Yes, he looked very, very tired and pissed off. He is looking very tired lately, and I hope he'll be okay by the end of this tour.

I don't undertand why has to play his old songs all the time? Kinda crazy for someone innovative he is...yes he's not in the 80s anymore, but he does still good music, right?

Very, very weird...

aprilsnow said:

I think that we witnessed Prince's last concert in Germany ever.

Berlin last year wasn't sold out but there were said to be 14.000, there may have been 8000 in Cologne with the promoter making a huge loss.

It was indeed a very short concert and the sound was the worst I heard in the Lanxess Arena, but I enjoyed my evening.

I am not tired of hearing Kiss or Controvery live. I enjoyed "A Love Bizarre" but thought the guitar solo of Shhh could have been better. With my ear protection in place I even enjoyed Laydown.

But the way he treated the audience was beyond unbelievable. Not only the 30 minute break due to sound problems (soundcheck anyone?) was difficult to digest, but he even angered some people so much that they threw beer at the stage and sound enginers.

After the last song he left the house lights off for 5 minutes before switching them on and letting the roadies dismantel the stage. If he knew earlier that he would finish after "love Bizarre" he may as well have the houslights on after 90 seconds to avoid mayhem.

I think he was contracted to a minimum of 75 minutes. So we had Laydown as an add-on

He looked really tired though. Dark circles under his eyes. But he managed to danced, smile and even sang with a young girl on stage and gave her hi-five. He definitely needs to work on his social skills.

Reports say that he turned up on stage for quick soundcheck just after 6pm. In fact, he was abscent from the souncheck!

I asked few people around midday if soundcheck had taken place and was told that Shelby was on stage. Prince was not around for soundcheck!

aprilsnow said:

Nightcrawler said:

The technical problems in the beginning and the long delay after that killed the flow of the whole gig. That's not Princes fault. The curfew (and there is one) wasn't Princes fault either. And the bad sound (especially the guitar) also wasn't his fault. If all of these things wouldn't have happened, we would have gotten a good, long concert. The setlist was perfect as was Princes performance and his energy. Too bad for Cologne, but certainly not a sign that he doesn't deliver anymore.

Why do you think that the technical problems are not down to him? Instead of a line check done by engineers in the afternoon, maybe the artist himself should show up and play a proper soundcheck. I guess the half empty arena didn't help at all. Maybe they shoud have turned down the sound a bit.

Truth is, the sound in the Lanxess Arena is always bad UNLESS you are using the house PA that is especially tuned to deal with the arenas sonic and architectual problems.If the promoter hasn't told Prince beforehand that he HAS to use the house PA instead of his own in order to avoid sound problems then no surprise about the bad sound.

Often the truth isn't b/w so i don't think the promoter's official statement is necessarily 100% accurate.

[Edited 7/29/11 11:45am]

Of course promoters always saying it's not their fault of course not!

xLiberiangirl said:

Of course promoters always saying it's not their fault of course not!

????????

eireboy34 said:

xLiberiangirl said:

Of course promoters always saying it's not their fault of course not!

????????

I'm not saying it's their fault, but they say it's all Prince/crew his fault which isn't.

Yes, something is going on with himself. I think he has some issues. It may be that he is unhappy with the band, and can't change it. The band chemistry was a disaster yesterday. I don't even know if Andy was on stage?!

Every band member wa so terribly upset and Prince sweating and looking so tired and pissed off. How can he even go on a stage like that? I'm getting worried seriously.

nonesuch said:

KoolEaze said:

Prince is getting bad press ( Der Spiegel is THE most important magazine in Germany), people are still complaining left and right, are pondering sueing him or the management of the venue due to having hearing problems, and there are still apologists on the org who are trying to downplay what happened last night without having been there?

This was the worst show I´ve ever seen.

Will this stop me from going to Prince shows in the future? Of course not. Shit happens, and everybody can have a bad day every now and then, even Prince.

But he could have handled things professionally. Saying "Sorry for the delay" is a nice gesture but that wasn´t enough after letting people wait for 45 minutes after one song without any explanation.

If he had improvised a bit, maybe played a longer piano set or acoustic guitar then people wouldn´t have complained so much. But all the delay and the very short concert ( roughly 75 minutes) left a bad aftertaste.

And the sound was definitely not the only thing that I disliked last night.

Eaze, you're so right. I was thinking almost the same. He could have saved the whole affair if he would have explained his reason for stopping after the first song. He could have sat at the piano to play some songs, while his people would have fixed the sound-problems. He could have been charming. Instead the primadonna probably sat in his dressing room, somehow spiky. But I smell another rat. Is the downfall of the Cologne-incident really only due to the soundengineer? If so, Prince could have easily gotten someone else from the area who would have done a better job than JOHN. Wouldn't it be possible or more likely that Prince rented rotten equipment for the tour? Even if he had, the problems could have been fixed mid-tour. Well, they weren't. So, isn't it more likely that something within prince himself is out of sync with what's going on?

