Malloy said:

Saw both shows. Great obviously. However, it just can't be right that the people Qing from 7am get a shorter show than the ones joining the Q at 4pm. The 2nd set was much longer and the third set was cancelled, screwing those that were promised a show at 1am. Can't to be too hard to avoid that surely? Make the 1st set longer. And the third set people were given one song?? Sorry thats BS. Anyway, I loved it and felt priveledged to have seen both. Well, I was Qing for over 10 hours!

Thanks Prince. You were great tonight.

This is exactly what happened at the Electric Ballroom, queued for over 6 and half hours, by the time I got in the show had already started and it was only about an hour and 20 mins, the second show was much better but I couldn't do that as I had to be fully functional at work for an important day the following day.

It's because of this first show syndrome that the wife and I had arranged to get there for the 2nd show yesterday. I had thought 3 was optimistic but if there was going to be 3, we would have been back out for the queue for the third. As it turned out, the third was cancelled and the second show went on for ages.

But unfortunately this isn't a smug me post. Our baby sitter cancelled an hour or so before we were due to leave and so we didn't see any shows . I almost went on my own for the3rd show but didn't in the end and even though people were let in for free, having read that they only saw 30-40 minutes I'm not too upset now. Pissed at the baby sitter though

It's always nice chatting to people in the queue, but a bit f'd up when right near the front their mates start turning up who haven't queued at all...this happened last night and you have to work out what's better ruining your own night in an argument or letting the s**ts get in after zero effort. F**kers.

Ppenguin said:

...just to add that it was stupidly loud too - not in a 'let's rock' way but in a way you couldn't here some stuff because your ears hurt so much. Still got muffled hearing now and huge ringing

Same here - I cannot hear a thing today and thought it was way too loud...

@EnglishGent - yes was happy at second show but annoyed as like I said I got anxiety from over zealous female fans.. I don't care if I am 4th or 14th in row, just don't push me!

strawberrybubblegum said:

Ppenguin said:

...just to add that it was stupidly loud too - not in a 'let's rock' way but in a way you couldn't here some stuff because your ears hurt so much. Still got muffled hearing now and huge ringing

Same here - I cannot hear a thing today and thought it was way too loud...

@EnglishGent - yes was happy at second show but annoyed as like I said I got anxiety from over zealous female fans.. I don't care if I am 4th or 14th in row, just don't push me!

Yeah, real shame that happened, unfortunately it happens a lot at standing concerts.

Ppenguin said:

...just to add that it was stupidly loud too - not in a 'let's rock' way but in a way you couldn't here some stuff because your ears hurt so much. Still got muffled hearing now and huge ringing

In particular, it was Prince's guitar that was too loud. So much so that when he and Donna were both blasting away I couldn't hear the drums at all, which is just wrong. I don't know who to blame for this - the sound guy may well be acting under instructions from someone else - but it wasn't ideal.

TheEnglishGent said:

strawberrybubblegum said:

Same here - I cannot hear a thing today and thought it was way too loud...

@EnglishGent - yes was happy at second show but annoyed as like I said I got anxiety from over zealous female fans.. I don't care if I am 4th or 14th in row, just don't push me!

Yeah, real shame that happened, unfortunately it happens a lot at standing concerts.

Yeah in hindsight I should of just pushed back... but despite letting some dude and girl forward as they also thought they had some god given right to barge ahead, the dude kept turning around and arguing with me as I was talking to my mate ahead of him, bitches to the left of me, bitches to the right (hehe) it was just too much. My earring even fell out thats how much I was getting shoved. My hubby was trying to keep me there but I burst out crying, got a hug from a lovely lady near me (who probably thought I was crying as I saw P haha) and that was that. Ruined night, spent A LOT of cash as I treated my sis and hubs to the show. But still heard an amazing show an saw snippits of the man here and there from the stairs .. put it all into perspective when I climbed into bed, didn't sleep a wink due to a) ears and b) adrelanin and just lay in bed and smiled like a cheshire cat.

Wow that was so me essay haha

I'm no Prince gig veteran like a lot on here but i have just had the best two music weeks of my life. Aside from the amazing music, it has to be said that the whole queuing thing really adds to the experience. Another good crowd at Koko yesterday.

