As I see pics from the Australian tour I see the symbol stage in the round again. I am kinda 50/50 on the in the round set up. For Musicology I was pumped for it since I had this Lovesexy stage in mind that I had only experienced on video. Then I got to the ticket window and my tickets said row 1!!! Then I had a great view of Chance Howard's backside!!Anyway, there is some coolness to it (the in the round, not Chance's backside) but since us "freaks" usually work to score the "good seats" they lose their luster a bit with this set up is at best he is going to spend an unknown potion of the time on the other side of the stage. And if you happen to be on the area of the stage where he spends the least amount of time, it could really suck. Anyway, I am not ragging about it just curious what others thought?

I like it, but I want him to switch back to a regular stage so that everyone experience everything at once and not just when he appears on your side of the stage.

[Edited 5/24/12 4:24am]

I havent yet experienced the symbol stage so Id like 2 see it in action live.. BUT with that being said I'm more of a regular stage kinda girl..

I like knowing that if I show up early that I'll get a great view and no matter where he stands everyone can see whats going on.

Yay. I love the concept. Prince likes to say "every seat is a good seat", but I think more realistically it's "there are no terrible seats" LOL.

Every seat has some advantage or disadvantage. The closer you are, the more amazing it is when he's in your vicinity - but you will be left looking up and missing the light show. Further away, you can see everything that's going on, but you don't have that personal up-close experience. Horses for courses. Having seen the Aussie shows from many different perspectives, I think I prefer the mid level seats - which is ironic given that they're normally much cheaper than the super-up-close seats!!

For the first Sydney show we were in the second row on the piano side. It was amazing when he was playing piano, but a lot of the time we were struggling to see over the damn thing!

toejam said:

Yay. I love the concept. Prince likes to say "every seat is a good seat", but I think more realistically it's "there are no terrible seats" LOL.

Every seat has some advantage or disadvantage. The closer you are, the more amazing it is when he's in your vicinity - but you will be left looking up and missing the light show. Further away, you can see everything that's going on, but you don't have that personal up-close experience. Horses for courses. Having seen the Aussie shows from many different perspectives, I think I prefer the mid level seats - which is ironic given that they're normally much cheaper than the super-up-close seats!!

For the first Sydney show we were in the second row on the piano side. It was amazing when he was playing piano, but a lot of the time we were struggling to see over the damn thing!

Love your "there are no terrible seats" comment. Exactly right and well put!!! I laso have discivered that for the "in the round" concerts the best seats are the ones just above the floor so you can see everything at all times.

I'm certainly looking forward to experiencing the show from seating a lot further back than the Purple Reserve seats I had for the first concert I went to. As Toejam said, great when he was up close, but you feel like you are missing out a bit when he's not and you can't really see him. It will be a different experience.

On both occasions however, I made sure I was not "behind" the stage, knowing he'll spend more time near the point.

yay

(as long as you ain't behind the circle)

Come on, definate yay. Way better than conventional layout. Every seat is a good seat. Only wish I'd gone for silver tickets for all the shows. They were better than gold imo

Not a fan of the layout this time. If I had spent $900+ on a table for two, then I would have wanted Prince in view for the whole concert. I think those at the tables only saw him for 20%-40% of the concert and that would be a shame after paying so much money. Also, if you spend a lot and he plays your favourite song, then it would be a shame if you couldn't see him at that point.

I heard some people with tables were not sure if they would be at the arrow end or circle end, so some ended up having the band in the way and were not able to see Prince much.

I also didn't want to sit in A,B, or C as that would be behind the band on the dance floor and not worth $350 in my opinion.

a definate yay from me too.

Had first elevation seats at the pointy end for the 1st syd show. It was ok cause was pretty close - was just high enough to see the band at the other end. When he was in front it was great.

We had gold seats on the 2nd elevation on the piano side (between the band and the middle) for the 3rd syd show.....even though it was further from the stage it was definately better. Being able to see the whole stage was great and the light show was spectacular.

Looking down at the show is def better than looking up. He did tell us at the shows that the good seats were up high - a number of times.

It's a bit strange when the better seats are cheaper. My experience from a Gold area was much better than the Purple Reserve area. The stage is just too high for viewing when up close.

I've only been to one Prince concert - but it was with the symbol stage. I was seated in the nose bleeds - 5 rows from the very back!!!! - and thought the seats were great! Even though Prince looked smaller then usual I saw everything and could always look up at the big screen if I wanted a bigger Prince. I was near the circle end - I found he spent half the time at the circle end and half the time at the point end.

For the May 18th Brisbane show I was in Gold section - in the first tiered seating near the piano end - which was good - as he did quite a few piano numbers.

For the May 26th Brisbane Show I was at the trumpet end but in the next Gold Tier up - and this was WAYYYYYY better - you could see the lights around the stage and it made it magical - and the show was better too - but I was happy as a pig in mud with the 26th seats. Also the video screens are more clearer as you are just that tad further away.

To answer the question - I prefer stages in the round (middle) - have seen Justin Timberlake & Britney (dont laugh.......daughter wanted to go to that one) - and you really do feel more part of a show and involved when they are in the middle of the arena. I personally loved the set up.

I actually commented that those on the floor on the stools had the worst seats I felt, sitting there and looking up at Princes nostrils if he happened to come by - was interesting he did not really even acknowledge them and they paid for premium seats (I felt sorry for them really).

Anyway, loved the middle of the arena thing - was trumps !!

Nay. It isn't genuinely in the round. The band face the arrow; Prince faces the arrow for much of the show. If you are on the floor or on the stools behind the band you get to see a lot of the dancers and not so much of Prince. In the Purple reserve seats, however, you can at least move around on the floor and find a good spot but I noticed that the people on the stools were disengaged for some of the show.

Rustyrek said:

It's a bit strange when the better seats are cheaper. My experience from a Gold area was much better than the Purple Reserve area. The stage is just too high for viewing when up close.

This has been so from the very beginning in London.

Everytime new concerts go on sale i keep wondering why people want to spend so much money to be in the front, see prince from up close a few times but miss the rest of the show.

yay and nay.

yay - I saw him perform in this setup on April 23 at the Forum. The lighting was beautiful and I had a great time. (I sat on the side by Prince's keyboard.)

nay - It's starting to become repetitive. I really liked the Euro 2011 tour stage w/ the catwalk. I thought that was going to be his new stage. Nope, back to the symbol. It was really cool during 21 Nights in London and also pretty cool on the W2A tour when I saw him. But after using it again for the fourth time on tour, I just find myself bored with it and would like to see him try something new.

[Edited 5/30/12 21:56pm]