OzlemUcucu said:

Yes, something is going on with himself. I think he has some issues. It may be that he is unhappy with the band, and can't change it. The band chemistry was a disaster yesterday. I don't even know if Andy was on stage?!

Every band member wa so terribly upset and Prince sweating and looking so tired and pissed off. How can he even go on a stage like that? I'm getting worried seriously.

oh, maybe he broke up with Andy for posting LRC on youtube!

beatz01 said:

Truth is, the sound in the Lanxess Arena is always bad UNLESS you are using the house PA that is especially tuned to deal with the arenas sonic and architectual problems.If the promoter hasn't told Prince beforehand that he HAS to use the house PA instead of his own in order to avoid sound problems then no surprise about the bad sound.

Often the truth isn't b/w so i don't think the promoter's official statement is necessarily 100% accurate.

[Edited 7/29/11 11:45am]

Prince's own plans don't work. He did a wrong decision with something and can't change it at short notice. He's not happy with the band. Shelby is very powerful, and tries to rescue things last minute if things go wrong, but she can't do it all the time for him.

Prince gotta play, if he doesn't wanna play, he's gotta take a break from touring. There is no point in doing gigs, if he knows he's tired and unhappy.

He wants the cash, and maybe doesn't care for fans, but people get disappointed. I hate to see negative reviews, and there are too many of them circulating...once gain I can't believe this is Prince we are talking about.

What the fuck is wrong with him?

OzlemUcucu said:

Prince's own plans don't work. He did a wrong decision with something and can't change it at short notice. He's not happy with the band. Shelby is very powerful, and tries to rescue things last minute if things go wrong, but she can't do it all the time for him.

Prince gotta play, if he doesn't wanna play, he's gotta take a break from touring. There is no point in doing gigs, if he knows he's tired and unhappy.

He wants the cash, and maybe doesn't care for fans, but people get disappointed. I hate to see negative reviews, and there are too many of them circulating...once gain I can't believe this is Prince we are talking about.

What the fuck is wrong with him?

According to Stefan Löcher, business manager of Arena Management, everything was prepared for a gig that could go on until 01:00 in the morning.

No word of a curfew!

"Stefan Löcher, Geschäftsführer der Betreibergesellschaft Arena Management, betont, dass es auch kein Zeitlimit in der Halle gegeben hätte. Man sei vorbereitet gewesen, die Halle bis 1 Uhr zu bespielen."

Source:

http://www.mediabiz.de/mu...uht/308082

[Edited 7/29/11 12:24pm]

edit: same as above

[Edited 7/29/11 12:26pm]

Some of u guys are drama queens,

Sorry, just had to say this.

Taramusen said:

teiemka said:

I know it dont change anything, but I'm really sorry for all of you that had this terrible experience.

Considering that a soundcheck was done before the show(described as late) and the sound was still poor really is baffling?

Anyone work in the biz that can give us an insight on who does the sound for the tour, is it the venue, or does Prince have his own sound guys.....my lay thinking is that regardless who does it, someone should be playing instruments on stage during a soundcheck to get it right for the night.

People who have attended have every right to be disappointed, they have paid their hard earned to attend something special that wasn't to be. To the poster that went to 4 shows in LA I'm happy you had a good time, but taking the piss out of people that that had this experience is out of line.

BTW you got off pretty lightly.

Many are disappointed and others angry, but the comments that Prince has lost it live are way off. He is getting better with age, his voice and giutar playing are impeccable, that you didn't get a chance to experience this is a real shame. The quality of the shows on this tour have been great with only 1st night @NSJ and this show in Cologne suffering from sound. Yes, it should not happen and hopefully it wont happen again.

Onto Dublin, and to everyone going have a great time.

I knew that Prince was not known for always having a good sound on stage. But here it is beyond measure: Ghent: good sound, good show, in Luxembourg: Bad sound, poor balance (it was a pity with the reinforcement of the saxophone) in Köln: disastrous, he mocked the public. For me, a curfew of 23 hours is a joke and a good excuse. See the audience booing him and throwing cans was a painful moment for me. I almost cry. I was ashamed for him. Why? It is the responsibility of Prince to surround himself with good technicians. Especially when it is at this level and is said to love this audience. I am very disappointed but also very sad.

I am watching and listening to this show right now, and you have hit the nail on the head...

xLiberiangirl said:

Some of u guys are drama queens,

Sorry, just had to say this.

