Continuation from Manchester 21st / 22nd thread (langebleu, moderator):

http://prince.org/msg/12/405310

Please post further reviews for 21st here

(Information and subsequent reviewes for the 22nd go here - thanks: http://prince.org/msg/12/405517)

-----------------------------------------------

Was a joyful and immense time seeing Prince after nearly 3 years again.

The guitar playing was so creative and skillfully executed. At this level no one can touch Prince. His leadership and direction is second to none. I enjoyed the concert, and melody, he can do r & b, Rock, heavy rock, ect. He played 3 songs from sign O Times, much to the love of the fans. Glad he remixed, Most Beautiful Girl In The World, i hardly hear that classic now days.

The thing with Prince you are definetly not disappointed and want more and more. He looks so pretty, mainly his beautiful eyes, like hes really aged well, and looks pretty and beautiful. His stage presence is phenomonal. From the moment u see him, u are in awe.

I have been to many gigs, but his gutair playing is the most skillful i'v seen.

He finished the show with Bambi, really got the crowd going, really funky guitar.

Many people have been negative about Princes concerts, how they are organised, ect. But in my experience he is worth every penny, he delivers.

Sam 8)

Sound awesome... glad you guys rocked it!!

andykeen said:

Fails to sell out http://www.theguardian.co...?CMP=fb_ot

As some of the comments below that story say, that's not entirely accurate. All the tickets put up for sale did indeed sell out, in about 5 minutes. Clearly some were not up up for sale, but in the build-up to the gig word was that there would be a "number`" at the door. Friends of mine were in that unticketed quue, and some of those cats were there for hours - they got in, bless them.

So it seems there were still some tickets spare, but we were told as we were entering by various staff that there definitely wasn't a second gig that night. Not sure about kiran's tweet which seems either misleading, inaccurate, dumb or all three. Feel sorry for the guys who got there on that basis but by then pretty much everyone else was either inside rocking to one of the best Prince performances I've seen (this was my 19th Prince gig), or had simply given up the ghost and gone home or not even bothered.

Prince could easily have sold that out multiple times over, yesterday was just 150 or so people getting messed about by poor communication.

Going again tonight, see some of you there I hope.

Peace.

Here are links to the Manchester Evening News reporting for yesterday:

Blog review of the day, inlcuding Tweets etc:

http://www.manchestereven...er-6730934

Queue for show:

http://www.manchestereven...ng-6732487

Prince arriving at the venue:

http://www.manchestereven...er-6734115

Review of show

http://www.manchestereven...my-6734308

Announcement of second show:

http://www.manchestereven...ig-6734259

Report on second show that never was:

http://www.manchestereven...nd-6734374

Attended the gig last night in Manchester

.

THE QUEUE

I thought the Academy orgainsed the queing well but I guess the breakdown of communication came from the Prince camp with regards to the non ticketed fans. This is due to a lack of communication and organisation. There was no demand for a second show on the night, hence it was cancelled and the first show just went on a bit longer it seemed to allow the 150 fans outside a chance to see him. I would prefer Prince's management to prevent this sort of uncertainty for fans as it isnt fair.

.

THE SHOW

I dont think the show was as good as the Aftershow I attended at 02 Indigo in 2007.

There again that may be down to personal preference because I do prefer the New Power Generation with the horns, keyboards and trumpets.

In my opinion I thought there were far too many moments of heavy guitar solos which on times went on for far too long. But again thats my preference I guess. I prefer the electronic side of Prince's music.

3rd Eye Girl were ok but not as good as the Revolution.

It seems the old favourites still got the crowd going and it was nice to here the mash ups of Sign O the times etc and my fave Hot Thing.

.

THE CROWD

I thought there were a lot of pissed up people there, some just walking around and bumping into you all the time and not that interested in the concert which is sad.

Saying that I did bump into somebody from the org

.

SUMMARY

I would like to see Prince back with the New Power Generation

I prefer the funky horns than the heavy rock stuff

[Edited 2/22/14 5:34am]

ecnirp98 said:

Hi Guys, this is my first post here altho Ive read every day for years, so be kind !

Iv'e see the man 18 times from the Nude tour onwards, in many places, London, Manchester Sheffield, Birmingham & Toronto.

My dream was an aftershow, intimate, personal, you know how it is right?

