First the O2. Fantastic views from *most places*. The steepness of the tiering gives everyone a good view. (Floor seats I'll pass judgement). It looks incredible too - the shape of the Arena. I've been to Prince shows in all of these and O2 compares favorably:

Earls Court - naff views from substantial areas. Sound - terrible.

Wembley Arena - only slightly better.

Birmingham NEC - worse than Wembley Arena..no tiering in a few areas.

Wembley Stadium (old one) - the sweatiest Prince gig ever..and COULD NOT move closer than the halfway line no mattter how I pushed!

Brixton Academy - tiny venue - sort of halfway between a Prince concert and an aftershow- and yes at last!!.. 2 feet from stage!

So this time the O2- got UPPER TIER block 414 seats in front of 'the arrow of the symbol end'. I found the view great - perfect view to take in the whole vista of the lightshow and the sound was excellent! Perhaps, as has been pointed out, near the stage the sound isn't. But I suppose they can't balance the sound for ALL areas of the place.

I thought the 7th August show was fantastic. It's the only one of the tour I will be going too, having to travel from Cardiff and needing to stay overnight.

And a few highlights....

'Play that funky music white boy' was hilarious - with Prince in typically jovial mood hee hee. Anyone who went - who was that guy given the mic? Part of the band? Someone from the audience? He sang quite a bit. Great fun whoever!

Another comedy highlight - when the audience were invited onstage (albeit only 10 people-ish) Prince mimicking the audience girl dancer 'near the arrow end' was sooo funny. Lots of chuckles there from the crowd!

The piano bit - The Beautiful Ones, Condition of the heart, How come U don't call me anymore, and oodles more - could he have heard my request? http://prince.org/msg/12/238217 ..of course!!..hee hee it was all just for me! (oi don't burst my bubble now)

The end solo piano segment where he segued into 'I wanna B your Lover' *with the band* was pretty cool I thought also.

'Purple rain' - The lower than LOWER bass frequncies shook my heart (and other internal organs , whirled them around and replaced them in a headpsinning 7 minutes or so like a home hi-fi could never do. Just FEEL IT when you go for those who haven't. So good.

'U got the look' - released in '87 but seems only perfected now in concert! I've been to all his tours in UK since '88 and never heard him play this more than once before. The guitar playing on this is great. Should re-define the word *powerchord*!

..and overall - Prince's effort at working the crowd because of this minor quirk of the evening -

The crowd -Lots were dancing but more should have been!. Sometimes I wanted to scream at 'em to get dancing! It seems that a lot of them were in their 20's in the 80's and may have caught Prince's bad hip with him! Hehe. Or was it just middle aged spread and O2 burgers that proved them unfit?

Dance Dance Dance people! Give to Prince and he'll give you back more

[Edited 8/8/07 16:24pm]

wasn't that awesome. I put it up there with the best I have seen of him. I loved the last tour, because he left out the biggies, but love this because he played them - go figure....

With the stage set up this way, it is perfect to showcase him. The last tour was P&NPG. U can see this one as very much P showing the world u can't mess with his "funk"...

He can metamorphose at any time, and be the best at whatever style he has chosen. He seemed particulary relaxed last nite. I was getting worried when he was late coming on, no need to b. I had a hunch he would play the aftershow, not having a show 'til the w.end. What a night....

theartistirl said:

I thought the same! When that video appeared of DMSR and the stage went dark as if he was supposed to BE ONSTAGE.....and no-one there, I thought 'uh-oh' panick stations. No Prince...and a hastened 'put *something* up' by the concert director.

That Prince is such a tease!

michael11000 said:

exactly, at least I wasn't the only one... My son would never have forgiven me, as I brought him to his first concert...

Great show, great aftershow. The VIP-tix were expensive, the crowd downstairs was just too rich and boring, but oh hell, WHAT A NIGHT !