Library girl, or whatever your name is,...if ytou paid 80 euro in a restaurant and the food arrived cold and overcooked ( and no I'm not saying this is the norm in Holland ); what would you do?

You'd smile and think " just pay and don't be a drama queen"???

Please, I'd really love to know?

Or you buy a pair of white socks in your local Dutch mall and there is a hole in one of them when you get home...would you think ' oh, shut up, you silly girl, stop being a drama queen and wear the white socks with the hole"??!!

Please, we nee dto know!!!

xLiberiangirl said:

eireboy34 said:

????????

I'm not saying it's their fault, but they say it's all Prince/crew his fault which isn't.

How do you know?

Fact is that prince doesn't communicate like normal people do. It's hard to reach him even even for people who do business with him. If he came to the soundcheck much earlier perhaps they could have worked things out. But obviusly he doesn't care and arrives late (at about two hours before the gig when the fans were already enteing the arena).

eireboy34 said:

xLiberiangirl said:

Some of u guys are drama queens,

Sorry, just had to say this.

Library girl, or whatever your name is,...if ytou paid 80 euro in a restaurant and the food arrived cold and overcooked ( and no I'm not saying this is the norm in Holland ); what would you do?

You'd smile and think " just pay and don't be a drama queen"???

Please, I'd really love to know?

Or you buy a pair of white socks in your local Dutch mall and there is a hole in one of them when you get home...would you think ' oh, shut up, you silly girl, stop being a drama queen and wear the white socks with the hole"??!!

Please, we nee dto know!!!

Please...

I mean some of u guys are really saying he doesn't enjoy performing anymore and he can't do it anymore and he was pissed off all night, he wasn't.

And he can still do it, there were some problems that's why this wasn't good.

It was not because Prince can do it anymore.

That's what I mean with drama queens. Or people that saying ''fuck u Prince'' or any stuff like that I mean how old are u??

ludwig said:

xLiberiangirl said:

I'm not saying it's their fault, but they say it's all Prince/crew his fault which isn't.

How do you know?

Fact is that prince doesn't communicate like normal people do. It's hard to reach him even even for people who do business with him. If he came to the soundcheck much earlier perhaps they could have worked things out. But obviusly he doesn't care and arrives late (at about two hours before the gig when the fans were already enteing the arena).

I find it very unusual for someone of Prince´s calibre to have got into the habit of being late, especially when nothing seems checked or planned...not sure if he has a manager on this tour or not, but if as it seems, he is managing most of this himself, he seriously needs to slow down, and one of the golden rules of management is...Never assume anything is done, till you have checked it yourself...

xLiberiangirl said:

eireboy34 said:

Library girl, or whatever your name is,...if ytou paid 80 euro in a restaurant and the food arrived cold and overcooked ( and no I'm not saying this is the norm in Holland ); what would you do?

You'd smile and think " just pay and don't be a drama queen"???

Please, I'd really love to know?

Or you buy a pair of white socks in your local Dutch mall and there is a hole in one of them when you get home...would you think ' oh, shut up, you silly girl, stop being a drama queen and wear the white socks with the hole"??!!

Please, we nee dto know!!!

Please...

I mean some of u guys are really saying he doesn't enjoy performing anymore and he can't do it anymore and he was pissed off all night, he wasn't.

And he can still do it, there were some problems that's why this wasn't good.

It was not because Prince can do it anymore.

That's what I mean with drama queens. Or people that saying ''fuck u Prince'' or any stuff like that I mean how old are u??

well I'd be kind of pissed if I paid to see a bad show, but it does not mean he has lost it

xLiberiangirl said:

eireboy34 said:

Library girl, or whatever your name is,...if ytou paid 80 euro in a restaurant and the food arrived cold and overcooked ( and no I'm not saying this is the norm in Holland ); what would you do?

You'd smile and think " just pay and don't be a drama queen"???

Please, I'd really love to know?

Or you buy a pair of white socks in your local Dutch mall and there is a hole in one of them when you get home...would you think ' oh, shut up, you silly girl, stop being a drama queen and wear the white socks with the hole"??!!

Please, we nee dto know!!!

Please...

I mean some of u guys are really saying he doesn't enjoy performing anymore and he can't do it anymore and he was pissed off all night, he wasn't.

And he can still do it, there were some problems that's why this wasn't good.

It was not because Prince can do it anymore.

That's what I mean with drama queens. Or people that saying ''fuck u Prince'' or any stuff like that I mean how old are u??

And the answer to my questions????

eireboy34 said:

xLiberiangirl said:

Please...

I mean some of u guys are really saying he doesn't enjoy performing anymore and he can't do it anymore and he was pissed off all night, he wasn't.

And he can still do it, there were some problems that's why this wasn't good.

It was not because Prince can do it anymore.

