I just asked in another forum for more input on the sound issue from fans in attendance, and have seen a couple complaints from fans in the concert forum. Too bad, I know this happened to me one show and it really affected the whole night's performance. All I can say is, dont hold this one show as a measure for future shows. Bad sound, and ensuing frustration from P or any musician unable to hear themselves and the band is going to lead to a subpar show, but we all know P is the best when things are on and no one can compare to him on a good night.

shortnsweet said:

You obviously never saw the Gold tour in 95 when Prince had decided he could mix the house sound himself, with catastrophic results.

"I saw all three shows. While the Conga room was by far the best, I enjoyed the Club Nokia show (ith the exception of the extended Renato solos)"

I'm in total agreement -- my sentiments exactly. Saturday was an amazing night overall, truly epic!!!

xlr8r said:

No. I meant honest about his own feelings.

The first time I saw Prince live was in 1994 at Glam Slam in Minneapolis. There were two back-to-back nights, and I can't remember whether I went to the first or the second.

At this point, I was just starting to explore Prince's music, and like most new fans, I walked in thinking I was going to hear a bunch of songs I'd heard before (especially since the tickets cost $50, which was a lot at the time for a college student like me). Instead, he played a full setlist of most Gold Experience tracks (and his was about a year before TGE was released).

In any event, I loved the show, and the audience was generally very into it because of the energy of Prince and the NPG (and Mayte). However, at any show like that, you're going to have a chunk of fans who get upset because they're hearing nothing but obscure songs.

When Prince does multiple shows in an evening, you HAVE to expect a show of mostly covers and jamming (whether jazzy, funk or rock) at the nightcap performance. So I have no sympathy to all the people who bought tickets to just this one show, and then expected a bunch of easy to digest hits. (See the comments in the EW minute-by-minute review of people walking out for that reason. Yes, you DID pay to see meandering jazz fusion!)

OTOH, I totally sympathize with this poster about the lack of sound, and terrible organization getting in. On the sound part, I think Prince usually makes a strong effort to have good sound when he's at small venues, so I would cut him a little slack and hope he learns from this experience. (I remember the sound at the ONA shows being phenomenal, and since the soundcheck was open to NPGMC members, you could actually watch him spend time before the show really working to get it right.)

On the organizational side, I do think Prince's organization often allows things like this to happen (whether at PP, aftershows, or even regular tour shows), and while the venue should certainly get much of the blame, I have to think Prince would do a lot of good if he made sure his team worked better with venues in the future to get people in on time, especially since he controls a chunk of the seating mechanics through his membership system.

It also sounds like Prince kind of phoned it in a little, even with the unique set-list. The worst Prince show I've ever seen was his 1997 aftershow at the 9:30 Club in DC, where there were some unique songs (like Johnny with the 18 & Over lyrics), but the show was short and he really didn't play much at all. So I can see where this setlist might be a little deceiving.

Hopefully this will be a one-time glitch and not a repeated problem.
[Edited 3/30/09 11:04am]

dlp45 said:

I agree with you. Please don't get me wrong--The Conga Room show was excellent. It was a very intimate venue with good sound (once the performance actually began), with great music, and it provided an excellent view of Prince . On the other hand, I also think that it may have been better to have one long show at a venue that had good sound with a larger selection of material overall--for those who love some of his amazing yet less commercialized songs, those who were hoping to hear songs from his three new albums, and those who were hoping to hear his more commercialized, well-known hits. Plus, everyone would have gotten the chance to see Sheila E and Chaka Khan. However, in any event, I had a wonderful time!
[Edited 3/30/09 11:34am]
[Edited 4/1/09 14:41pm]

For those who enjoyed I am so happy and for those who didn't, I feel for you. It's bad to pay for something and not walk away satisfied.

just seems cruel to play knowing the sound is wack .. i woulda been cool n him saying know what i gotta cancel n get it right .come back ina month or play across the street . Dude please come back n make this right man .. a free show .. something ..

Now this is the type of gig that I WANT to see. Reminds me of the only time I walked out on The Artist.
He gave a show in Atlanta at The Tabernacle circa y2k/'01. The club was already overcrowded and folks were smoking and dropping ashes on everyone.
The show turned into one long medley of bits and pieces of hits that sounded exactly like the record. I said you mean to tell me we came down here for THIS!?!
Hell for what he's doing I coulda just fired up cd player at the crib. And that is exactly what I went home and did.
I wanted to hear the mugg strech out and get in a good thick groove but that was not what the gig was about. I faulted myself for going down there in the first place.

I have seen Prince about 21 times now, and he definitely did not phone it in as some have said here. The late show was a more mellow vibe, but it was still engaging and the arrangments of many of the songs were fantastic. "In A Large Room..." sounded great. I did not need a 1985 arrangement to enjoy the song. I loved Prince's vocals on it and the band's execution. One of the things that made it sound so good was the quality of musicians playing the song. Also, his vocals were great on the "Insatiable," "Scandalous," "Beautiful Ones" run. I could tell that he had been saving his vocals so that he could rip those, and he did.

Since the Club Nokia show was about a mellow, jazzy vibe, I expected P to be more laid back and he was. However, he did not slack off on the songs. I loved the arrangement and delivery of "The Sun, the Moon and Stars." I also loved "When the Lights Go Down." So much of the night was great, that I cannot see how anyone would describe it as "awful." We are all entitled to our own opinions, but even with the sound issues or if you do not like Renato's playing (I could listen to him for hours myself) I do not see how you could refer to the show as "awful."

