I’m a fan of Prince’s music. I don’t pretend to be a monster Prince fan by any means, but music is a big part of my life and entertainment. My fiancée and I took vacation and drove 4 hours to see our first Prince concert at the United Center on Monday, 9/24. This was my 250th concert and by far, this was the worst show I ever attended. I’ve seen meltdowns before. Examples include Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit during their abbreviated set at Hawthorne Racetrack on July 26, 2003 at the Summer Sanitarium Tour. Scott Weiland got lost in the power of booze and his own bandmates walked offstage on him near the end of Stone Temple Pilots’ show at The Rave in Milwaukee on March 26, 2010. Those were very bizarre, but Limp Bizkit didn’t headline the Summer Sanitarium Tour and STP was really good that night until Weiland got too hammered. Monday night at the United Center was the first time I’ve seen an entire show be such a mess. The show was a shocking disaster. The encore jerk-around was only part of the biggest head scratcher show I’ve experienced.
I’ve seen poor lighting at shows, heard bad sound mixes, and everything in between. I’ve seen killer performances from no-name artists and even been lukewarm about a couple shows from some of my favorite artists. That said, no show has even come close to being as bad as Prince’s gig on 9/24. I’m not exaggerating. The entire production was beyond disappointing. I’m pretty objective when it comes to concerts and have been to many different venues both massive and small. Anyone at the show Monday night who said it was anything resembling “good” was either drunk or such a huge fan of Prince they feel the need to cover up for him on a horrible night. It’s one thing to be protective of an artist and his music, but why feel the need to pretend the night was something it wasn’t? Why make excuses for Prince? For the people who back that show up, don’t kid yourselves. It’s ok to be honest. If a show by my favorite artist stunk, at least I’d be man enough to admit it.
Prince can blame his bad show on employees, bandmates, the crowd, the lint on his outfit, or whatever he wants. But as you probably know better than I do, Prince calls the shots. It’s his show and his responsibility. He’s well known in the music circle as being a perfectionist or control freak – however you want to look at it. Many talented artists are. Some are more nutty or eccentric than others. Most fans don’t care as long as they see a good show and get their money’s worth. To hear some fans claim the real Prince came out for two songs 45+ minutes after his last encore during a pathetic concert and it saved the night is just downright ridiculous. Two songs saved that nightmare? What sort of expectations do you have for the price you paid for a ticket and the time you spent at the United Center? Let’s see:
- Show starts 65 minutes after start time. Ok, that’s in the diva range. I can live with that. Maybe he was backstage in an hour long meet and greet with George Lopez.
- There was bad lighting the whole night, Prince barely sung and played very limited guitar (he played more guitar in the Super Bowl halftime performance years back than he did in this entire concert,) he only performed snippets of nearly all songs, and he seemed most interested in conducting his band. If I want to see a conductor, I’ll go see a symphony.
- The sound wasn’t elite, but that was only a small part of the problem.
- Video screens seemed to take fans … to the upper deck for a non-intimate, dark view of the stage with Prince at a distance. Strange. Is he a superhero afraid to reveal his true identity at his own shows?
- The crazy “thunder” effects that pelted the speakers and the lightning bolts on the screens? I kept waiting for AC/DC to appear and rip into “Thunderstruck.” Now that would’ve saved the night.
- Prince did surprise me with his dancing. The guy has moves few entertainers possess. But did the crowd really show up to see him dance? I’m all for some cool dance moves, but I’m assuming most people paid to hear the man sing from his killer song catalog. Instead, we got a flurry of covers. The backup singers seemed to be more of the focus vocally. One of the few songs actually played in its entirely was Sarah McLachlan’s Angel” which didn’t even include Prince. It was like being at a rehearsal for a tour or a bad soundcheck. The band was constantly being told to make adjustments, the soundboard was being told to make adjustments, and the audience was supposed to not only participate but actually sing during several songs for Prince. Why? If he was worried about saving his voice for 3 UC shows and 3 after parties at the HOB, maybe he shouldn’t do all those shows. Why not do a 2 night stand and play 3 hour sets each night? Combine the arena show with the after party. Is all the money needed from a city? Forget the after parties and wringing even more mega $ from your fans. I didn’t attend an after party, but they sound like a smaller, more intimate setting where they play some of the lesser known material. Why not throw all your songs into one show and give the people at your arena gig more bang for their buck? Please the hardcore fans with some rarities and please the casual fans with hits. Whatever you play, shock the world by playing entire songs and not a verse, a chorus, or 42 seconds of one of your songs. If Prince has “too many hits,” why didn’t he show them off instead of brag about them? He could throw in a long (5-10 minute) medley of songs in the mix if he wants. That’s worked well for many other artists, it allows artists to cover some ground in their career, and it doesn’t take away from a set if done minimally. But if it’s all bits songs, it’s hard not to feel you are seeing a mix tape of madness.
- Prince told the crowd, “I don’t need to be here. I want to be here.” Really? Show, don’t tell.
- Prince pleaded to the crowd to “Please come back tomorrow.” Are you out of your mind? After wasting hundreds of dollars to see the Great Concert Crash of 2012? You want me to pay more to see you because you asked (sort of) nicely? No thanks. Even Cuba Gooding Jr. left the concert before it was over. He was sitting 7 rows below us and he probably wanted to be shown the money after what he saw.
- Near the end of the night, Prince talked about love saying we should love each other and take care of each other. Practice what you preach, Purple Pint-sizer. You want to take care of others? Refund the money we spent to see you at the United Center on 9/24.
Prince makes Scott Weiland, Madonna, and Axl Rose seem low maintenance. Weiland and Madonna are still very good performers. Weiland is unpredictable, but even if he goes on later than an announced showtime, he puts on a good show. And Axl is notoriously known as the diva of all divas, but whenever he finally does take the stage, it’s 2 and ½ hours of an all-out performance. It seems Prince won’t perform well unless all the variables are in his favor. The best artists role with the punches and entertain at a high level even when they aren’t feeling great or some things don’t run smoothly. The same thing goes with great athletes. When adversity hits, they still perform and often perform at a peak level. Prince crumbles when something seems “off,” no matter what that variable may be. That’s professionalism? That’s respecting his fans who paid top dollar to see him perform?
For the few people who said Tuesday night’s show made up for Monday, nothing could be further from the truth and that’s downright sad. I’m happy he did put on a great show for you on Tuesday. Wednesday sounds like a good show but not as good as Tuesday. But when did 1 out of 2 shows being good become acceptable? Or when did 1 out of 3 shows being poor become acceptable? If Monday blew chunks, Tuesday rocked, and Wednesday was good, that’s still ok? If I paid to see all 3 shows, I’d still feel ripped off about Monday. Sure, if Tuesday was that good, that would maybe lessen the pain a bit from Monday, but most people at night 1 were only there for night 1. Nothing will ever “make up” for the Monday Mess at the UC. I’m happy some of you have the kind of money to spend it on multiple shows at a destination. For probably 80% of the people there on Monday night, we were there for that night alone. That was supposed to be our night away from the problems of the world. Nobody should have to pay money for another show to feel they saw a good performance. The best performers are consistent. Yes, some shows are enormous successes and others are just solid. The best of the best show up every night. Prince does not fit into that bill and saying he is only human and can’t be perfect every night is totally missing the point. It’s all about effort in the music business and Prince took advantage of a lot of people who prepaid to see him live. He was lazy, distant, and didn’t respect his audience. His effort spoke for itself. That experience has not and will not go away for the majority of the people there on 9/24. You say he usually has his best performances on night 2 or night 3 of a 3 night visit? How can seeing one of the biggest artists ever be a gamble? When you pay an elite ticket price you expect to see elite talent. We got a show that was dreadful for any arena concert standard. Is seeing Springsteen in concert rolling the dice? 3 or 3 and half hours after the Boss leaves the stage, his audience feels exhausted, happy, and honored to see him live. He doesn’t phone in a show. (And no, Bruce is not my favorite artist.) Same for other elite artists like U2, Metallica, AC/DC, Madonna, Aerosmith, or Pearl Jam. They aren’t cheap to see, but they hit the stage and do what they do best every single night. Prince played a piss poor show and then left his fans waiting in the seats for 45 minutes. But he “cared” enough about his fans to play two more songs. As Charlie Brown would say, “Good grief.” We lost a lot of respect for Prince Monday night. Playing a good or great show the next night doesn’t change that.
After a long drive home and sitting on this awful concert for several days, I’m hoping the ticket and driving expenses can be deducted from our 2012 taxes due to Monday’s show being a true natural disaster. I’m embarrassed to admit the money my fiancée and I spent to see Prince. Needless to say, we won’t be spending anymore $ to see Prince. Liking his music is one thing. Supporting him when you get ripped off is another. I can’t help but think how the money spent on the trip to the United Center would’ve been better used for the wedding next year. We splurged to see Prince thinking it would be a once in a lifetime experience. Unfortunately, it was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Lesson learned. If Prince wants to take care of us, he can forget the ticket refund and send us a nice wedding gift instead.
Cheers
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will ALWAYS think of 
like a "ACT OF GOD"! N another realm. 
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Since when does Prince saying that he attends Bible study and at what time have anything to do with how he performs in a concert or at what time he shows up for that?!! Seriously, some of you need to check yourselves... Prince is not a priest, a preacher, nor any type of religious figure...
