from reading a lot of comments here and photographs of people basically getting a view of the back of the band or the back of Prince..it seems a lot of people are disappointed.....would a revolving stage have worked better....I'd nearly be in tears if I was in some of those seats

Not a mistake maybe but I was suprised how little they used the stage.....definitely not of Lovesexy standard. And yeah, a lot of people spend a lot of time looking at his back!!

Yes. I think the Symbol stage would work far better "imbedded" at the end of the arena. The Circle could be in painted on the middle of the traditional stage, whilst the the horn, curl and arrow would act as piers out into the audience.

In fact, the arrow would become a great feature, reach out to the middle of the floor.

Its a disgrace selling seats literally behind the stage with little plans to ever face them or even go round there. Just packing in extra numbers for revenue when "the round experience" is nowehere near equal in giving everyone a good view.

I don't like revolving stages. What happens is that you get to see the back of the drumkit, the keyboard set-up, etc. One of our revolving stages has a curtain behind the drumkit so that's what you see half the time. A curtain.

This setup is better, although I do agree that if one chooses an in-the-round stage and prices tickets the same all the way around, one should spend time in all parts of the stage.

The answer was to sell seats on the sides and front of the symbol stage, curtaining off the back tiers.

agree totally Specialed !

It was also up to Prince and the band to use the stage more.....I know he's not getting any younger but I was surprised how static he was

seanbee said:

I've got tickets for block F1 tonight and I just know I'm hardly ever going to see P.

Aside from selling more seats, in-the-round dispenses with any need for a stage set which is also saving him a fortune. Given the skeletal band, I think this tour probably has less overheads than any in the past.

That said, I was in F3 for the first half of the opening night and fairly enjoyed it from there (until my concert buddy decided we could walk over to just behind the champagne section and hang there, which we got away with without any hassle).

seanbee said:

I spotted a stannah stairlift rep there last week, measuring up around the perimeter of the stage. It should be fitted by the last night, so we'll all be able to wave bye bye to the man.

McD said:

Eh? There's more people than ONA tour and the Nude tour?!!! He's only missing a guitarist.

As a concept no, not a mistake. The mistake is not playing the whole stage to enable the entire audience to get a good view at some point.

I can't see any reason whatsoever for him not just turning the mic stand around and facing in a difference direction every so often and working the various parts of the stage equally.

That said i think that most people in the Lower and Upper Tiers have had a great view so far with few complaints. On the other hand some floor seating folk have been less than pleased with their view.

So maybe the problem is not him playing 'in the round' but the fact that the floor seats are so far below the stage it makes it difficult to see.

One way to solve this would be for the floor seating areas to be raised slightly to allow a clearer view and to lose maybe the first 4-6 rows of the Lower Tier, as those people will then have the floor bods in their way!

Alas its all too late now anyway.

SpecialEd said:

agreed

SpecialEd said:

sooooo just like playing a normal gig at the end of the arena then?

Must admit Im slightly nervous - I was at Friday 3rd show and noticed that he only ever seemed to face 'the front' of the stage.

Now I have a ticket for the final night, its in row c of the lower tier behind the back of the stage...I figured it was worth getting just to go to the last show but I have a nasty feeling, at best, I'll be looking at his back for most of teh time and, at worst Ill just see teh keyboards and drums.

But I was right to get a crap seat for the last night instead of a good seat for a random night....right?


ANybody sat in 115 Row C or around there?

purpledoveuk said:

Hi there. I had tickets for block F1 tonight and changed them at Customer Services as soon as I got there. F1 F2 and F3 and the first ten or even more of the lower tier blocks behind the O of the stage are in my opinion restricted view. Prince did go round the back of the O in front of the F blocks at the concert tonight about 7 or 8 times but the rest of the time he performed on the straight line of the symbol and from what I saw tonight after having gone down on the floor to check out the location and view from the F blocks I don't think you would be able to see Prince at all from there.

FunkyAphrodite said:

It is interesting to hear this cause for the Musicology Tour, he worked the shit out of that stage!!!

jaynoonan said:

This time the stage is a beauty, compared to the Musicology stage, which looked ugly! But functionalitywise the Musicology stage was much better! Prince was really able to play to all sides, there was no front and no back and most importantly no musicians (with them being lower) to block the view!

