Nasalhair said:

He also introduced the sound guys at one stage and it sounded like he called them "Mr Feedback" or something like that, so maybe they were getting feedback on stage.

As the show went on it improved, and by the end he appeared to be genuinely moved. He regularly beat his chest, and at the very end he thanked the audience and said he'd be back "real soon", then added that wherever we were travelling to, go safely (never heard him say anything like that - he usually just walks off, or at least he has after the dozen or so gigs of his I've seen.)

I thinkj he said the sound guy was called 'Mike' his surname was 'Feedback', something like that anyway, he didn't look too happy as he said that

Prince said he'd be back in Leeds whenever we'd have him.

He seemed in good spirits to me despite the obvious problems. Lots of smiling and interaction.

I enjoyed it anyway.

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Great show, but Prince had problems with the Guitar man, At one point he throw Guitar to the Guitar guy who wasnt ready and guitar hit the stage floor and guitar guy tried to catch it but fell and ended on his front on stage, later Prince held his arm out for Guitar and waited then Donna went over to Tell Guitar guy, who then ran onto stage and tripped over when running back.

Dont think he will have a job after next week.

powersoul99 said:

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Great show, but Prince had problems with the Guitar man, At one point he throw Guitar to the Guitar guy who wasnt ready and guitar hit the stage floor and guitar guy tried to catch it but fell and ended on his front on stage, later Prince held his arm out for Guitar and waited then Donna went over to Tell Guitar guy, who then ran onto stage and tripped over when running back.

Dont think he will have a job after next week.

.

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That guy messed up in Manchester too, he wasnt happy, defo for the chop lol

Let’s Go Crazy Reloaded
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
U Got The Look
Musicology
Kiss
The Love We Make
Controversy
1999
Little Red Corvette

.

Sampler Set

When Doves Cry
Sign O’ The Times
Hot Thing
I Would Die 4 U
Pop Life
Alphabet St.
A Love Bizarre
17 Days
Love

.

Nothing Compares 2 U
Funknroll
Plectrumelectrum / Dreamer
Purple Rain

.

Piano set

Diamonds And Pearls
The Beautiful Ones
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore

.

Cool
She’s Always In My Hair
Play That Funky Music
Endorphinmachine
Guitar
Sometimes It Snows In April

Nasalhair said:

Great show, whats better than seeing you favourite artist 6 miles from your house!

.

Random thoughts (if I have time I'll do this properly)

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The hits heavy opening hour had the crowd hanging on his every move, Kiss just about took the roof off, although it was difficult for the casuals to maintain the intensity as the set was very front loaded from their perspective - I didnt care though

.

Purple Rain, SISIA, and Nothing Compares 2U were awesome - his vocals are getting stronger and stronger as the years go by

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Other highlights for me as a fan, A Love Bizarre done properly, Cool, Endorphine and Guitar. Loved Dreamer but not sure the crowd got it. Funk n Roll didnt really work either

.

The way the encores worked confused the crowd. The house lights were on after Purple Rain and stayed on during D&P and Beautiful Ones which was strange. It also seemed he ended things suddenly after SISIA, band didnt move until he walked off and that was it. That was a bit disappointing as there was time for a couple more

.

The sound, has to be an issue with his team. I was left side level 2, the vocals were crystal clear on some songs like NC2U, but as someone else said it was almost impossible to make out spoken interludes at times.

.

Still, stunning night, great atmosphere ... its what he does.

Excellent set, loved Endorphin, and full versions of beautiful ones (great vocals) and Doves cry. Sound was about average for arena shows, but I thought the lighting was poor, there were times when you couldnt see Prince, the spotlights were crap and didnt even hit their targets, Has the feel of a hurriedly botched together set and light rig. For the price of the ticket I would expect better really. Having said that still loved it, Its Prince! Not quite the vibe of 21 nights, and the security hassling people for taking the odd pic was ott. He said he was coming back!! Sooner please.

LasVegas3121 said:

[Edited 5/24/14 2:57am]

[Edited 5/24/14 2:58am]

Is this were the concert was at? That is one cool looking photo!!!

Astasheiks said:

Honestly feel that he was going to do a lot longer set but the sounds issues really affected his mood. That guitar tech should be sacked ASAP..WHAT A TOTAL COCK!.

Have to say that the crowd on the floor were incredible i.e. no pushing or shoving, so surges, no trying to get to the front..totally chilled & happy & really into the music...apart from 2 dickhead girls who decided to walk to the front with 2 PINTS EACH..who then spoke all the fuckin way through Sometimes it snows...!!

Marrk said:

Let’s Go Crazy Reloaded
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
U Got The Look
Musicology
Kiss
The Love We Make
Controversy
1999
Little Red Corvette

.

Sampler Set

When Doves Cry
Sign O’ The Times
Hot Thing
I Would Die 4 U
Pop Life
Alphabet St.
A Love Bizarre
17 Days
Love

.

Nothing Compares 2 U
Funknroll
Plectrumelectrum / Dreamer
Purple Rain

.

Piano set

Diamonds And Pearls
The Beautiful Ones
How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore

.

