Great show almost spoiled by soundcheck shambles. When we got our tickets from the foyer, we were told from the Apollo that it was not first come first serve, but instead the seat on the ticket was our seat. Immediate confusion. We then wait over an hour squashed like cattle while we listen to the soundcheck going on inside!! Isn't that what we "privelidged" members pay £65 as opposed to £50 for? We finally get to find that the first people let in disregard the allocated seat announcement given by the Apollo and sit in the first 2 rows! They refuse to get out!! Fair enough, thats what we all understood beforehand. First come first serve. WHY DIDN'T THE NPGMC TELL THE APOLLO THAT THAT WAS THE PROCEDURE??!! Total chaos ensued as people were demanding others to get out of "their" seat.Prince did do Days of Wild after we told him of the disgraceful organisation of seat allocation., but by that time it was 6.50 and he had to get ready for the show. But my main question is WHY THE F@** WEREN'T WE ALLOWED INTO THE F***ING SOUNDCHECK??? NPGMC, you took the piss last night and you should be ashamed of yourselves.However, our man kicked arse last night and I refused to let a 4 hour wait for a 5 minute "soundcheck" ruin an otherwise great night, even though we were treated like shit before the gig. Anyone else feel that the "organisation" was unforgivable?

the shambles seemed to be a breakdown in communication will apollo staff which did threaten an otherwise top evening.

firstly, big thanks to the guys outside the venue for organising a queue - and for everyone there abiding by it - shame that level of organisation was not seen throughout.

however, when we finally got in, to find prince standing amongst us trying to sort it out made things a little better - he was accessible and keen to help...made a nice quip about 'putting them in a headlock' normally when he wants things sorted out...

i can well imagine a LOT of people were pissed off, and it was a real shame as the show was excellent and prince in a really good, fun mood.

but yes, the apollo staff did not help issues, and the stupid behaviour of some fans (two blondes down the front spring to mind) who refused to abide by the rules we knew existed from the start (ie it was a free for all) gave the warm up a bizarre touch of tension.

HOWEVER, the good that comes from it is that it should be sorted from here on in!

letsgocrazy said:[quote]"the apollo staff did not help issues, and the stupid behaviour of some fans (two blondes down the front spring to mind) who refused to abide by the rules we knew existed from the start (ie it was a free for all) gave the warm up a bizarre touch of tension".


Those "girls" were nasty!
People going 2nite beware!!
they jumped in2 some1s seat while he went 2 the toilet & then refused 2 move!
I was shocked at how a "fan" could do that 2another fan!
the bloke remained calm and after about 30mins of arguing the staff got her 2 move.
Had it of been my seat I would of pulled the bitch out by her hair instantly!!!

letsgocrazy said:

THOSE TWO BLONDES SHOULD BE SHOT. They should have been kicked out. Which one was the member??

They were the most selfish bitches I have ever come across.

The tickets thing did partly ruin the gig. I think thay should allocate the seats.

Then you can go to the toilet, without worrying that a crazed blonde bitch taking it while you are gone

SquirrelMeat said

What was the big cheer that went up before the show started ... was it something to do with these girls? Cos I thought it was because they were moving, then they didn't.

And yes, most of us had one eye on the fiasco and the other arguments that were happening all around us ... there was much whispering going on amongst those of us who had found seats (much of it along the lines of being happy with sitting anywhere so long as we stayed in the first 15 rows). Everyone I spoke to was good-humoured about it as it was what we'd expected before we got to the venue anyway.
[This message was edited Fri Oct 4 3:52:26 PDT 2002 by Raspberry]

every1 cheered when staff finally got the blond dog 2 move!
sorry 2 sound so nasty but she was just ***

They were awful those blondes. Pushy, rude. However, my main point with the thread is, why weren't we allowed into the soundcheck. Days of Wild was NOT the soundcheck. He did that for us cos we all asked him to play something. Don't get me wrong, seeing him play that (my favourite live track BTW) was fantastic, but why did he stop us attending the proper soundcheck?

There was another couple, I noticed, that argued with the Apollo staff from the end of the souncheck right untill the show started. If they'd just accepted the situation they might of got decent seats, but by the time they'd finished they ended up at the back !! LOL

Raspberry said:

Yep, the cheers was when they finally got moved on!

Can someone add approximately how many people were at the soundcheck?

CherryMoon said:

600 approx

They should definitely have been removed, i was amazed the bloke waited so long for her to get out of his seat.It was made worse by one of the security people on stage telling her to stay put, while the apollo security people were trying to get her to move. The bloke had his coat and bag on the chair when she sat in his seat.

