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PRINCE VS. AEG LIVE SOUND CREW: Three-gig night plagued by technical glitches; artist calls out execs by name and urges fans to complain.
(March 30, 2009)

*Prince pulled off his scheduled three concerts in one night on Saturday, but it came with a number of sound problems that irritated the singer and a calling out of executives that he felt were responsible.

The groundbreaking promotion for his upcoming album began at the 7,100-capacity Nokia Theater Saturday evening. But during his 90-minute performance – which included his vintage hits "Controversy," "If I Were Your Girlfriend" and "Purple Rain," as well as three encores – he began having problems with the monitors, and constant pleas to the venue's crew to fix them never had much impact, reported Reuters.

"This is my celebration. I don't care what goes wrong," Prince said midway through the set, before scrunching up his nose in disgust. NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood were among the celebrities in the crowd.

The second show, at the 1,100-capacity Conga Room, began with a five-minute soundcheck and lasted about an hour. Each of the shows was promoted as being "full-length."

The third show, scheduled to begin at midnight, kicked off an hour late as Prince and his crew grappled with sound issues, forcing fans to wait in a long line outside the 2,300-capacity Club Nokia. He began the show before many entered the venue. Toward the end of the show, he mentioned a few AEG executives by name, and told fans to complain to them about the buzzing speakers.

"I came to see Alicia Keys here, and it was the worst sound I've ever heard," Prince said, noting that AEG had spent plenty of money on seating and lighting. "If you fix the sound, I'll be here every night, and I'll do it for free."

Prince's new album, the three-disc set "Lotusflow3r," was released yesterday (March 29) exclusively at retailer Target Corp and on his website.