We got burned, show ended after Purple Rain, no acoustic set. After the show, we were asking around outside if anyone had heard of an aftershow/party and someone said he'd hit his head and that's why it ended early. ** I HAVE NO IDEA IF THIS IS TRUE OR NOT**

It was a FREAKING AWESOME show, but I sure would like to know why it was so short. The crowd was really into it and he seemed to be enjoying himself, so I'm wondering why we didn't get the last set.

Any other Phx folks know anything?

eta: I think it went from I Would Die 4 U to Purple Rain and then that was it. I was SO looking forward to that acoustic set....wahhhh!
[This message was edited Thu Apr 1 1:12:54 2004 by Serena]

I thought the show was unusually short. I was in the first row, right next to the sound guy. I heard Prince's mic giving some feedback at least three times during the show. The second time it happened, he gave a nasty look to the sound guy. The third, and worst time, was during "Insatiable". When this happened, Prince threw the mic from across the stage at the sound guy. After he threw the mic, he walked off the stage and did not return for about five minutes. At that point some other person ran over to the sound guy and they worked together to get the problem solved. I just assumed that he cut the show short because he was irritated with the sound guy. I did not hear anything about Prince hitting his head. So I am not sure why the show was cut short, just assuming it was because of the mic problems.

What was ironic, was that I took five people with me who had never seen Prince live before. I had always bragged to them about how amazing Prince is as a live performer. So I was a little dissapointed after the show, because I was used to a much better performance. However, my friends, who had never seen him live before, thought the show was amazing. They said it was the best live show they had ever seen.

diamond99 said:

I hear ya. there were 9 other people with me, only 1 having gone to other shows. Three of them went with me to the satellite broadcast, so we're telling everyone else about this great 3 hr show we were in for. What we had was VERY COOL, but I'm left feeling 'incomplete', which is not how I usually feel after a P show.

Two of us were in the front row, a little off to the side of the keyboards/horns and the sight lines sucked, especially since it seemed he ignored the one catwalk closest to us. I ended up missing Insatiable, so didn't see the mic drama. Sorry, if that's the reason we got cut off, that's just wrong. It should be fix the fucking sound and move on.

Worst thing is....I'm probably one of the biggest Prince asskissers around and after all the money I spent on this night, I'm totally bummed.

diamond99 said:

So maybe the rumor was half right - Prince didn't hit his head, but maybe he hit the sound guy in the head w/ the mic?

Serena said:

Maybe his head has to be in a certain space to do the acoustic set b/c he's so naked up there... although a little anger mixed in might have torn that mutha down

Sorry you feel jipped, that's some cold shit

Actually, if I am right, and Prince cut the show short because of sound issues, I do not blame him. He has a reputation to uphold. He is the one people pay to see. If he sounds bad because the sound guy is not doing his job, the audience does not care. They will go home saying, Man Prince sure did sound bad tonight, not realizing that it was not Prince's fault. Prince is the one with pressure on him to perform well. And every time I have seen him (12 times) he has been flawless. It is only natural for him to expect the same from his crew.

Also, I am not sure who the sound guy works for, Prince or the arena. But if it were up to me, he would be fired. I feel that he is the one to blame for tonights performance. He did not do his job properly, therefore we got an abbreviated show. That guy has got to go. I hope we eventually get a definitive answer as to why the show was so short. Also, as I stated at NPGMC, I will be the first one buying tickets to his next show in the Phoenix area or another Celebratioin. Just wanted to let everyone know that I am not dissing on Prince.
[This message was edited Thu Apr 1 3:01:51 2004 by diamond99]

Seeing Prince is like a box of chocolates.

You never know wut U gonna get.

But there's probably chocolate involved.

Was wondering myself... my best friend and I were in the 8th row from stage. My best friend did see the mic "fall" or as some of you are saying... "thrown". Prince is always throwing something.



Anyways, I was not incredibly impressed with last nights show. Yes, it is beautiful to see him always and his music I never tire of, ever. Being that this performance was my 8th or 9th time, I will say.... I most certainly have seen and felt far more moved by previous shows.

This is my personal opinion... but I feel that this show is definitely more of a "show" (of course with the utmost incredible band/musical genius) , but Prince's emotion is (I feel) moving/elevating beyond the past and when he performs his newer material created... that is when I tend to feel/see the emotion stir from deep within his soul.

I absolutely look forward to the future and what Prince is willing to give of himself musically/spiritually and emotionally... while I still highly appreciate the present as well.