Cool
She’s Always In My Hair
Play That Funky Music
Endorphinmachine
Guitar
Sometimes It Snows In April

Thats the most accurate set list I have seen (from memory!?!) Anyone got any discrepancies?

[Edited 5/26/14 2:35am]

Gottobefunky said:

Thats the most accurate set list I have seen (from memory!?!) Anyone got any discrepancies?

[Edited 5/26/14 2:35am]

Mmmmh... I think it's not totally right yet. Not sure about the running order you got there (particularly on the third block of songs). Remember that he played a truncated Screwdriver that strangely morphed into Purple Rain.

The "sampler" set was much more than it is normally. Doves, Alphabet street especially were fully expanded versions. The mix of electronic and heavy guitar on Alphabet Street was the coolest Prince sound I've heard in quite a while, brought back the old days.

And there was a tiny crazy Screwdriver chant in there somewhere as well..

[Edited 5/26/14 5:03am]

"Funknroll" was between "The Love We Make" and "Controversy"

"How Come You Dont Call....." was first in the piano set.

"Nothing Compares 2 U" was after "Little Red Corvette"

"Dreamer" was between "She's Always in My Hair" and "Play That Funky Music"

Yes, that all makes sense. There was certainly a bit of Screwdriver before the different/expanded start to Purple Rain. Plus FunknRoll and Dreamer look correct now. Is the short/aborted Plectrumelectrum in the right place?

.

Lets Go Crazy

Take me with U

Raspberry Beret

U got the look

Musicology

Kiss

The Love we make

Funk n Roll

Controversy

1999

Little Red Corvette

Nothing Compares 2 U

.

(Sampler Set)

When Doves Cry (Full Version)

Sign of the Times

Hot Thing

I would Die 4 U

Pop Life (sample)

Alphabet Street (bass solo)

A Love Bizarre (Full version)

17 Days (sample)

Nasty Girl (sample)

Love (sample)

.

Endorphinemachine

Screwdriver (aborted)

Purple Rain

.

(Piano Set)

How Come U Don’t Call me Anymore

Diamonds & Pearls

The Beautiful Ones

.

Cool

Shes Always in my Hair

Dreamer

Play that Funky Music

.

Guitar

Plectrumelectrum (aborted)

Sometimes it Snows in April

[Edited 5/26/14 10:39am - final edit as per #140 & #141]

[Edited 6/1/14 8:31am]

No...Plectrum Electrum was just before Sometimes it Snows in April...

mikeyfreedom said:

No...Plectrum Electrum was just before Sometimes it Snows in April...

yep, and that would make it 100%

Great stuff, Thanks mikeyfreedom & mjkennedy73. Edited above.

Ok, this one was a special show for me as Leeds is my home city and this was my daughters first ever concert. Having said that, it therefore felt a little surreal to drive only 6 miles to the arena and park up with such ease, using local knowledge, when a Prince concert is usually some sort of expedition. Nevertheless it was special to wander around the area for an hour before doors and be able to pick out most of the early crowd as they were all decked out in purple. The torrential rain made queuing a no go, but grabbing a quick brew over the road facilitated a chat with a couple of fans including Paulob from the org at his 14^th gig.

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The Leeds Arena is only a year old, and I love the layout and the acoustics (they claim to be the best in Europe) are very good in my experience. It’s a slick operation already and it looked great filled with purple. I had a look for my seat about an hour before show time and my first reaction was how hot and humid it was already. Really unusual for the air conditioning to be off so early (the arena said at the artist’s request) and that had an effect later.

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The stripped down Hit & Run set looked basic but fine in the arena setting, although setting up the 3 video screens directly behind the stage, and not to either side, was a mistake at Leeds. They looked great from the floor and central seating blocks, but were obscured by the lighting rig in much of Tiers 2 & 3.

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So; onto the show. Before I start let me say it was class. The reviews have been glorious and several locals I know that were at their first Prince show have been in that “OMG, how good was that!?” mode for the last few days. Also, most I have spoken to (floor and central seating blocks) had no problems with the sound. But I am well aware orgers are also interested in the detail, good and bad, so I’ll try and cover as much as I can remember.

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About 8.20 the band came out and Hannah made the usual appeal for no phones. I have to say that it was very well respected, I cannot remember an arena gig in the last 10 years with so few phones in the air, and for that we can all be grateful.

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Almost immediately “Prince”, “3^rdeyegirl” and “funk” were projected onto the curtain, thunder roared from the PA (no false starts tonight), the curtain fell and LGC reloaded was blasted out grabbing the whole place by the balls. From my seat on tier 2, extreme left side, I could also see a mad rush of people out of the bars and into the standing area, caught out by their own stupidity and the sudden start.

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The first hour then proceeded to be a non-stop bombardment of hits that worked the place to fever pitch. Take Me With U introduced Marrisa Jack onto the chorus vocals and I have to agree that I don’t see the point. Her vocal was simply inaudible it was so weak and she didn’t possess any stage presence at all when out front. I have no problem with plenty of sidekicks on stage at an arena gig, but they have to contribute something and she just didn’t.

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The crowd caught their breath momentarily with a funky, but less well known Musicology, then with an intro along the lines of “It’s been a long time coming Leeds” he dropped Kiss and the place exploded. The new arrangement was powerful and everyone was on their feet, and in the palm of his hand during the extended close/dance section.

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The pacing of the opening hour was well constructed, high tempo then The Love We Make slowed everyone down to catch their breath (and it was a first class performance of an “unusual” track), followed by FunknRoll which brought them back up slowly as the majority had no idea about the track. After a blistering opening this was the first track where the sound issues came to a fore. It sounded too loud, or distorted, without actually being loud enough to hurt your ears. The best description was as if too much sound was being forced through weak equipment, losing the clarity. I was too far back to pick up on any onstage issues with the sound, but there were 2 obvious clues during the opening section. First when he name checked the “James on sound”, calling him “James feedback”. Unfortunately that took some working out, as all spoken sections by Prince on the night were very difficult to pick out, clearly another issue with the sound that didn’t get fixed all night. The second was when he hurled his guitar, with some feeling apparently, from centre stage to the guitar tech in the wings and he failed to make a clean catch.

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Controversy blasted out next for the “old school” in the house, and then a triple combination took the crowd back up to full volume again … 1999, LRC and NC2U. 1999 raised the crowd just like Kiss did “paaaaarrrrty”, LRC backed it up superbly “slow down”, and NC2U was one of the highlights of the night with a stunning vocal performance. His voice is undoubtedly getting stronger as it matures and this was brilliant, with great audience feedback.

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After that to the sampler, and the pleasant surprise was that these were not the usual snippets, but a continuation of the “hits assault” with full on versions of When Doves Cry (“30 years ago this was the sound”), SOTT with the call back chants ringing out, Hot Thing and I Would Die 4 U. Using the sampler gave a “true” sound to these tracks which worked fine on the night. “I got too many hits” maybe a bit predictable for orgers to hear, but to the masses it’s a great boast and as a line it’s been repeated all over Leeds for the last week. Alphabet Street was another top 10 hit done in a full/long version, the lights went out and Prince took Ida’s bass to funk it up a bit in the dark. For the diehards there was then a full on version of A Love Bizarre which was another of my highlights, timed perfectly to calm the masses but entertain the serious fans. After a bit more sampler play, I’ve never really understood the “Nasty Girl” snippet, “Where’s all the Nasty Girls”, the Guitar was then strapped back on and Screwdriver started, and stopped just as quickly, before any vocals kicked in. With the stage lit up in Green an unusual guitar based intro to Purple Rain started. It was clear to serious fans what he was up to so it was a delight to watch the crowd reaction when the lights turned purple and the anthem kicked in. Again it was a great version, the crowd hanging on every note and every word of the signature tune and he delivered in full.

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Then off he went, after about 1 hr 20 on stage. The interlude took a lot longer than I was expecting. Easily 10 minutes off stage, the full house lights came on and most people in the arena were a little confused as to what was happening. Obviously he was coming back but it didn’t feel like it; there was a costume change, and rumoured discussions about the sound?

When he returned it was solo, “I thought you’d all gone” and the piano set had How Come You Don’t Call Me and Diamonds and Pearls performed with the full house lights still on, which was weird. The vocals were quality but having the place lit up like a Christmas Tree was just distracting. The lights finally went down for the Beautiful Ones and the 7^th Purple Rain track of the night was another belting vocal.

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Into Cool, which I enjoyed but I don’t think the crowd understood so well, then he said something about the 80’s and into Always in My Hair. Again nothing wrong with the performance but again I think the majority were expecting something they knew rather than an ATWIAD B side. Dreamer was great to hear live, first time for me and I loved it, but at this point he really needed Play That Funky Music to pull everyone back in, as the flow had not been quite right since coming back out, despite some terrific performances.

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Out for the second encore … “Seriously?” … and Endorphinemachine and Guitar (“its gone towards the guitar these days, due to these ladies behind me … that what this song is about”) were blasted out. Two of my personal favourites but not the clearest sound quality on these louder numbers to be honest. Then he played with Plecrtumelectrum for a bit, before slowing down and producing a great version of SISIA on the guitar.

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A final highlight it turns out because then off he went, and it seemed even the band weren’t sure that was it as they remained stood with instruments strapped on for a few seconds. I can only guess he had abruptly decided that was it and it felt a bit anti climatic. It was only 10.30 so there was easily time for a final encore and a bigger finish.

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Nevertheless, it was one hell of a show. Although the more interesting stuff from an org perspective was in the second half there is no doubt that the first half hits avalanche worked best on the night. Everyone I’ve spoken to was blown away, of course it’s only the fans that wanted a little bit more … don’t we always?

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What was surprising was the production problems. The big screens were not really utilised and were in the wrong place for Leeds. The venue became almost unbearably hot and stuffy, probably from the air con being off too early and the sound! Having said that, none of that detracted from the night for me. Prince in my hometown was a rare treat and, with the exception of the unique Manchester Academy Night 2 in February, it’s a reflection on him and this band that this was the finest form I’ve seen him in yet.

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He just keeps getting better!!

[Edited 8/6/14 8:26am]