and how long after he has 'finished' the gig ? thanks

No, I've been 4 times and he came back twice. Time varies.

He did on the 31st plus last night...not sure about 10th as we may have missed it, not knowing it was a possibility

My advice, don't leave until the nice lady on the tannoy says so.

As soon as people start leaving head to the front, especially if Prince's piano *mysteriously* appears on the squiggle

unkleg said:

Yeah if the announcer says go then its time to go.

If she doesnt then stay - especially if the piano/synth are put on the squiggle.No guarantee he will come back... depends on the noise he hears from the crowd i think.

unkleg said:

___will security staff let u onto the ground floor then even if u are in the tiers?

unkleg said:

A sure sign that it's over I think, is when the lighting guys start climbing down from the rig.

o2review said:

I think that's right. The show you get depends to a degree on the crowd reaction. The audience really can influence what happens at a Prince show. So many people don't get that.

At last sunday's aftershow, some guy was standing next to me with his girlfriend, saying "Yes, I guarantee he'll come back on". But neither of them were clapping or cheering. Imagine if everyone had that attitude... He wouldn't bother playing at all.

(I did try to nicely point this out to the guy, but he seemed to get a bit upset with me...)

I'm quite certain that the first night he ended with the sampler set, it wasn't planned. The lights had been on ages and I'm sure I heard the announcer say the show was over. But hardly anyone was leaving, there was still loads of noise and a continuous Mexican wave had sprung up around the lower tier. It must have been a good 10 minutes and then the keyboard was put up on to the stage. It was the best ending to a show yet because I think we all thought deep down that it was really over.

Since that night, he's eneded with the sampler at the other shows I've been to as well.

TheEnglishGent said:

yeah i was there for that gig... it was a sunday i think. Was a fantastic mexican wave and i agree i dont think that one was planned. Prince just reacted to an unbelievable crowd presence that night.

popelife said:

Absolutely...cue my highly embarrasing (according to hubby) 'make some funkin noise' last night...

Think that was Friday 31st August. Was in block 111, and I really thought it was over (loads of people had left) and the Mexican wave thing started and the crowd noise didn't stop until the purple one appeared for another fantastic encore.

It was a great gig (albeit with a strange set list - which I thought was great)

Yeah that extra encore on the 31st was great.It must have been a good 15 minutes beween the lights coming on and Prince coming back out. So many people had left and then suddenly he just appeared on stage in the middle of the mexican wave.....'what's all the noise about?' he said, as everyone rushed to the floor. Great!

peppeken said:

It's a struggle to try from the upper tier, but lower tier, just get as far forward as you can - there are barriers there. I was in C block (sounds like prison!) and just went straight down to the squiggle, what a sight, right up close. No problem with security, just don't try and take any pictures

Have to agree, the encore on 31st was amazing. I stayed and shouted my heart out more in hope than expectation. Once i'm at a 'P' gig I just want time to stop so that the gig never ends

popelife said:

Yeah, that kinda annoyed me too last sunday... especially on aftershows I have that feeling, that the louder the crowd is the longer the show will be. On thursday I several times felt that he was about to stop and the only reason he came back on was the crowd!

I kinda felt so stupid standing at the front shouting and screaming on sunday when most of the people, who were standing immediatly around me, were being silent! But then again, it didn't matter! I didn't want the show to stop so I carried on!

o2review said:

Yeah, that was Saturday 1st September. It looked like it was all over but nobody was going anywhere! A mexican wave did indeed go round the arena after the concert had finished and Prince had "thought" he'd done his final encore. He came back out though. I don't think he had a choice! Nobody was going anywhere! We wanted more. We shouted for more. And we got it!

I have it on good authority that if you are playing at the O2 you have to finish by 11.00pm, if you go beyond that they can invoke some sort of penalty clause on the artist. If it goes past 11.00pm then chances are he will not re-appear. Apart from the opening night when I missed that encore, I have always stayed until 11.00 or until I see the lighting crew coming down. Once you see them coming down you know he is not coming back out, the joys of Health and Safety you see.

Hope this helps

ace1967 said:

He went slightly over 11 p.m. on 1st September - only about 5 mins though.

Back again after lights up again tonight. A good 10+ minutes later too. Full band came back and they did A Love Bizarre followed by Chelsea Rodgers.