That's what I mean with drama queens. Or people that saying ''fuck u Prince'' or any stuff like that I mean how old are u??

And the answer to my questions????

I said what I mean with drama queens, I think these people are drama queens, not the people that saying show was bad, but saying that he can't perform anymore or he is frustrated and stuff like that.

end of the story.

xLiberiangirl said:

eireboy34 said:

And the answer to my questions????

I said what I mean with drama queens, I think these people are drama queens, not the people that saying show was bad, but saying that he can't perform anymore or he is frustrated and stuff like that.

end of the story.

OK so no answer to my questions.

By the way, I've reported your anti-German comments on another post to the mods.

OzlemUcucu said:

Prince's own plans don't work. He did a wrong decision with something and can't change it at short notice. He's not happy with the band. [...]

That's didn't show last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday... I think you are jumping into (unfounded?) conclusions about him and the band based on a very bad experience yesterdaynight - he most likely was (and still is) pissed off with everyone, but not being happy with the band... that is something else all together?

Well, it's not the overcooked meal you'd be upset with, but more the disappointment. It's a different thing being a fan and feeling let down. Lots of people were in tears yesterday..after the gig...any idea how that feels? Not tears from joy but of disappointment, and nobody hates Prince...but what you gonna say to people who ask you about Prince now?

Can you still say, yeah he's awesome?

eireboy34 said:

xLiberiangirl said:

Some of u guys are drama queens,

Sorry, just had to say this.

Library girl, or whatever your name is,...if ytou paid 80 euro in a restaurant and the food arrived cold and overcooked ( and no I'm not saying this is the norm in Holland ); what would you do?

You'd smile and think " just pay and don't be a drama queen"???

Please, I'd really love to know?

Or you buy a pair of white socks in your local Dutch mall and there is a hole in one of them when you get home...would you think ' oh, shut up, you silly girl, stop being a drama queen and wear the white socks with the hole"??!!

Please, we nee dto know!!!

eireboy34 said:

xLiberiangirl said:

I said what I mean with drama queens, I think these people are drama queens, not the people that saying show was bad, but saying that he can't perform anymore or he is frustrated and stuff like that.

end of the story.

OK so no answer to my questions.

By the way, I've reported your anti-German comments on another post to the mods.

what the hell?

I'm not anti german, absolutely not. I met some nice german people yesterday in the queue, but some of the audience were just not nice.

About the white socks thing, I don't know if he mean that comment, sorry but I can see what white socks has to do with germany and holland?

Or i am that stupid? I'm not 20 ...

but this is completely off topic, i think i will leave this board, people are acting crazy, sorry.

xLiberiangirl said:

eireboy34 said:

OK so no answer to my questions.

By the way, I've reported your anti-German comments on another post to the mods.

what the hell?

I'm not anti german, absolutely not. I met some nice german people yesterday in the queue, but some of the audience were just not nice.

About the white socks thing, I don't know if he mean that comment, sorry but I can see what white socks has to do with germany and holland?

Or i am that stupid? I'm not 20 ...

but this is completely off topic, i think i will leave this board, people are acting crazy, sorry.

This is your coment from this thread

http://prince.org/msg/12/363908

"germany just sucks.

Other places in Europe are great, everyone loves him

Especially Belgium and Holland! "

Saying Germany "sucks" is not "anti -Geramn??

Please leave the org if you want to.

No one likes bigots and racists.

[Edited 7/29/11 13:00pm]

eireboy34 said:

xLiberiangirl said:

Some of u guys are drama queens,

Sorry, just had to say this.

Library girl, or whatever your name is,...if ytou paid 80 euro in a restaurant and the food arrived cold and overcooked ( and no I'm not saying this is the norm in Holland ); what would you do?

You'd smile and think " just pay and don't be a drama queen"???

Please, I'd really love to know?

Or you buy a pair of white socks in your local Dutch mall and there is a hole in one of them when you get home...would you think ' oh, shut up, you silly girl, stop being a drama queen and wear the white socks with the hole"??!!

Please, we nee dto know!!!

Perfect comparisons.

Whitnail said:

ludwig said:

How do you know?

Fact is that prince doesn't communicate like normal people do. It's hard to reach him even even for people who do business with him. If he came to the soundcheck much earlier perhaps they could have worked things out. But obviusly he doesn't care and arrives late (at about two hours before the gig when the fans were already enteing the arena).

I find it very unusual for someone of Prince´s calibre to have got into the habit of being late, especially when nothing seems checked or planned...not sure if he has a manager on this tour or not, but if as it seems, he is managing most of this himself, he seriously needs to slow down, and one of the golden rules of management is...Never assume anything is done, till you have checked it yourself...

Well he said himself that he doesn't believe in the CONcept of time.