Hi all,

I have to say I felt a bit of bad karma right from the off last night...sometimes when you walk into the Indigo, for whatever reason, you just know Prince isn't going to play. I felt it that first Saturday he failed to show when I was there also.

I've seen a few Prince aftershows and I've seen Maceo Parker perform his own concerts in the UK, but the reality is that without Prince at one of these late night gigs, the atmosphere is just not there. The band was great, and the horns were great, but to be honest with you all if Prince had appeared the drunks would have been a side issue. You'd have moved to see the show, you'd have been delighted to see Prince after hours etc etc. Really I'm not a drinker myself at all but if Prince had showed I couldn't have cared who was there just so long as I could move to a spot where I could see.

From where I was which was stage right at quite a sharp angle I could see everything regarding the band. Prince was there at points during the first half hour of the set, his guitar tech. was instructed to tune up his guitars but for whatever reason he handed over the master of ceremonies to Mike Philips and Maceo, and just seemed to melt away. In some ways it's selfish of Prince to be ready to go on a Friday night be in the wings with a pretty full / expectant crowd, take a quick look and then decide he just doesn't fancy it for whatever reason. And the other side of the argument is that the hardcore fans are maybe expecting too much.

I just wish I'd stayed away because I really wasn't feeling this show at all...(it had the feel of a contractual obligation, the band seemed to be playing because they knew they had to) Shelby was great when she came on but by then the audience was lost - the NPG are charismatic when they play their roles for and around Prince, he's picked them for very specific reasons, but individually they didn't seem to light up the stage last night. I've felt really buzzed driving home from every Prince show on this tour, but last night I felt nothing and a bit disappointed in some ways - I didn't go to the main show either so it was a totally different experience just turning up for an aftershow on its own.

Am wishing I'd stayed with my attended 4 aftershows, Prince played at 3 hit rate...now I've attended 5 and am no better off! Am not sure what effect the whole Chaka Khan on/off thing had on Prince's appearance either, I guess we'll never know.

The main show may have been fantastic, I haven't read the reports, but a low key and disappointing evening at 3121 last night in my opinion, to anyone wondering you didn't miss much that you wouldn't have seen on any other night.

Highlights were, a brief burst of 4 horn interplay (to fade), Shelby's singing & audience interaction & Cora's drumming (she's quite something). In summary: not worth staying up late if you've got an angry partner or kids to feed in the morning!

Ps have loved every other experience I've had on this tour - of which there have been many...u can't win 'em all.

PPs great to see Bobby, Tamiko and friends over from the U.S. partying with us - haven't seen you guys since Xenophobia...orgnote me if you read this thread as I don't know your profile names...

Best,
T

Yes - shame Prince didnt play as I think out of all the aftershows i've been to at Indigo (6+) the crowd last night was the most pleasant and patient yet. Didn't see hardly anyone overly drunk and no pushing what so ever (i was near the front). Didn't hear anyone shouting for Prince and moaning when the show finished that he never showed which is a good sign. I thought it was just a good standard NPG set which if you've not seen them in this environment before - you would probably have loved. Shelby rocked it last night.

For us greedy people who've been to several shows - we would have loved more but hey - there's still plenty more opportunity for some killer nights ahead

These late nights are beginning to kill me though. uugggh.

Tokyo said:

No, I disagree utterly! The following is from my online journal, apologies if I ramble!

If you'd told me yesterday morning that Prince wouldn't be at the after show I'd have been disappointed. If you told me I'd be 1500 people back in a 2000 person queue, would be surrounded by drunken men and would finish the night barely able to walk then I might not have gone. If you'd told me all of that and told me I'd still come away feeling like I was on cloud nine then I wouldn't have believed you.

I didn't have the access to live music with feeling when I was growing up. The nearest I came was classical performances and rock gigs. When I learned to play it was classical, and the objectives were exams and grades. When I came to take a theory class my new flute teacher realised I knew nothing about music unless it was written down. Under the guise of 'theory training' she taught me what had been taught out of me, how to jam. She played me the 12 bar blues for the first time in my life and set me loose. It's only now that I realise written notation was an intended as an attempt to capture something so special so that it could be recreated, not a prescription to take the place of feeling, knowing and being in the music. Tonight was like a demonstration of that.

I feel like I've been rocked to the core. The band was like a heart beat or a soul beat you wonder how you ever managed without. They are a group of musicians of the highest calibre, who come together to produce something which is far more than the sum of it parts. Never tiring Cora with her perfect rhythm, Maceo who knows every trick of the sax and 20 more, the world's coolest trombone player whose name I've lost in a haze of cheeky grins and funky beats, and Shelby who stole everyone's heart. Lungs, legs, and an iron will, she is a beautiful, talented, powerful woman - the kind of person you want your daughter to have as a role model. Her voice is so big you think it might rip her body in two, and she still has enough breath to whip the audience into a frenzy. They jammed and teased and played around, making a big venue feel as intimate as a smoky basement jazz club. We'd been standing for a couple of hours and my hip injury was agony, but the pain faded for as long as the music. 5 minutes after they started playing I didn't mind whether Prince showed up or not, 15 minutes in and it was 'Prince who?' This band aren't a tag on, they're the real thing.

The boat trip back was the perfect ending to a perfect night. In the strange camaraderie that goes with a shared experience just before dawn I got chatting to a young couple from Manchester - the only people I managed to hook up with all night, despite my purple hairy fairy lights of noticability - where were all the fan forum people?!

Hi Ladycat,

Firstly just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your post (even although we have different points of view on this), and your enthusiasm at having seen the show. I agree with you on the fact that they're musicians of the highest calibre too - Prince only picks the finest.

My disappointment stems most probably from having too much of a good thing...but to turn up and see a packed house just hoping to catch a bit of Prince's spontaneous late night jamming, well it just seemed a little flat by the time I left. In fact the audience had definitely thinned out.

It's great that you enjoyed it, but the applause I was hearing across the room went from quite loud at the start to merely polite by about 45 mins in...the people wanted some legendary Prince...and what they got was great jazz-funk and top notch covers sung by soulful vocalists. Had I not seen Prince this summer the show I've just described above, and in my original thread would have totally knocked me out...but once you have seen it, the bar for all subsequent live shows is raised extremely high. So it suffers by comparison...but even if I never saw another show, Prince has certainly given me value for money over the years.

This thread will no doubt be forgotten when he plays an amazing aftershow tonight of course...LOL...oh well.

Anyone else on here disappointed by last night's show? It wasn't the perfect end to my Friday night, but maybe I approached it in the wrong frame of mind...be interested to hear y'alls thoughts on it though...

T

Hugely dissapointed. Prince was their waiting in the wings then thought bugger it. Just like that. I enjoyed the aftershow on the 10th, best thing ever, but last night with his gear all ready and the tech tuning his guitars and 1500 waiting like a bunch of pillocks all for Prince "fuck it, Im off to bed". Its really jaded my experience of this tour.

In some ways it's a dangerous thing when you're in a position of power like he is (over his clearly devoted audience).

The expectation level is high, and Prince understands his own 'legend'/myth and self-created reputation for playing late night gigs all too well. So with that in mind he really shouldn't appear in the wings and then leave, o.k. maybe he's genuinely in two minds...but be in two minds in the back stage area or your dressing room. Teasing people with hits you're going to play onstage is one thing...but sending your band out with the expectation that you as the star will appear shortly is another.

The Saturday night I was there when a DJ was on the main stage when we walked in, apparently people had been told at the door he wasn't going to be there and some attempted to swap tickets.

This brave policy has subsequently been dropped - I wonder why?!! LOL

If Prince plays at his aftershow tonight it's a bit confusing for people who paid to see it last night (knowing he was there) and a real shame for anyone who'd never been to an aftershow before.

It won't enhance his reputation any...but it may help individual band members get spotted and attempt to step out of his shadow...well o.k. - second thoughts maybe not!

"Smile though your heart is breaking..."

Tokyo said:

perversely speaking, it's the nites he doesn't turn up that makes the nites he does turn up even better, especially when he doens't turn up on a friday, and then u get dissapointed, and he plays the saturday, as u leave the weekend on a high, rather than he plays the friday, and then not the saturday and u leave on a lower point

but there is not rule to whether he will play or not, he just plays if/when he feels like it. everything is setup, it just depends on his mood

the nite of the dj, everything was all set and ready to go, and doors were about to open, and they got a call to hold the doors, and a few mins later everything was cancelled. i've not bothered to find the reason why, but the following week the PA was changed and he rehearsed and played the aftershow on saturday. it looks like the PA changed again last nite also. the stage setup has been going thru very slight changes

when they cancelled the nite of the dj, there was no other live band to play so they gave people the option of a swap, altho legally they didn't have to as nothing was listed or promised at point of sale. on the other nites prince didn't play there was a live band, and since dj nite the npg have played every aftershow, and people have been prewarned before the show that he may not appear, thus no need to offer refunds or swaps if he doesn't show. the security and staff don't know if he will play or not, it's just a case of waiting and seeing if he will show up, and if he will play if he is there

anyways i saw bobby, tamiko and marcus last nite, and are you who i think you are tokyo? from edinburgh?

Tokyo said:[quote]Hi Ladycat,
Firstly just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your post (even although we have different points of view on this)[quote]

Thanks - I enjoyed yours too, it's always stimulating to have different points of view to think about.

I like the idea that although I was in love with the aftershow I'd have felt even more in love if Prince had been there. Maybe it will give me a nudge (as if I needed one!) to go back for another night to see if you're right!

ladycat said:[quote]Tokyo said:[quote]Hi Ladycat,
Firstly just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your post (even although we have different points of view on this)

I thought your post was a beautiful thing to write. I only wish the NPG could read it.

GoldiesParade said:

Totally agree with you.

It left a very bad taste in my mouth

I guess I came at it from a different view - I had seem him on Tuesday (awesome, as I'm sure you've read) and was going again on Saturday. I fully expected to not see Prince, and I was more than happy to see the NPG. They really are exceptional artists, the way they can be masters of different musical styles is extremely impressive.

I was also very close to the stage, so seemed to have avoided the negativity from the drunks. Those around me were very appreciative.

Shelby was brilliant, Cora great again, the band clearly enjoyed themselves. I'm actually glad P didn't make a late appearance.

Like I say perhaps I was spoilt a little bit by Tuesday and my expectations were somewhat different.