I managed both concerts yesterday. I walked out of the first entirely blown away. Just strolled to the back of the queue and got in to the second gig. Stuck upstairs for the second show and i was thinking the first hour or so was better in the first show but from the guitar solo on Play that Funky music onwards in gig two, it was just mercurial.

Hi to those in the queue. Nice to shoot the breeze with oirishKev and the others around the 65-73 sort of numbers. Hope the dude who scribbled a number on his own hand and tried to jump in still got to see the show. Nice try buddy.

By the sheer fortuitous nature of my shift pattern this month and a very understanding boss for yesterday i've managed to catch five gigs. I'm a happy boy.

Not all my posts will be quite so verbose, i promise.

strawberrybubblegum said:

TheEnglishGent said:

Yeah, real shame that happened, unfortunately it happens a lot at standing concerts.

Yeah in hindsight I should of just pushed back... but despite letting some dude and girl forward as they also thought they had some god given right to barge ahead, the dude kept turning around and arguing with me as I was talking to my mate ahead of him, bitches to the left of me, bitches to the right (hehe) it was just too much. My earring even fell out thats how much I was getting shoved. My hubby was trying to keep me there but I burst out crying, got a hug from a lovely lady near me (who probably thought I was crying as I saw P haha) and that was that. Ruined night, spent A LOT of cash as I treated my sis and hubs to the show. But still heard an amazing show an saw snippits of the man here and there from the stairs .. put it all into perspective when I climbed into bed, didn't sleep a wink due to a) ears and b) adrelanin and just lay in bed and smiled like a cheshire cat.

Wow that was so me essay haha

So sorry that your experienced was marred by some beligerent idiots. From readingthis thred it seems that there were a lot there. I had to put up with one twat in my immediate vicintiy who effed and blinded at anyone who had the temerity to block his view for more than two seconds. Christ, what did he expect at a standing gig?! Anyway, I didn't let his bad vibes spoil my night.

As for the sound levels - I know what you mean. The guitars did seem to bleed together into one big indistinct roar at times. My hearing is fine today, becuase I used earplugs. Some people would say I'm a pussy. Whatever. Tinnitus is a bitch, and I still want to be able to hear music when I am P's age. Besides, I actually find that earplugs improve sound quality at gigs, as they block out reverb from the room. It even makes it possible to hear proper separation between the instruments.

OK, public service announcement over. Last night was amazing, and I feel lucky to have been abke to have been in the right place, at the right time, and with enough spare cash to see Prince twice in a week. The northern conitngent of Prince Fans is in for such a treat.

tintin said:

Wasn't sure what P was doing most of the time as I couldn't take my eyes off Hannah the whole gig.

I had a similar problem during parts of the SBE gig.

I haven't been closely following the whole 3rd eye girl thing, but its been great to see the girls now, from way back when 3rd eye girl first appeared, and it was all a bit of a mystery, to the point where there was a thought that it was somebody leaking stuff they shouldn't be.

Browsing YT recently, I saw this clip of regalr Hannah giving a bit of a drum lesson. I guess its probably quite normal for any decent drummer, but the speed she gets with those sticks is pretty impressive:

Hannah's drum lesson

[Edited 2/17/14 4:10am]

ThePartyman said:

tintin said:

Wasn't sure what P was doing most of the time as I couldn't take my eyes off Hannah the whole gig.

I had a similar problem during parts of the SBE gig.

Ha! It's Donna for me. She made me feel kinda funny yesterday.

Hi guys,

I was no 1717 last night. It was a really weird, but excellent night.

Got in the second show and was about 25 feet back on the right. The atmosphere was NOT as good as EB the other week, but Prince was awesome. Loads of strangely casual fans, who were prepared to queue up for 5 hours and didn't know most of what he played. I thought the sound was perfect for the first section of the show and then it went tits up during the first sample set. It was then so loud, it hurt and I actually had to partly cover my ears for five minutes, which I've never had to do in my life.

Bev Knight was loving it for sure, jigging all night.

Loads of piss heads yesterday which took some of the shine off, but overall it was really excellent. The lighting was fabulous when they played up the ramps of the stage. Really really close.

The other thing that annoyed me was the frigging security guys shining torches at people with phones the whole night. I get why they were doing it, but it gets right on your tits when your trying to watch a show.

Really good set list, with a mix of everything. Highlight for me was 'the love we make'. That was bloody brilliant. Thought he nailed 'play that funk music' too. Sound was back to normal by that point.

That's enough queues for me now. Tickets please

The sound was far too loud last night.

One gripe from last night. Why can't we have a ticket. It's a nice memento to have.

HoneyMonster said:

One gripe from last night. Why can't we have a ticket. It's a nice memento to have.

Haha, we said that at the Electric Ballroom.

On entry we were given something like this:

The after exactly two steps someone else took it from us, ripped it and chucked it

HoneyMonster said:

One gripe from last night. Why can't we have a ticket. It's a nice memento to have.

I wish that too. But I think it was to stop re-entry as they looked more like bus receipts than tickets with stubs. No mementos for £70.

GoldiesParade said:

The sound was far too loud last night.

Not sure what all the complaining about how loud it was, that is how you have it at shows.

Great show last night.

powersoul99 said:

GoldiesParade said:

The sound was far too loud last night.

Not sure what all the complaining about how loud it was, that is how you have it at shows.

Great show last night.

No, when you pay £70 to see a world class artist you expect good sound quality, not some chimp who's idea of running a sound desk is to "turn it up to 11"

Distortion is not good sound quaility in anybodys book. Rock show or not.

Not happy.- 1st show attendee

Queued up all day, and was well in line before the tweet from Koko stating there will be three shows.

Charged £70 for show#1 that seemed rushed and just went through the motions. Sound was awful, and if you didn't notice how formulaic Purple Rain was then you simply weren't paying attention.

And why the uncertainty about ticketing prices? THe member of staff who was numbering ppl couldn't confirm for sure what the ticket price would be. We only actually found out for sure when we were asked for £70 @ the box office.

No need for that. Just make a bloody decision and then do the decent thing and advise all the ppl queuing up.

And this is a fact - if the crowd weren't so rowdy, the show would have been even shorter than it actually was.

this is the most dissapointing 'Prince experience' i have had in over 24 years of catching him live.

And let's stop blaming his manager. She is simplay a facilitator. Prince makes the decisions, and she's there to carry them out.

Did anyone catch Prince's "flashing-light-in-the-heel" shoes?

Sort of thing my 4yr old son points at in the shoe shop!

Made me think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/wa...TnCtcvr384

strawberrybubblegum said:

TheEnglishGent said:

Yeah, real shame that happened, unfortunately it happens a lot at standing concerts.

Yeah in hindsight I should of just pushed back... but despite letting some dude and girl forward as they also thought they had some god given right to barge ahead, the dude kept turning around and arguing with me as I was talking to my mate ahead of him, bitches to the left of me, bitches to the right (hehe) it was just too much. My earring even fell out thats how much I was getting shoved. My hubby was trying to keep me there but I burst out crying, got a hug from a lovely lady near me (who probably thought I was crying as I saw P haha) and that was that. Ruined night, spent A LOT of cash as I treated my sis and hubs to the show. But still heard an amazing show an saw snippits of the man here and there from the stairs .. put it all into perspective when I climbed into bed, didn't sleep a wink due to a) ears and b) adrelanin and just lay in bed and smiled like a cheshire cat.

Wow that was so me essay haha

Did anyone else have a run in with ' Comic Book Guy' (The Simpsons) who was pushing his considerable weight around behind the mixing desk? Offensive in language, and odour!

I made the mistake of leaving at the end of Bambi in the second set, to make sure I could get back in for the 'third set'. Was thrilled to see only a short queue outside, then dismayed to realise I only had £60 in my wallet. Three cash machines later, returned to find barriers up to prevent new queue, as third set cancelled WTF! Fortunately, they relented, and started letting folks back in on a 'one out, one in' basis. Got back in time for Screwdriver, so only missed 'Crimson & Clover', and 'Cause and Effect', meh. Felt silly, but could have been a lot worse.

Otherwise a top time. Drove to Camden, and joined the queue at 7.30. On my own, but met some nice people, and chatted happily for three hours until we got in. Great concert, as always, reading the set list doesn't do it justice. It was loud, but not too much from back of stalls. I loved hearing SOTT and Housequake from the sampler set, but thought he lost a bit of momentum with snippets of 'Mr Goodnight', 'The Most Beautiful Girl'; but 'LOVE' could have gone on muuuuuuuuch longer. Just my 2pence worth.

My tenth Prince gig, and great to hear a Rock set in such a small venue. If you can, go, You will not regret the effort, time and money.

The early afternoon queue outside koko.

I was #745 so got into the first (short) show after driving down from Birmingham to London then queuing for 6hrs..

During the show we were up at the highest point of koko (in the gods) the sound and view were awesome from there with a bit room to dance!! The vibe in the queue during the day was chilled out and fun which made the waiting a bit easier and the parking space was free so we had fast access to the car for the drive back to Brum after the show.

The atmosphere was 97% brilliant, spoiled slightly by a small group of hipsters who were off their nuts on drink and heaven knows what else.. One girl tried to push someone off a small table they were standing on (he would have ended up over the balcony) same girl was so out of it she quite clearly messed herself.

The show it self was short and very sweet, which nearly took away my annoyance at having to queue all day with no confirmation of the ticket price or how many shows there might be.. Really dont think this is a guerilla marketing campaign, I think its just a bit disorganised.

I usually love Princely adventures but I'll wait in the hopes of presales for tickets before I attend another 3EG show.

too exhausted to spell edit

[Edited 2/17/14 5:36am]

powersoul99 said:

The sound quality was horrendous last night (1st show, I didn't go to the second). Booming and distorted, extremely difficult to make out individual notes especially in the bass register. If this is how the other shows have been it puts me off going to any others. This was roughly my 15th "small venue" Prince gig and by far the worst sound quality wise which does impact the overall enjoyment of the show. Combine that with poor view (why wasn't I born like my brother, handsome and tall!") and I wake up for the first time in over 25 years questioning whether I'd do it again?

ParadigmShift said:

Not happy.- 1st show attendee

Queued up all day, and was well in line before the tweet from Koko stating there will be three shows.

Charged £70 for show#1 that seemed rushed and just went through the motions. Sound was awful, and if you didn't notice how formulaic Purple Rain was then you simply weren't paying attention.

And why the uncertainty about ticketing prices? THe member of staff who was numbering ppl couldn't confirm for sure what the ticket price would be. We only actually found out for sure when we were asked for £70 @ the box office.

No need for that. Just make a bloody decision and then do the decent thing and advise all the ppl queuing up.

And this is a fact - if the crowd weren't so rowdy, the show would have been even shorter than it actually was.

this is the most dissapointing 'Prince experience' i have had in over 24 years of catching him live.

And let's stop blaming his manager. She is simplay a facilitator. Prince makes the decisions, and she's there to carry them out.

In total agreement, this has put me off going to any more of these hit and run gigs. Good luck to those trying to get in for the next.

ParadigmShift said:

machinegun said:

The sound quality was horrendous last night (1st show, I didn't go to the second). Booming and distorted, extremely difficult to make out individual notes especially in the bass register. If this is how the other shows have been it puts me off going to any others. This was roughly my 15th "small venue" Prince gig and by far the worst sound quality wise which does impact the overall enjoyment of the show. Combine that with poor view (why wasn't I born like my brother, handsome and tall!") and I wake up for the first time in over 25 years questioning whether I'd do it again?

The sound is usually really good in Koko. Sounds like an inept sound engineer.

funkysingh said:

ParadigmShift said:

Not happy.- 1st show attendee

Queued up all day, and was well in line before the tweet from Koko stating there will be three shows.

Charged £70 for show#1 that seemed rushed and just went through the motions. Sound was awful, and if you didn't notice how formulaic Purple Rain was then you simply weren't paying attention.

And why the uncertainty about ticketing prices? THe member of staff who was numbering ppl couldn't confirm for sure what the ticket price would be. We only actually found out for sure when we were asked for £70 @ the box office.

No need for that. Just make a bloody decision and then do the decent thing and advise all the ppl queuing up.

And this is a fact - if the crowd weren't so rowdy, the show would have been even shorter than it actually was.

this is the most dissapointing 'Prince experience' i have had in over 24 years of catching him live.

And let's stop blaming his manager. She is simplay a facilitator. Prince makes the decisions, and she's there to carry them out.

In total agreement, this has put me off going to any more of these hit and run gigs. Good luck to those trying to get in for the next.

I've been into Prince since 1986 and first saw him live in 1988. I've seen him every time he's been in London since and also went once to see him in Paris. I've not seen him this time round though. Not even tempted. This whole "guerilla gig" format is not for me. Too much "chaos and disorder". Release tickets in advance and I'll be first in line.