DoMeBaby69 said:

Can you do that??? Change them I mean

purpledoveuk said:

Only if you shout loud enough

[b]Hurah I can finally post!!! that's exactly what I was thinking that it didn't work being in the round. I thought I had a fantastic seat being in Block 106 Row B right in the middle level with the stage. Great when Prince came to the front of our block and when he was centre stage but he did seem to completely disappear quite frequently. I know from where I was sitting I couldn't appreciate the stage effects but it still seemed difficult at times to see what was going on. The dancers had no backdrop to frame them so it looked a bit messy. Prince didn't stand out that well, I didn't think the lighting was effective and at times there were so many people on a relatively small stage that Prince blended in.

ShellyBean said:

The last couple of nights Prince has been making much more of an effort to use the whole stage and involve the whole crowd. Since people are a lot closer than they would be if the stage was at one end, I think the 'in the round' thing is working well now.

last few nights prince has been working the stager much better for sure, but I can't stand watching a performers back. it's irritating to hear someone sing, but not see their face, to hear the guitar but not see them play it, it certainly diminishes the experience. I'd rather be further away but have him look towards me when singing. First night I was down round the back in E1 3rd row. If someone has their back turned to you when talking, you are not part of that conversation, and there were large portions of the conert that I did not feel involved in. Luckily since then all my seats have been front facing.

I think in-the-round is still better than an end-stage. You really do get a great view from upper and lower tier, even if you're "behind" the stage in the lower tier - especially as Prince is working the stage better now. And even if you're high up, and further from the action, you appreciate the lighting effects better which compensates a bit for it. It's only really the floor seats behind the band which don't work.

I've been wondering if Prince not playing to all sides is down to him just taking the Vegas show and relocating to a stage in the round without really re-choreographing it. Was the 3121 show an end-stage show?

peppeken said:

Hi,

I have to say that I am extremely disappointed with the seats AEG/Ticket Master gave me. I ordered my VIP tickets back in May, the Vip tickets did not sell out for the Aug 11th Show until late June, so I expected the great seats they promised me! While on the ticket master website you couldn't see where your seats were until you picked up your tickets at the VIP counter, so I thought they would hook us up and the seats would be great! So why when we went down to our seats (Section F2 row C seats 18 & 19) were we looking at the back of the stage the entire concert? We saw Prince walk back for a few seconds maybe 3 times! I have sent multiple complaint e-mails to AEG & Ticket master the past 2 weeks with no response. I didn't pay 750.00 Euros to sit at the back of the bus if you know what I saying! It sucked and I'm so disappointed I can't hardly think about it! A revolving stage would have satisfied me big time! I feel totally ripped off!

I had BK101 on Friday night. Row J (second behind the railing) and was very happy with my seat. He favoured that side a bit. Was in opposite section Sat. BK112 Row D (second row behind railing). Those ended up being good as well. Was right where the performers come out too. I was very happy with both nights. Could see how the floor would suck though. Meeting Matt Damon woulda been cool though. He was in Floor D Friday night.

sean2003 said:

Yep agree. He seemed to be using the whole stage more,esp the arms of the symbol,where we were.

purpledoveuk said:

I was in 115 row G Sat and saw him enough, I had a great time Yep you dont see him as much as the other part but I was high up on the 4th so 115 was much better.

I think if he truly played in the round it would be better, with the band being at the back in the circle bit, Prince doesn't go round there enough, he needed a circular stage where he could easily do a circuit of it rather than the symbol shape, where he sticks more to the arms and pointy bit.

I think the other difference is that everyone is going to see Prince, the band aren't of real interest to most people at the concert, so if Prince doesn't visit the back much, its not like the band entertain, that was different for Lovesexy in the round, as it was cool seeing, Sheila E, Dr Fink, Levi, Miko, Eric Leeds, Atalanta Bliss, Cat etc, It was a huge deal to see the band then, not just Prince.

At the end of the day, Prince hides the band at the back circle and only the brass section moves around abit, that says it all ....