What got me was the people during the concert who came from the back of the auditorium down the side and then pushed their way into the front row, when we asked them to move, they basically told us to piss off, what was an adequate amount of room became a push and shove to keep your view.

and don't get me started on the little shit who bent down to do up his laces or so i thought and then stole my autographed programme, when i confronted him he denied all knowledge and then walked off, what could I do, thump him and try to get my programme back, thus getting myself removed from the show and probably getting barred tonight
waisting 200 dollars or letting the little shit get away with it. Still If I see him tonight...

LOL, that fiasco was all about my seat!
I did very well to stay calm I can tell you!
I can't be bothered to discuss it more until i've slept properly though! I am knackered!

Got to talk to Prince at click though so I was delighted.
Starbuck had more of a chat with him though where Prince was very stereotypical and accused him of being a bootlegger becasue he was dutch!
I am sure he will tell you more when he returns home!

Many many thanks to the two gents who got me a pint when I finally managed to sit down, very nice of you and it was really appreciated!

simon1969 said:

Autographed programme? Thought Prince didn't do those?

Whats the tourbook like? Same as US one?

I got my NPG pass signed by Rhonda and John - that was cool, getting that framed for sure!

HELLO??!!! Am I the only person out of the 600 people that were there yesterday who felt cheated that the soundcheck was going on while we spent 75 minutes squashed like f***ing sardines in the foyer? I mean, that was the whole point of being there before everyone else, right? Great, we saw "Days of Wild" for 5 minutes, BUT THAT WAS NOT THE SOUNDCHECK!! Can someone please tell me I'm not Victor Meldrew in thinking that we were queueing 5 hours to see a soundcheck not a quick favour just before he got dressed for the show.BTW, I loved the show!

Malloy said:

From my perspective, I didn't feel cheated.

Seen Prince around 10 times now and this was the best show so far, plus I thought he gave us more than expected on the encores, so I feel I got my money's worth ... all that and guaranteed seating at the front of the venue. I'd pay my money to npgmc for that again rather than take my chances with ticketmaster or the touts.

btw - I was upstairs while the soundcheck was going on so although I didn't see it, I could hear it all quite clearly. I only queued when I realised Prince was back on stage so saw most of DOW.

eggy - you became a hero that night!!!

HEY YOU GUYS...did ANY of you see a lady with a walker? She's real short, goes by the name "Susan"? She should've been there?

LadyCabDriver said:

She was in the front row I think, if we're talking about the same person ! I didn't speak to her, and she was siting down when I saw her, but she did have a walker !
Hope that's some help to you !!

yes I saw the lady with the walker,
she also went to the afterparty,
well the mayfair one.

Malloy said:

sorry to disagree , It wasn`t good , but it was not unforgivable.
I think some of the delay was due to the fact there had been a concert the night before , therefore the crew had less time to set up.
I wish the soundcheck had been longer , I wish I had been closer , but I will still treasure seeing him chat normally and Days of Wild was awesome.
It was a bloody long day and a bloody long wait , (I kept almost falling asleep at the wheel on the way home)
BUT it was still worth the money , a soundcheck is like an aftershow I think , sometimes good sometimes bad.
It was still worthwhile.
I didn`t think I would have an allocated seat when I got there , getting one was a surprise and yes it was closer and more central than where I was eventually sat , but if I am honest I could not have got there any earlier and if my seat wasn`t allocated I would have sat where I sat.

Malloy said:

I always assumed that the "real" soundcheck is done before the NPG Music Club members are let in. They probably don't want a bunch of unnecessary people hanging around when they're busy working.

I figure that the "NPGMC soundcheck" is basically a warmup rehearsal with some last-minute sound adjustments.

eroica29 said:

the lady with the walker also goes by the Org name "lovebird"...so show her some love when you see her (And tell her Maria said hi!)

Ok, just got back from the friday show and I'm full of love again. Looking at my posts I sounded like a grumpy old git. Tonight confirmed that Prince is unique and thats why we love him.I was there in row X tonight as opposed to row E and u know what? It was better! The sound further back was spot on. I won't mention the thursday cock up again. Not going tomorrow so those who are , enjoy. He's obviously doing 3 different sets as tonight was very different to yesterday.
Love and happiness to all.

I was sitting next to Lovebird on thursday. Cool she's famous.

Re: Those two blond bitches. They werent even fit. I think as penance if they post here, they should be made to change the user names to "Those two Blond Bitches". Of course I saw one of them with a bottle of peroxide. Oh dear Blonde birds was it really worth? I mean honestly.