye on what side of the stage his guitar is on (his trademark Telecaster with leopard-skin scratch plate, as was the case on Saturday). I noticed it was onstage as soon as the curtains came back but for some dumb reason I didn’t cotton on that he would come out from that side of the stage and stand there to play. Silly me; if you want to be close though, head for the guitar!

i. A tip for Prince; how about getting some of your proper fans onstage, not just the overly paid VIPs sat on those barstools right by the stage. I think you’ll find we can dance much better than those rich folk to!

j. If you haven’t got tickets to go to one of the shows yet, or you are contemplating it, hesitate no longer. Sell your parents, donate some essential fluids, rob a bank ...whatever it takes, get yourself there! My missus can’t tell her Raspberry Rain from her Purple Berets but she loved it, so imagine how good it is for a true Prince fan! It is as close to a Greatest Hits show as you’re likely to get from the man. As one bloke said to me afterwards about being there “it was a fucking privilege”.

DaveT said:

Lol, Maybe they are worried you will listen to NEWS before the concert. Thats bound to make a lot of the public want to bury the CD in his head in the show!

Actually, I had a listen to NEWS yesterday, though not your standard Prince it is a nice album to have on as background chill out music.

Though, when the guy at the merchandise stand said "incase you throw them on stage" I said to him "Just how bad are these albums then?"

muffular area

sj1600 said:

I think I'm going to trade my gold circle seats for some upstairs "muffular" action tonight!!!!!

SquirrelMeat said:

My next tickets are in the newly named muffular viewing area of O2 so am glad I read this so I can dress accordingly

Dave you're a star! Thanks for starting this thread, I've picked up some good tips. Cheers mate

Hey, no worries...glad to be of service!!

I'm now on the hunt to get me some more tickets!! It was such an amazing show Saturday!

props to DaveT! great reading, and point e regarding the merchandise cracked me up!

machinegun said:

On a similar point, the chairs in the O2 aren't exactly built with the "larger" fan in mind...it looked like quite a squeeze for some people. I half expected to see gaggles of Prince fans exiting the arena with an O2 chair still wedged on their ass!

perfect say DaveT!

Esp. the aftershow-waiting-time in line would have made me crazy - so we went to the bar just on the other side, had our 2 beers and went into indogo2 without any queuing up. There you should really enjoy the time by dancing at the back (its just a few meters from the stage) and in case prince plays just move 2 or 3 meters to the stage and you will be happy!!!

Tip for leaving after the aftershow: take the O2ThamesClipper - best invested 4pounds ever - this takes you within about 10 min to London Bridge - and they even play prince videos on a screen!

Tip for smokers: don't smoke in the venue - the security don't like it at all!!! - people were asked (polite but strict!) to leave the venue - even if (or simply just because!) they smoked their cigarettes inside the toilet cabin.

Prices for Food and Eat are reasonably
Staff and Security are very polite
There were rest-tix available (fri and sat) at the box office
Grant a little time 4 changing e-tix against real tix - it took me about 20 minutes
No checks for cameras at the doors, but staff in the tiers did try 2 convince you, that taking photos is not allowed - on the floor nearly everyone was taking photos / videos with their mobiles

greats
netzverWAlter
[Edited 8/7/07 3:23am]
[Edited 8/7/07 3:25am]

netzverwalter said:

Great tip about the Thames Clipper...London Bridge is the station I need to get home anyway!! Saves piling into the tube ..and only £4.00!! Bargain. Are they very frequent do you know, and where do they set off from???

DaveT said:

got the tip last week here on the org from ladycat (thx) and found online http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/ that there are boats nearly throught the whole night. We left on saturday about 3 - went to the station (maybe 2 or 3 minutes away from the arena - had a few beers so maybe it was a bit longer) and did jump on the boat - please check online, if they are also servicing during week or just on weekends. I also saw a ThamesClipper Reservation Stand within the building when we got into it before the concert - so they will know everything you need 2 know.

netzverwalter said:

Might be better for heading to London Bridge station then fighting through the crowds to the tube station ....thinking of going this Saturday again but finances don't extend to a hotel stay this time, so it'll be a train ride home this time.

netzverwalter said:

It's got very little to do with the security not liking it, smoking in public places such as this, is now illegal in the UK. They either take this action or risk action against themselves.

Keep your Planet Earth CD handy - it makes for a very effective fan if you get a little over-heated.

However I think in light of your observations we should be encouraging all women to be wearing a mini

Couldn't agree more about the indigo2 queue.

The Clipper picks you up just to the left of the O2 - it's FAB

DaveT said:

Absolutely top tips Dave - thanks!

Excellent tips, especially for the aftershow. Think of it as a party and if you end up dancing around and having a good time anyway, you might feel like you've got a least half your money's worth even if Prince doesn't show.

BTW, what time does the Thames Clipper stop running? My friend only lives up the road from the O2 so when I'm going with her it's OK to crash with her, but on the 25th August I'm not going with her and she's not in town, so I'll need to make my way home, which is a bit daunting. I'll need to get to Waterloo as soon as possible.

TheEnglishGent said:

For sure! Didn't know that since last weekend - now I am warned!

Ellie said:

If I'm not wrong, it's about 4 or 4.30.

here's the timetable...

http://www.thamesclippers...mmuter/166

poppy1 said:

ok - thanks - so 4.30 was quite right