Shit setlist.

Slow show.

Far too much jamming for the main show - should have kept that for the aftershow.

Too much revelling in himself.

The piano medley was bollocks - snippits of hits before he got bored and went off improvising away.

The other show I went to was far better. I think there's a reason most artists don't do 21 nights.

Spookymuffin said:

Fantastic - say it like it is.
Good to get to reality in a forum where everyone thinks the guy is God.
Which other show did you see?
I think there have been 3 ropey ones aug 31 / sept 16 and yours.

ritaw said:

Well if it's a crowd issue he won't know what's hit him tonight. Come on everybody - let's give Prince a night to remember as well and all for the right reasons!

phils123 said:

I saw an early one - August 4th, and it was SO much better. He opened with Let's Go Crazy and everyone went nuts.

To open with Musicology was just appalling in my opinion - an artist with the amount of experience he has should know that. Like I said, it was like an aftershow set on the main stage.

I expected a lot more, especially as I had brought a friend in an attempt to convert him.

Also - talking during the epic finale that is Purple Rain is stupid too. Can you imagine if Johnny Cash yelled "YA LIKE THIS SONG, LONDON?" during his version of "Hurt"?

That said - Controversy and U Got the Look were real highlights as always, and I never thought I was going to hear 1999 live, so that again really cheered me up.

It just could have been so much more.

Militant said:

You and your threats were The One who inspired me to try and put my phone to good use during the shows, so thanks for that, Militant! (Of course, O2 is the main hero doing these, no doubt about it!)

DoMeBaby69 said:

I cant wait for tonight! I'll be the one shouting nice things at the top of my voice...See you there guys! x

Spookymuffin said:

If he'd done a whole European tour he'd done much more than 21 gigs in Europe. I remember in '87 he played in Munich something like 5 times and Munich isn't even that big in any sense of the word (I'm from Munich so I'm allowed to say that).

I thought first half was ace. Second half after the piano bit, not so sure... Nothing wrong with the set lits though, in my opinion!

LiveToLove said:

Yeah but 21 nights in the same venue is totally different to 21 nights whilst touring. Clearly the same venue will get tiring to you as you know the routine, etc, etc.

Spookymuffin said:

I have to say, whilst my criticism is not as severe as yours, I do somewhat agree.
It was my 4th show, and as it was the second to last show, I had expected there to be a bit more to it... I don't think the opening songs really felt right as openers, and I was surprised by the lack of encores.
It didn't really seem to kick off prperly until Let's Go Crazy, from then on it picked up pretty well as far as I'm concerned.

It seemed to me that he was just in a different kind of mood than the other nights I've been to.


And you know what... forget Johnny Cash doing it, I can't imagine TR doing it during Hurt, although the NIN crowd on their own invariably does their best to ruin that.


BTW does anyone have the entire setlist for last night yet?

ComaWhite said:

TR takes hurt very seriously when playing it live. They let off fireworks (he was headlining) early at some German festival as he was closing with Hurt and he got pissed. - I've seen NIN 4 times this year and someone only shouted once during hurt. At Reading Festival a couple of guys near me were crying during Hurt. That's how Purple Rain could be. It'd be amazing if it were.

I suppose I overly criticise Prince because he has meant so much to me, and as a result I expect so much more from him. I want his shows to be better, because I know (and all of us fans now) that they can be better - they can be incredible! I came away from the August 4th show feeling like I was a new fan all over again. I came away from last night's show feeling like a jaded fan all over again.

I agree with you about it finally kicking off with Let's Go Crazy, but the timing of that was weird imho - to me, LGC should always be the opener, or the encore track - going to silence then bringing in the organ like that broke apart his show that otherwise segued together. I've always thought that amateur bands (or bands that it doesn't suit) don't run their songs together live for extended periods of time - and Prince does a lot of that - so when he starts pausing in-between songs I think the show loses flow, and I think that's why it wasn't so upbeat tonight.

Nothing wrong with the set lits though, in my opinion![/quote]

Damn right! Man I would have loved to be there. As I've said before - if he played "The wheels on the bus" it wuda been funky! Sounds like a lot of the songs he sang at the 13th Aftershow - Musicology rocked Indigo2 that night - maybe thats why thought he woudl try it - I've heard he has a cold tho so maybe that why he has been light on the vocals to save his voice and could explain the no show at the aftershow. My heart goes out to everyone who was dissapointed - been there - got the wounds - but lucky I got the opportunity to get those wounds healed by going again on the 13th.

To everyone going tonight - go CRAZAY! Punch a higher floor!

Us homers will be with you in spirit on Sky News - thats gonna be pretty cool - he is bound to do really big tunes for that - Purple Rain and lets go crazy me thinks....if he played Bob George - that woudl be it - I'd pack it up and bury myself and head for heaven but

I tend to agree - I thought last night took a while to get going - it was almost like someone had said "You have to get on stage at 830 sharp" and everyone, crowd and P, was only half ready. When it took off about half way through it really soared.

Let's hope some energy was being conserved for tonight....

VanessaB8tt said:

No, it would be terrible.

Spookymuffin said:

Ah you are young and innocent Spooky Muffin and all your life ahead of you to get obsessed with Prince like us oldies

VanessaB8tt said:

I've been obsessed for 12 years of my life and posting here since the black n' purple days. I'm a oldie trapped in a young body.

Spookymuffin said:

After waiting something like 10 years, the first time I saw NIN, in America, was immense. Hurt was incredible. I saw them again in Brixton this year, and they were great, excellent setlist, but the crowd was flat, it just lacked something.
That's kind of how I felt about last night, as a whole, it wasn't as complete as the others have been, due to the opening and lack of encores.
For me, Purple Rain was the best at the 24/08 show.
I've been trying to decide if Prince now has the edge over NIN as far as concerts go for me...

I'm now in 110 row H!

ComaWhite said:

What night in Brixton did you see them? I saw 2 nights at Brix - one where they debuted The Beginning of the End (and I knew the lyrics *smug*) and one where he gave a long political rant. Crowd were ace both times (I was standing). Best crowd were at Reading though; there were people around me who didn't know who NIN were yelling "these guys are fucking incredible!" which made me pleased. The show was amazing. I'd never seen NIN with their full lightshow before.

Spookymuffin said:

They did the light show at Reading?! I wish I'd gone now, but I hate the setup of that festival.
I saw the final night in Brixton. I had a lot of anticipation because it's usually such a great venue - but the first time I saw them, in a huge, soulless sports arena in Nashville, there was much more energy; it was very intense.
Plus, with the light show, and the video section (during Right Where It Belongs) which silenced the entire crowd, it made the whole event spectacular, it just blew Brixton away.

ComaWhite said:

See my profile - that's what the lightshow was at Reading. It was sick - people just stopped and stared. But Brixton is supposed to be a stripped down venue for Trent, it's why he likes it. With us he talked more, he jumped down to the crowd and stuck his hands out. He likes it more intimate and bare, and I do to as an obsessive fan. It should also be noted that the folks over at echoingthesound.org (like prince.org for nin ) said Sunday was one of the worse nights along with Friday.