Anyway, having followed all the twittering since he arrived at our shores early this month I've been getting increasingly excited, especially with all the 'Cavern, Liverpool' rumours a couple of weeks ago as I'm 10 mins away from there, but alas it was not to be. So when I looked away from 'the twitter' for a couple of hours on Wednesday & tickets for Manchester shows where announced & sold out in no time I was beside myself. Had given up on this tour altogether. Then when someone tweeted that there were only 200 in the queue for walk ups, I knew I just had to be there. Jumped in the car & went (a crash on the M56 which delayed for half an hour didn't help the nerves) but I was in the queue an hour after leaving home & at number 301 !! I thougt I had a good chance of getting in.

Sure enough, another hour later I parted with my £70 (gulp!) & entered the Academy. To just see him is enough eh? He could stand there for two hours & I'd be happy. The show he put on was right up there with the very best I have witnessed & he was definatley channeling 1984, think it was the hair/headband thing? It was LOUD! but clear, his vocal a little bit muddy at times & was having some microphone problems. His commands to the sound & lights guys always amaze me, like he hears everything & sees everything better than everyone else, truely amazing. Many highlights, but for me 'I could Never Take the Place of Your Man' brought me to tears.

Two & a half hours of orgasm later it was all over, 5 encores & 2 curtain calls he exited stage right with his arms raised. Then no one moved, the girls came out & took a bow then cowbell guy came out & thanked everyone & no one moved. An hour later no one had moved, never seen this before. Rumours were of a second show! It was on the Academy website & his manager had tweeted it. The crew guys all said he had left & there was no show two. No one believed that. Some people had paid £35 to get in for the second show & just caught the tail end of the 'extended show'. They were not happy! Security, medics & barstaff were told they would be there till 4am, this fuelled the second show rumour, anyway, it didn't happen. eventually the hall emptied & that was it, altho people were still queuing outside. 12.30am & everyone had dispersed from what had been a truely extraordianry, beautiful night.

I now 'get' 3EyedGirl, Donna & Ida are awesome players but I don't know about Hannah? He needs a John Blackwell or Michael Bland behind the kit for me, Hannah just hasn't the power needed for this gig, but thats just an opinion & we all got one of those. Finally, I'm a 53 year old straight man totally in love with a 55 year old straight man, funny old world, but I love you Prince!

Wonder how much truth is in this Article??? Was posted earlier today by Kirans PR guy/best mate http://www.independent.co...45078.html

.

It has seemed at times that these shows are leading to something bigger

[Edited 2/22/14 8:49am]

[Edited 2/22/14 8:50am]

Stingray60 said:

Hi Guys, this is my first post here altho Ive read every day for years, so be kind !

Iv'e see the man 18 times from the Nude tour onwards, in many places, London, Manchester Sheffield, Birmingham & Toronto.

My dream was an aftershow, intimate, personal, you know how it is right?

Anyway, having followed all the twittering since he arrived at our shores early this month I've been getting increasingly excited, especially with all the 'Cavern, Liverpool' rumours a couple of weeks ago as I'm 10 mins away from there, but alas it was not to be. So when I looked away from 'the twitter' for a couple of hours on Wednesday & tickets for Manchester shows where announced & sold out in no time I was beside myself. Had given up on this tour altogether. Then when someone tweeted that there were only 200 in the queue for walk ups, I knew I just had to be there. Jumped in the car & went (a crash on the M56 which delayed for half an hour didn't help the nerves) but I was in the queue an hour after leaving home & at number 301 !! I thougt I had a good chance of getting in.

Sure enough, another hour later I parted with my £70 (gulp!) & entered the Academy. To just see him is enough eh? He could stand there for two hours & I'd be happy. The show he put on was right up there with the very best I have witnessed & he was definatley channeling 1984, think it was the hair/headband thing? It was LOUD! but clear, his vocal a little bit muddy at times & was having some microphone problems. His commands to the sound & lights guys always amaze me, like he hears everything & sees everything better than everyone else, truely amazing. Many highlights, but for me 'I could Never Take the Place of Your Man' brought me to tears.

Two & a half hours of orgasm later it was all over, 5 encores & 2 curtain calls he exited stage right with his arms raised. Then no one moved, the girls came out & took a bow then cowbell guy came out & thanked everyone & no one moved. An hour later no one had moved, never seen this before. Rumours were of a second show! It was on the Academy website & his manager had tweeted it. The crew guys all said he had left & there was no show two. No one believed that. Some people had paid £35 to get in for the second show & just caught the tail end of the 'extended show'. They were not happy! Security, medics & barstaff were told they would be there till 4am, this fuelled the second show rumour, anyway, it didn't happen. eventually the hall emptied & that was it, altho people were still queuing outside. 12.30am & everyone had dispersed from what had been a truely extraordianry, beautiful night.

