I'm tremendously disappointed I wasn't able to make it down to the L.A. shows. I was tempted to change flight plans to make it, but there was no way to do so without being terribly irresponsible on several levels. While I feel totally blessed to have seen some tremendous Prince shows in CA this year, the euphoria of the arena shows has resulted in my intense desire to see him in a more initimate setting. As a relatively new fan and CA resident, I'm getting mixed responses about how frequent these kinds of shows are. It seems when scrolling through write-ups and posts online, opinions lie at opposite ends of the spectrum: 1.) This is a once-in-a-lifetime, never-gonna-happen-again opportunity to see Prince in this setting & 2.) He plays lobbies and clubs all the time and if you hang around CA music venues long enough you're bound to run into him. Obviously the reality lies somewhere in between.

But my question for you longtime Prince fans: Realistically, in, let's say the next three years, how likely is it that Prince will pop up in the Los Angeles or Bay Area for another intimate/club show?

I was really hoping the Fillmore was going to work out last weekend, but unfortunately that fell through. Looking at PrinceVault, it appears he makes the club rounds a fair amount. Not so much that it doesn't feel special, but enough that I have good reason to hope for more shows in the years to come. The guys seems like he loves to play more than any musician I've seen, and I can't imagine him stopping anytime soon. He is in too damn great a form. I know with Prince you never know, but I'm feeling optimistic.

Thanks for reading and looking forward to your thoughts.

P.S. Based on the other topics throughout the month, this seems fair game for this forum. Please let me know if my assumption is wrong and I'll gladly move the thread.

Thanks ihatephish. Appreciate the posts. I'm definitely there with you as far as going to tons of shows in a given year. And that is where the mania for needing to see Prince in a small venue kicks in. After that third show in Oakland (Oracle Arena), I was worried Prince hurt my ability to enjoy live music (I'm only kind of exaggerating). I've since had some amazing live show experiences and my fears have been allayed, but I was just overwhelmed by the fact that an arena show (I'm used to venues usually well under a 1,000 capacity) could captivate me as much as it did. It's hard to fathom what the small venue experience will feel like. I'm hoping I find out sooner than later.

I am not in the US, meaning too far away to have made it to any LA shows and I can definitely relate to your desire / urge to see Prince in a small club!! I feel the same way when I read about these awesome opportunities, like the Troubadour and what he is doing right now at the House of Blues. I am also desperate to see him in a small venue like this ... and I am hopeful it will still happen some day!! You really never know with Prince - anything is possible, and that's what I am basing my hope on. And for you I would say you have definitely more chance in LA than anywhere else!!!

Absolutely no way of predicting it. Prince could be on the road throughout Europe for the next three years. It doesn't happen often. or regularly, at all. And when it does, you have to either be connected or act really, really fast to make it happen. I've been very fortunate to get into the Troubadour and HOB shows but I'm also in a position to jump on the tickets when they go on sale. In previous years I may not have had the money to do so. One day's notice is not a lot of time to raise an extra hundred dollars for a show...and if you have competing priorities such as rent, child care, food, education, etc...it can be a difficult situation. I don't want to think about how much I've spent on Forum shows & these small venue gigs...

Hey man, maybe I can help. I was in your place three days ago! I've gone to 10 Forum shows but I still felt I hadn't seen anything until I saw the small gig. Well it happened last night, but that doesn't mean that I've forgot all of the Forum shows like I thought I would. I was FUCKING PISSED to miss the Troubadour shows, but I'll live. It seems you've caught some great shows. Be happy about that. I could have touched Prince last night, but this morning I'm still the same person. Don't lose any sleep over not seeing him in a small club. You've seen him before, so what if you didn't see him up close, you've seen him play the guitar, so what if you've never seen every guitar solo.

People throw around "now I can die happy," but that's bullshit when it comes to our favorite musicians. We will always want to see the next show. Shit, I keep going to the Forum knowing damn well he's only going to play one verse of Raspberry Beret.

You did the right thing not being irresponsible. I could have gone the the third show, but I would have overdrawn my account!

If it makes you happy, I'd gladly trade my southern california place for your bay area place. I'd love to live up there.

1ststatestereo said:

Hey man, maybe I can help. I was in your place three days ago! I've gone to 10 Forum shows but I still felt I hadn't seen anything until I saw the small gig. Well it happened last night, but that doesn't mean that I've forgot all of the Forum shows like I thought I would. I was FUCKING PISSED to miss the Troubadour shows, but I'll live. It seems you've caught some great shows. Be happy about that. I could have touched Prince last night, but this morning I'm still the same person. Don't lose any sleep over not seeing him in a small club. You've seen him before, so what if you didn't see him up close, you've seen him play the guitar, so what if you've never seen every guitar solo.

People throw around "now I can die happy," but that's bullshit when it comes to our favorite musicians. We will always want to see the next show. Shit, I keep going to the Forum knowing damn well he's only going to play one verse of Raspberry Beret.

You did the right thing not being irresponsible. I could have gone the the third show, but I would have overdrawn my account!

If it makes you happy, I'd gladly trade my southern california place for your bay area place. I'd love to live up there.

Maybe you'll see something new at the Forum, too--at the San Jose shows he played Raspberry Beret in full both nights

Thanks for the replies everyone.

1ststatestereo said:

Hey man, maybe I can help. I was in your place three days ago! I've gone to 10 Forum shows but I still felt I hadn't seen anything until I saw the small gig. Well it happened last night, but that doesn't mean that I've forgot all of the Forum shows like I thought I would. I was FUCKING PISSED to miss the Troubadour shows, but I'll live. It seems you've caught some great shows. Be happy about that. I could have touched Prince last night, but this morning I'm still the same person. Don't lose any sleep over not seeing him in a small club. You've seen him before, so what if you didn't see him up close, you've seen him play the guitar, so what if you've never seen every guitar solo.

People throw around "now I can die happy," but that's bullshit when it comes to our favorite musicians. We will always want to see the next show. Shit, I keep going to the Forum knowing damn well he's only going to play one verse of Raspberry Beret.

Not sure I understand this comment. I've made it in some posts in jest as a way of expressing how incredible of an experience I had just...but I forgot how tone can't be "heard" online so let's bring it into cold perspective. The OP's question was regarding the chances of Prince doing more small venue gigs. If history is any indicator the answer is yes, Prince has always done small venue gigs and more than likely will do more. He doesn't appear to be retiring any time soon. But make no mistake...no matter how many arena shows you may have seen, and I've seen many...there is NOTHING to replace the experience of seeing him perform in front of you from feet away in an intimate environment. Yes you will live, yes you will wake up the next day and life goes on. But don't believe that it is no big deal to have seen such a show. It IS a big deal and there's nothing wrong with placing it on your Bucket List to make it happen. I would recommend keeping up with the Org for announcements, communicating with other members and making starting a "Prince Fund"...putting away a few dollars here and there so that the next time he's in LA, or Vegas, or wherever close by and there's a $100 or more small venue gig, you'll have the means to make it happen without it affecting your bottom line. I'd never seen him play a small venue before and my first Prince concert was in 1984...it can happen. You're only here once...my $0.02.

[Edited 5/26/11 17:18pm]

What I meant by that was that I've been waiting a while to hear "Bambi." Well I finally heard it. I guess you could say it was one of my "I can die happy" moments. But now I REALLY want to hear "When You Were Mine." After that, I could die happy.

But then there's "I Could Never..."

I know what you meant and I didn't mean any disrespect, I was just saying that fans of anything, whether it be old cars, guitars, or rock stars, will always want more. The desire to see Prince in a small club will not decrease even after you see Prince in a small club.

[Edited 5/26/11 17:25pm]

I see...you were just trying to let the OP know that even though it was a great experience, life still goes on and to not let it get him down. OK. I get that.

Bambi WAS great though, wasn't it?

xMikeBx said:

I'm tremendously disappointed I wasn't able to make it down to the L.A. shows. I was tempted to change flight plans to make it, but there was no way to do so without being terribly irresponsible on several levels. While I feel totally blessed to have seen some tremendous Prince shows in CA this year, the euphoria of the arena shows has resulted in my intense desire to see him in a more initimate setting. As a relatively new fan and CA resident, I'm getting mixed responses about how frequent these kinds of shows are. It seems when scrolling through write-ups and posts online, opinions lie at opposite ends of the spectrum: 1.) This is a once-in-a-lifetime, never-gonna-happen-again opportunity to see Prince in this setting & 2.) He plays lobbies and clubs all the time and if you hang around CA music venues long enough you're bound to run into him. Obviously the reality lies somewhere in between.

But my question for you longtime Prince fans: Realistically, in, let's say the next three years, how likely is it that Prince will pop up in the Los Angeles or Bay Area for another intimate/club show?

I was really hoping the Fillmore was going to work out last weekend, but unfortunately that fell through. Looking at PrinceVault, it appears he makes the club rounds a fair amount. Not so much that it doesn't feel special, but enough that I have good reason to hope for more shows in the years to come. The guys seems like he loves to play more than any musician I've seen, and I can't imagine him stopping anytime soon. He is in too damn great a form. I know with Prince you never know, but I'm feeling optimistic.

Thanks for reading and looking forward to your thoughts.

Doesn't seem like you're getting a clear answer. I'll volunteer:

100%

You have a much better chance to see him in Los Angeles than you do the Bay area, though.

1. As far as it being a once-in-a-lifetime experience, seeing Prince in an intimate setting, I would say without any emotion, is just that. People have certain abilities to capture attention when they walk into rooms, exude charisma, etc and Prince has them all. But there's more. When going to an intimate Prince show, you not only feel the excitement in the room, but you also get to observe how a master of his craft operates upclose and personal. Then, to top it off, you get a feeling that you are watching a person make love to music. He cherishes music and it's a joy to watch how it all unfolds while receiving such perfection to the ears. How these experiences make you feel are hard to describe, but the feeling is powerful.

2. This is where you're misinterpreting the reality of the situation. If you go to a lot of clubs, will you run into Prince one day? Maybe, maybe not. But will you run into a club performance by Prince? NO. Prince has played, literally hundreds of small shows in Los Angeles. Some have been announced. Some have been semi-private. Some have been very private. If you REALLY want to see Prince perform in an intimate setting and you're willing to spend whatever it costs: could be $50, could be $500. Then you have a 100% chance of seeing him in the next 3 years.

The reason why I personally offer that these type of experiences . . . April 14, 2011 at the Forum or May 11, 2011 at the Troubadour . . . might never happen again is because I'm not sure how much longer Prince will be able to maintain his elite level of abilities in terms of delivering shows that are head and shoulders above his peers. He's going to keep performing; that's for sure. So you need not worry about that.

I hope you get to see one of his small venue shows sooner than you even expect. Have a good one.

GDB- That's exactly what I meant!

To add, I don't think there is a definitive best Prince concert. A concert can legitimately be "the best ever" then the next month he tops it.

So to answer the original post, yes, I do believe he'll play another small gig in LA and it will be the experience of a lifetime.

[Edited 5/27/11 6:10am]