OK, So it ain't LA or Detroit, Chicago or New York. But, I live in the Twin Cities and rather than fight the masses for good seats at Xcel, I purchased tix on the web one month ago for the Ames Iowa show - just a 2 hour drive. Got 3rd row seats, so my strategy worked.

Anyone have experience with "small maket" shows? Iowa isn't exactly funkville, but I figured many will be making the trip from MPLS, Chicago, St. Louis. Anyone else doing this?

Hoping the show will be just as good in the heartland.

andoverbrown said:

????? Just curious????? Did you get your tickets from the NPG music club???? If so how do you know WHERE your tickets are?? You can't pick them up until Will Call?
Or did you get them from Ticket master..... and if so WOW, how did you get such good seats? I thought THOSE rows were for the Members???
Take care.... Peace

Orionforever said:

Yeah, same question. How did you get 3rd row. As an NPGMC member I have yet to know where my seat is.

I thought about getting tix to the Ames show, but I decided not to...dammit, now I have to wait till the middle of June!

I am also from the Twin Cities and making the drive to Ames. After seeing him opening night via satellite, I can't wait!

i had an experience seeing prince at the mark in moline (quad cities) for his jam of the year tour. the crowd was much different than the chicago crowds. they were all stuck in the 80s, only knew his hits, and one woman brought an infant to the show. it was very strange.
[This message was edited Sat Apr 3 15:29:10 2004 by comeon]

I got the tix through TicketMaster - was on the web moments before they went on sale. Have them printed and ready to go.

Feel damn lucky. Can't wait. Been a Prince fan since I was in the 3rd grade. My great grandmother, of all people, gave me 1999 on cassette for christmas. Hooked for more than 20 years.

FYI Hopefully this clears some of the misconceptions up.....Tickets thru the club guarantee you the closest 2 sections...Depending on the venue for this show there could be as many as 10 sections of floor seating...ERGO: 8 other sections of floor seats available to the general public. Just wanted people to be aware of this b4 it causes another thread of people feeling "ripped off" because others not in the club getting equal or better seats.


"Have u had UR plus sign today?"
[This message was edited Sun Apr 4 22:09:44 2004 by ticktickbang]

I got 3rd row tickets to the excel center in st. paul on friday night... 3rd night, think it'll be a good one??

Wonder if he'll have an aftershow.
[This message was edited Sun Apr 4 22:24:15 2004 by zachypoo]

andoverbrown said:

I have posted on this topic before. I live in Omaha, NE and have only seen small market shows. THEY RULE!

For the most part you will have the true hardcore fans- people who really care about the music. And of course a few people from major cities who are smart enough to realize that if they have to travel they should go where there crowds will be lighter and you can get closer.

I think there are more casual fans at the big market show, myself. Go to Ames. It will be awesome and I'll see you there!!

I live in southern Minnesota, and I can tell you that Iowa needs some funk. Those boys down there...they are all sporting crew cuts still. They have their own little Iowegian army or something.

Anyhow, joking aside, this show is going to be great: I haven't seen Prince since he played Xcel in 2001!

thewar said:

betta hush about iowa, i'm from there... it'd be nice if he could play in des moines for once (whenever that iowa events center gets finished--coulda at least played vets auditorium or sumfin ), instead of goin to ames or cedar rapids all the time...and yeah, iowa is in dire need of some fonk!!!

I am making the trip from Minneapolis to both Omaha and Ames. I agree that Iowa (as well as Nebraska) are in dire need of some funk. The only thing funky about Iowa and Nebraska is the smell!




Looking forward to seeing everyone there. Krebsne, I will see you at California Taco for some food and cerveza!!! I will call you when I get to Omaha.

By the way- Ames is at least 3 hours from the south of the Twin Cities so, unless you speed heavily, be prepared to be late if you are estimating a 2 hour trip.

I'm from Ames, and I agree that Iowa definitely needs the funk. Especially Ames. Most of the local bands are either of the punk or metal variety. Even Iowa's most famous musical group, Slipknot, is like hardcore thrash metal. I'd much rather have a catchy melody and a funky beat.

BTW, for good food before the show, Hickory Park on Duff Ave. has some great barbeque and burgers. It's a sit-down-and-get-your-order-taken place, so you'll have to come a little early if you want to try it out, but it seats something like 200, so you probably won't have to wait long. It closes at 9 though, so no aftershow dining there.

Another good places is El Azteca, a new mexican restaurant quite a ways east near the Dayton Ave. exit off of highway 30. Very friendly service and great mexican food.

Hey what's that pizza place downtown Great Plains something or other? Chacmool do you know what I mean?

Iowa definatly needs some funk! I went to see prince in the Quad Cities (JAM OF THE YEAR) back in 97', and the mark only holds like 12k, and it didnt even sell out!! Goes to show the state of paralysis they are in. I live in texas now, and went to the dallas show this past weekend, and of course he blew the MFing roof of the place. I will be going to the San Antonio show also, and the second dallas show in June, and if he does Houston, which i am sure he will do more than 1 show there. Anyway have fun if ur one of the lucky ones going to AMES!!! Youll get more than ur $$ worth, as Prince fams already no.

skywalker said:

Yeah, there are quite a few little pizza places in Ames, Great Plains being one of them. It's away from campus, in the "normal" downtown part of Ames. It's got a nice little atmosphere to it, but to be honest I've never enjoyed their pizza as much as some other places in town. The crust is just too thick and tough, and the cheese-to-sauce ratio is a little too high for my taste. But I know a lot of people love their style.

There's the Pizza Pit and da Vinci's in Campustown, both of which I like more than Great Plains. Pizza Pit has the added advantage of being directly above Ames best bar, Welch Ave Station. In fact, you can go into Welch Ave. Station and order anything from the Pizza Pit menu. Truly the best of both worlds

Of course Ames has its fair share of fast burger and sub places too. There are a couple of Quiznos in town now, if you're down with the sponge monkeys (stars of one of the wackiest commercials I've ever seen on TV).

Thanks for the responses to Ames inquiry. Cannot wait thanks to your comments! Three nights and counting...

Chacmool said:

That's true, there are waaaay too many white kids whining in local music around here. But I bet its the same everywhere. You can find fonky music if you look. My band has a real funk edge (and while we are original we do pull out the occassional Prince cover- KISS, JOY IN REPITION, THE RIDE, etc.) and are based out of Omaha. 311 is from here... its not all Slipknot!!

Here's a link to one of our funkier joints.

http://www.spcband.com/mp3/Freeman.mp3

Enjoy!!

pluvv2002 said:

i remember seein the commercial for that concert and wantin to go to it, but my dad wouldn't let me go cuz he didn't wanna drive me from des moines all the way over to the quad cities to go see 'im. plus i was only 16 and he didn't want me goin out by myself. i was mad!

this is awesome tho', it's nice to see folks from my neck of the woods who'll be gettin the funk. thought i was the only iowan on this board. damn...i need to go and visit my dad down in des moines really soon, it's been almost 3 years since i set foot in iowa since i moved up north...