So which way is better to see the piano/mic performance?
A theatre show with end stage or In the round arena show? Has anyone seen both, opinion?

bonnie184 said:

So which way is better to see the piano/mic performance? A theatre show with end stage or In the round arena show? Has anyone seen both, opinion?

I read this from the Oracle Arena show thread. Farfunknugin preferred the arena show set vs Paramount. I'm not sure what they thought of the stage.

I can't offer you a comparison for this tour. But I saw Prince in Sydney in 2012 for his Welcome 2 Australia tour with his 'Love Symbol' in the round sort of stage. I saw him 4 times in Sydney for his Piano & A Microphone show with an end stage.

The Sydney Opera House kind of had a really mini version of 'in the round'. There were crowds completely surrounding the stage. But nothing like these arena shows. Let's say 90% of the crowd faced the stage in the usual way with the other 10% at the back of the stage. So it was an end stage with crowds completely surrounding it. I remembered it feeling great to see the crowd on the other side of the stage. I was in the 2nd row for show 2 of the Sydney Opera House. It felt quite strange to be sitting opposite hundreds of people probably just 15 metres or so away.

The Sydney State Theatre had the traditional end stage. From the photos I've seen of the Paramount Theatre in Oakland they appear to be very similar in the set-ups and atmosphere.

I remember that I definately did not like the 'in the round' Love Symbol stage. I much prefer the end stage. Having said that I must admit the video clips from both the Oracle Arena and Perth Arena 'in the round' shows look spectacular.

My answer is I would prefer to see both stage types for this particular show. If I had the opportunity to see both stage types I would 100% see both.

Farfunknugin said:

Just got back, what a show. The set list has been posted . His voice , energy & showmanship were at their peaks. Just a magical night, I mean PurpleMusic? Thank god I went. This was twice as good as the paramount set I witnessed on Sunday . All I can say is wow & thank u!

[Edited 3/7/16 0:20am]

[Edited 3/7/16 0:21am]

I saw Prince "in the round" in Melbourne during the Welcome 2 Australia tour and thought it worked well, simply because he ran all around the stage. No joke, despite the pun.

Having seen him on this tour, I think a traditional stage (as I saw him) suits the content and format better.

Oakland ORACLE, he played in the round, after certin encores the piano would turn to give the audience another view, nice thing to do so everyone got to see him and not just his bavk