This is the first complaint I've seen and from what I've seen of the concert it was great!

hales said:

The early reports had me feeling like I'd missed something, but more and more I'm embracing that Conga Room show. Didn't see the Club Nokia but from I'm Yours to I like it There...to Dreamer, that short set may be the best one I've ever seen from him in terms of venue, songs, vibe..

BanishedBrian said:

Aw man... flashbacks to the Love 4 One Another show at a club in Boston where he did Johnny and I was the only one (at least near the stage) who knew what was going on, and he kept nodding at me while we raised our fists (like the Mo'Betta, if you know that).

I honestly didn't hear the problems after the 1st show. Conga wasn't perfect but it sounded like it did 3 weeks prior at the Tavis Smily gig & the setlist hit the main artery 10x over.

To me Club Nokia sounded great. I was on the raised tier just beyond the main floor front & center. I didn't experience anything noticabley wrong with the sound.

Hopefully P's disappointment won't overshadow a possible release. It would be a waste if he at least didn't give us a taste.

Hell he released the mockery that was The Alladin. What was that shot through a whales blowhole?

Oh Gawd

JumpUpOnThe1 said:

the second show will be the one people are still talking about years from now. Short but brilliant.

Trickology said:

seems like you spend a lot of time analyzing the purple sheep

just my

bellanoche said:

Exactly!

First, It was a nightmare to even enter the site to purchase tickets...I only got the chance to get ONE ticket for the first show....and the ticket sucked!!!
Row WWWWW
Even tho tickets were sold on the street for the PIT by his bodyguard!!

People should know that Prince got on stage at around 6 PM for the soundcheck...It should have been pretty obvious then, that the sound was terrible...but NOTHING was done....As we were listening to some music prior to his show...the Speakers sounded awful.
I think that it was Prince's responsibility to make sure that everything would go as planned. When I buy a ticket, I expect a decent show...Plus a membership?
There is NO excuse.....I want a refund...or another show at another venue, well mayb a private concert...I'll settle for that

AtenO said:

at least you were in row W I was in mezzanine with my bullshit ticketmaster tickets

Trickology said:

X 1000

Well, I really enjoyed the last show. I've seen Prince more than 80 times, and usually his shows contain some "filler material" which means that is the time to go to the bathroom. Songs like Play that Funky Music, or an extended boring jam. The second show had none of that. If that were an official release, I would load it to my ipod and listen to it constantly. The third show was also awesome, but for the reason that Prince decided to play a bunch of songs he either has never performed before, or that were rarely performed. I know a bunch of people that would have given their left arm to hear him play In a Large Room with No Light, even with the different arrangement (I really thought he was going to play Pop Life, a la the Vegas 2002 video), but he surprised me. And Journey 2 the Center of Your Heart...that sounded exactly like the (un)released version...I was nearly screaming when he did that one. Of course, I was also looking around at all of the fans in there hoping he was going to open with Purple Rain, play Purple Rain in the middle, and then end with Purple Rain, and they were not moved by the show at all. What's funny is that I was not really moved by the first show at all because I've seen it all before.

In 2002 I was lucky enough to attend the Celebration, and he pulled songs out of his butt to play. It felt like it was an extension of that to be at this third concert. Heck, how many other artists play 3 completely different shows in one night?

I went to all three shows and Conga room was definitely the best, but I loved all three shows. At Nokia club Prince seemed pissed for some reason: could be the sound or he was tired or annoyed at some dude taking his pictures.

I was third row from the stage and could see him perfectly and listen clearly so the sound did not bother me too much. I really enjoyed Sun,moon and stars, she spoke 2 me, I love u but I don't trust u , Insatiable, scandalous, beautiful ones and nothing compares 2 U among all the other songs he performed there.

I wish he would add a clip of the show to his new website for us to relive the experience..
[Edited 4/2/09 21:55pm]

AtenO said:

Stop being such a sourpuss

And Don't b an Ass Kisser

xlr8r said:

AtenO said:

Then don't be a soupuss..

Jestyr is lying. It was not awful...It was horribly terrible.

This is probably my 30th Prince show and this was clearly and unquestionably the worst.

Consider the Prince website launches completely devoid of any semblance of usability combined with completely inefficient bandwidth - you get shut out of tickets on that underperforming excuse for a website. This required me to buy my $77 tickets for $195 plus fees and taxes and whatever else was piled on via stubhub.com. Two tickets = $439.00.

This now means that I get to stand in the Club Nokia line that snakes around nearly a country mile a la Disney land. When I finally get in to the show he is already on stage and folks mention its "about the 6th song of the night" - huh?

On top of that P is clearly pissed about the crappy sound. I get it. We all get it. We all got it. And paid for it. I really did not drop $439 to hear Prince complain about AEG Live or for the very best of Renato Neto. But hey its Prince and its his right.

Its a recession - people are paying a premium for a show. And it starts while people are still in line??

Cmon. Total and utter disappointment. An expensive one at that.

xlr8r said:

Here you go again telling everyone how to be. AtenO had a bad experience and posted about it. And you come up with that response.

Nice one soppybollocks.

ydnom said:

OUCH!! I feel - I feel-- I feel for U.... sorry things went that way.

Thinking back to the NPGMC days and how easy it was to get front row tix, it's hard to conceive of this process working so poorly.

Wonder why P didn't just stop playing, go off on an extended rant about sound and then continue once the people came in? Was he thinking maybe he'd play to find the right solutions to the issues?? I'd be pissed too...

AtenO said:

Stop making your crap experience a generalization.