ONA has and may quite possibly be among the most moving/spiritual performance I have and may ever see... (who knows). I still feel the affect and that was three years ago.

Until the next time... and .

Milty and I will be in Vegas May 31th... let's see what happens there.

I knew that "Purple Rain" would be the last song. I had just come off the stage and was in a daze. After I left I got in my car and it was only a little after 10 pm. I than realized that we hadn't gotten the acoustic set. I did feel like something was missing but it was a great show and the highlight for me was dancing on the stage!!! I also got a drumstick.
Would like to know why he cut it short.
It was hard to see right in front of the stage. The stage should have been a littler lower.

I definately have some mixed emotions on this show.

On the positive side:

Watching Prince burp the aphabet is probably entertaining, so the worst Prince show is still phenomenol compared to seeing anyone else. Some of the songs he played were spectacular. Highlights for me being, Shh, The One, DMSR, God, Controversey and the guitar on Purple Rain

The crowd was great. Very responsive...everyone was dancing and screaming the entire night. Not having been to the LA show though I guess I do not have a frame of reference.

On the negative:
I know this will come across as whining but I was not happy with the seats. At will-call I almost jumped out of my skin when the ticket lady handed me first row. When seated we were just behind Ronado and in the middle of two of the catwalks. Unfortunately though, Renado's keyboards, especially the upper portion, completely obscured our sitelines to the main action. The only time we could really see Prince was when he came out on the catwalks, which was very cool, but way to infrequent. The majority of the show was spent with P and the rest of the band center front.

The show was way to short. I was completely hyped for the acoustic set and so were the guests who had come with us. Show started late at 8:20pm and ended around 10pm - Just an hour and 40 minutes. After the first set I saw one of the stage men bring the accoustic set chair up on the stage and then run back off with it. The band came back on almost immediately, played Purple Rain and then left. The crowd was very loud looking for an additional encore and then BAM on came the lights.

All in all, seeing Prince is always awesome, there were many moments when I was just staring straight ahead, shaking my head in awe as the sounds from his guitar and the backing band completely invaded my body and soul. Overall I could not help but be a little dissapointed given the poor visibility when expectations were so high and the very short performance.

Lastly, I am glad that he is parking a lot of the old stuff. The band seems bored with it...they just can't stretch out and Prince is a different type of person and performer now.

"It is time for something new...and that means you too."
[This message was edited Thu Apr 1 6:35:09 2004 by 2funkE]

No acoustic set????....












You missed out on the evening's most intimate moments...as well as hearing "Little Red Corvette" and "7" done with subtle passion.

I sure hope he doesn't pull this in Dallas, the acoustic set is my very favorite of all the shows be in on guitar or piano I love the time of just him on the stage. Anyway, can anyone tell me if there were lines and lists before the shows like for the will call line. Any body get there ridiculously early?

butterfli25 said:

You people are so ignorant about how Prince tours. You have no sense of history. On the Lovesexy Tour, Prince left out the acoustic set (on piano on that tour) about 1/3 of the time. He also didn't do the Alphabet St encore about 1/3 of the time. So 1/3 of the shows were "cut short" as you put it.

The logical way to look at it is that he has a set playlist and he does the acoustic set on nights when he feels like it, but it isn't necessarily going to be included. It is an "extra" part of the show that you aren't entitled to see every night.

Ayyyyy, Prince, what are you doin'!?


I understand the frustration that may have caused, but hell.....


Fix the problem and move on. Don't take it out on the fans.

This reminds me of the thread "Would P make a good parent?"

Ummmmm, with a hair trigger reaction like that, my answer is still a resounding NO.

RupertZ said:

Ok rupert!
I have seen P in concert at least 20 times over the years..no need to preach to me or anyone else about how he tours...we know how he tours! So we are not ignorant.
I know about different playlists BUT there are some things that don't change from night to night or place to place. As for me I guess seeing in in the Bay Area all those times I got the acoutic/slow/piano in the middle/ set EVERYTIME!! so I consider myself blessed that the best part of the show for me was always performed when I saw him, even on the "different" nights. I saw the Purple Rain tour 5 nights and only 2 of the shows were different, Lovesexy I saw twice and we got the "extras" both nights there too...hell he even did the slow set at the hit and miss shows. Don't assume people have no history. Because you really don't know. All that being said...I am just happy to go and enjoy the opportunity to see and experience the music
...anyway just my :twoccents:

butterfli25 said:

You aren't as ignorant as many people here, but you make no sense. You saw two Lovesexy shows, so you say that he always did the acoustic piano encore, based on two shows from a long tour. I've heard at least 30 Lovesexy shows and I know that he only played that piano encore about 1/2 of the time...maybe a bit more, but there were many, MANY shows where he chose to cut it out. It is an encore and he didn't play it on the nights that he didn't feel like doing it.

You've seen Prince 20 times, so you know a bit more than most of the people here. But most of the people complaining that they were "cheated out of the encore" are just ignorant and stupid....sorry to be so blunt about it, but those are the facts.

Look, there is absolutely NO fucking excuse for him to have sound problems on this tour. He got away with shitty sound on the Hit 'n Run tour because he was touring on the cheap and keeping expenses down.

There is NO excuse for not having top notch technicians on this tour. He has a tour sponsor. He's being paid big bucks. There is NO excuse for cutting out an entire section of the show. This tour is just starting and people are already disappointed.

I may be alone in this, but he needs to stop this shit of giving 3 hour shows in one town and 90 minute shows in another. We are all paying about the same amount for tickets. It's not going to cut it to call people "whingers" or "ungrateful" because they're unhappy at being shorted.

Here's an analogy: I have a $1 to spend and go to the store for a muffin. I pay $1 and receive a plain muffin. Then my neighbor takes his $1 to the store and he gets a muffin that has raisins, plus he gets a pat of butta on the side.

So, my neighbor is now overjoyed that he got a raisin muffin with butta for his $1, while I am looking at my plain muffin and wondering why my neighbor got more for his $1 than I did.

Prince, stop handing out PLAIN muffins to one city, while handing out RAISIN MUFFINS with BUTTA in other cities... and let's not even talk about how LA and New York not only get a raisin muffin with butta from Prince, but those mofos also get JELLY and JAM for their muffin, too.

RupertZ said:

FUCK THAT NOISE. We're all paying about the same price for these tickets. We should all get the whole show. "Extra" my ass. How come it's always LA, NY, Atlanta, DC, and other of his "chosen" places that get the "extra"?

Sueme said:

The premise of your question is wrong. It isn't always those cities that get a longer shows. Post a question based in reality, not fantasy, and you will probably get a reply.

RupertZ said:

This is not fantasy. On Prince's last tour, One Nite Alone, Los Angeles not only got 3 shows, but he also incredibly did 3 aftershows for them as well. They also got soundchecks, they got the whole works. He also turned up the wattage in NYC, giving them extended soundcheck and aftershow. If I remember correctly, somebody posted and said that when he added the show, soundcheck, and aftershow all together, Prince played live for over 7 hours in one day in New York. I'd have to check the archives on DC and Atlanta, but I seem to recall they also got full shows, soundchecks and aftershows on the last tour. Meanwhile, other "less important" cities either get a soundcheck, didn't get aftershows...

RupertZ said:

I have been to a TON of shows.. I have seen Prince get really pissed with sound people, or instrumental problems etc.. and it does effect his show..
BUT ~~ I also can imagine that doing the Same show night after night after week after week must get kinda boring..... SO I am sure that is why he adds stuff and leaves stuff out.... We went to 3 shows in a row in Chicago in 93.. all 3 were a bit different, order was changed songs were added and subtracted.. he did things on different parts of the stage... Just mixed it all up. Each show was different lengths too..... but only by about 20 minutes.. and I found that the 2nd night the CROWD was TOTALLY wild and into the show and "P" Played longer..... So I think the crowd can make or break a show too.....
It should be interesting to see if the shows keep the energy level through the whole tour... He is doing ALOT of shows!!!!!
later June is a LONG way off when I go.... By then he might just get up on stage take a bow and say "THANK YOU.. GOOD NIGHT!"
Peace

gemini13 said:

Dear gemini13, as a performer myself knows that if u r having very bad tech problems wether that means electrical connections or the sound man is having a bad night sometimes the best thing 2 do is 2 cut the show short because if u can't get the problem fixed u just make things worse by continuing the show. Prince did the right thing.

ELBOOGY said:

And by the way, prince would never treat the fans bad because of tech problems. I have seen prince 20+ times and the only time that prince gets testy is if the crowd is nonresponsive during a show.

I can't believe people are complaining about the greatest show on earth. What a treat! But some people just gotta focus on the negative. That's just pretty sad. And by the way, Prince loves to play, so if he cuts a performance short, I'm betting he had a pretty good personal reason to do so.
Those complaining they didn't get their money's worth should go check out Madonna for 300 bucks

BigMFCheez said:

HEY THAT GOOD POINT!

POOK WOULD PAY 80 AGAIN TONIGHT!