I now 'get' 3EyedGirl, Donna & Ida are awesome players but I don't know about Hannah? He needs a John Blackwell or Michael Bland behind the kit for me, Hannah just hasn't the power needed for this gig, but thats just an opinion & we all got one of those. Finally, I'm a 53 year old straight man totally in love with a 55 year old straight man, funny old world, but I love you Prince!

Great short review!!!! Eye love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

great reviews everyone! thank you for taking time to post a window into this super cool tour. i'm sitting here in frozen minneapolis, wishing i could be there and see these sets live. you lucky people. have some more fun tonight!

Setlist now published at PrinceVault:

http://www.princevault.co...uary,_2014

Eye'm proud of Prince 4 another successful run in London, showing the world he is still a musical genius...Even with the criticism of his "hit & run" style shows. Which he had already been doing 4 decades in the U.S. The excitement of them are unmatched by any artist in HISTORY! 4 those that were lucky enough 2 attend. Eye'm sure Ur still in purple heaven! U just witness history in the making! 4 those that missed out!. Sorry better luck next time...

I just realised that I haven't posted since Friday's show. I'm not sure I have recovered yet...

ThePartyman said:

I am beyond thrilled that I will get to see both my Dad and my Cousin witness their first Prince gig on Friday!

My Dad has never been a funk fan, but his interest in prince has grown over the years as he has witnessed my growing enthusiasm. He saw Hendrix live before Hendrix was even famous, so given the recent setlists I am confident that this current setup with 3EG is gonna blow his mind...

My Cousin loves his guitarists and has seen some of the best Rock Bands over the years...now finally he will see the best! He also runs a Drum shop... I can't wait to see what he thinks of Hannah!

[Edited 2/20/14 5:31am]

I haven't had the chance for a detailed chat with the relatives yet about their experience, as they had to leave pretty soon after the show, and I have been tied up with work since Saturday, but their initial murmerings were positive.

My Cousin seemed to be very impressed by all the rocking out, and also seemed to be singing along to a lot more songs than I was expecting him to be overly famialar with. He summed up the trip succinctly with the comment: "Is Prince good live? Errrr... Yes".

My Dad was harder to read...I turned to look at him many times only to see him watching calmy and intently, so it was difficult to tell what he was thinking/feeling. However during the final encore? I turned to catch him GRINNING madly, like an overexcited child! It looked like he just couldn't stay calm anymore, and he was giving in to the sheer ridiculousness of what was happening!

Me? It was not my first Prince gig (23rd I think?), but it kinda blew me away. I was lucky to be at SBE and felt that had to be one of my favourite shows, but wow, this one has to be up there too! As well as the expected guitar insanity, the whole night had a real aftershow feel to it, with P seeming playful and mischevious. A great mix of the old, the new, and the "reloaded", as well as a few covers for good measure. The opening bars of Endorphinemachine blew me away and it just got better from there. Heck, even the "Sampler Set" was bloody amazing.

He seems to be really enjoying himself with this band, and I hope I get the chance to see the girls as part of the larger NPG setup. They can certianly funk and roll!

Dad has told me that we need to discuss it while it is still fresh in his mind, so hopefully this means we will get to grab a beer soon and chat about the show.

[Edited 2/25/14 4:19am]

anto71 said:

Hi all - just re-joined here and only able to post today. Completely amazing show last Friday - thanks to all the good folks I met in the all- day ticketless q - the lads from Chester and Runcorn (I guess you young lads from the band enjoyed your first P gig?! - Dan and his mate I think), the couple from Cornwall (hope u got the tickets sorted), folks from Aberdeen, Birmingham, all over the place! I rushed down in a cab when I heard ticks would be sold at 10, but it turned into an all day event but was fine due to Jay and his cool gang of q-organisers. Too many highlights from the show but one was definitely the amazing bass licks at the end of Forever In My Life, as P casually left the keys and picked up the bass and strolled across the stage grinning insanely..oh and " so this is the Manchester academy, huh? I'm your new music teacher - watch this..." Cue funky guitar...truly epic night!

Glad you enjoyed it too - yep refund from Seatwave with little fuss and currently in negotiations with Stub hub over the 2nd ticket! - the show was certainly worth all the queing - for me Bambi alone was worth 11 hrs stood in the Manchester Weather....!

steverm said: