What a fun show! I will say that while I had a similar seating issue as krebsne described in his Omaha thread -- we had front row seats, but we were stuck right behind the drums with the bass bins blasting at us -- the feeling of energy and excitment made up for the seat location. We actually had a decent view of Prince for most of the show, despite our seats. Prince came out on the catwalk closest to us quite a few times, and it was almost surreal seeing him that close. I went to the One Nite Alone tour in KC a few years back, and our 13th row seats then seemed pretty damn close, but this took the cake.

One thing that kind of surprised me was how small the stage seemed. Maybe it was just the perspective we had from our seats, but even as we walked down the steps to the floor, the stage wasn't as big as I expected it. Which was nice, since it meant that no matter where Prince was at, we could at least see his head, if not his whole body. The only time we really lost him was during the Life 'O' The Party jam with all the people on stage, when he would be on the far side of the stage.

Song-wise, I don't think anything new popped up, but I'll let someone else who kept track of the setlist confirm that. I really enjoyed the songs played. There were a lot of old school songs that I had never heard live (I've only seen him twice: One Nite Alone, KC, and Jam of the Year, Cedar Rapids, IA), so it was great to listen to DMSR, and just about all of the PR songs. I know closing the show with Purple Rain may be a cliche for a lot of fans, but again, I'm only 24, and I thought he pulled it off wonderfully. It was a really powerful way to end the show, especially for the casual fans. I loved it too, though, and you know I was singing my heart out on the closing "ohhh ohhh ohhhhh"s

Sound-wise, it might just be Hilton, but I think a lot of sports arenas just have horrible acoustics for concerts. I saw Led Zeppelin at the United Center in Chicago in high school (well, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and two anonymous guys on bass and drums), and while the concert rocked, the sound sucked. The same is true of Hilton Coliseum in Ames. I've seen quite a few groups there, and I can't say the sound has ever been great. Of course being right in front of the drums and bass bins helped to muddle our reception of the sound, but even some friends who were sitting up in the parquet seats said that it sounded kind of bad at times, a bit bass-heavy on the jam numbers. The acoustic set sounded really nice though (oh yeah, Prince played the acoustic set), and it was a great sing-along. I really dig the acoustic version of 7. It's just the bass-and-drum heavy songs that don't come through the best in the arenas, IMHO.

Finally, I don't know how much of this was due to Prince's staff and their directions, and how much was due to the local coliseum staff, but they all did an excellent job of keeping people from crashing the gates around the stage, and giving the people who actually had seats there room to move around. One staff person in particular moved right in as soon as she saw someone in the area who was not supposed to be there. So while the club seats may not all be in the optimal floor areas, at least no one else is getting a free trip down from the nose-bleed seats.

Oh, and it was cool hearing people blasting Musicology from their cars in the parking lot after the show while we were searching for ours. I think this disc will do well with the casual fans.

All in all, I have to say that was one of the most fun concerts I've been too. I think it felt a little less serious than the One Nite Alone shows, and a little more like a party. But hopefully, we'll get more of both types of shows in the future!

Oh yeah, and John Blackwell is fierce! Not that you all don't know that already, but with our excellent view of him during the show, we really got to see how incredible he is. It blew my mind to see him do those stick-twirling tricks back when they played Ballad of Dorothy Parker on Leno a few years ago, and it blew my mind tonight. There are a lot of great musicians in the band right now, but I think you have to give the MVP up to Mr. Blackwell.

Ames was great and a 1000% improvement from Omaha- all due to my seats.

I was 90 degrees clockwise around the stage from where I was in Omaha- off the "Candy" catwalk and toward Rhonda's "den".

I could see Prince 100% of the time. Even when he went between the keyboards and the drums I could still see his head (the reason the X of the catwalks was raised I bet!). Visually and sonically it was stunning.

Add that show to the onstage experience the night before and you would have the best concert EVER. I mean I would explode. (see my review of the Omaha show for details!)

I probably couldn't have handled them both in one night!! =)

Set wise someone who was at both shows (and liked to look at their watch I guess) told me on the way out that Omaha' s show was 18 minutes longer.

Ames got Adore and Crucial but did not get The One, Sometimes It Snows In April, The Question of U or Insatiable.

Most songs were shorter than Omaha- especially the band member solo spots and the acoustic set. However DMSR was longer and he called for a keyboard solo!

It was nice to see him calling song sections on the fly like that!

All in all I loved it! No complaints about Ames and my dissappointment with the sound and sight lines in Omaha is of course fading away!!

I thought the best songs both nights were the old school funk jams- DMSR, CONTROVERSY, and LET'S WORK.

DMSR especially was slamming in Ames. Better than the record.

Oh, and LET'S GO CRAZY was great too. Probably helps when you can actually hear the mids!!!

krebsne said:

Crucial? Are you serious? I'm not a huge fan of this song, but I know several people here would cut off their right arm to hear this song!!!

Chacmool said:

I agree musically. But Rhonda is a close second. DAMN SHE IS TIGHT. I took the bass player from my band last night and he was BLOWN AWAY by her.

And Candy gets the peformance MVP for working wherever Prince WASN'T and keeping the show active when he was on the other end from you. WORD TO DULPHER!!

booyah said:

I am serious. At least part of it was one of the slow medleys.

Also in Omaha he checked NPS a lot. He did THE ONE and during funky songs hit the "freaks on this side" and "I like funky music" chants with the crowd. NONE OF THAT in Ames at all.

nice to see that he treated my home state crowd well...i was afraid i was gonna have to beat 'im up if he didn't.

whenever the iowa events center gets finished, he can always come back and play des moines, so i can pop down there and say, "he finally played in my hometown!"

I was impressed with the energy the band put out at the show in Ames last night...but damn the sound was horrible. I brought somebody who had never seen Prince live before and found myself saying over and over -his music wasn't meant to be heard like this. You couldn't hear the melodies and from where I was sitting the horns were a complete wash because of reverberation from the drums. I don't know. I just can't get with hearing music piped through a system like that. I did enjoy the show though, met some fun people. The little girl on stage was pretty cute -shakin her thang with Prince, heh, heh.

And yeah, John Blackwell is fierce...

I am so in love with Rhonda...

I was also at this show and let me tell you that the crowd in Ames was FAR more hype than the people of Omaha. Ames gave it up for Prince!

Two highlights in Ames were the fact that he sang 'Adore' and 'The Ride'! I wasn't in the front row for this show but I was in the 3rd row and I must say that being a couple of rows back does make a huge difference. You can see much more from a few rows back than you can in the front row.

krebsne said:

And due to the fans of Ames. I repeat... Omaha sucks!



You must have been right by me then. I was section FB row 5 seats 9 & 10. Even though my ticket said row 5 we were only 3 rows from the end of the catwalk.



I don't believe the Omaha show could have been longer than Ames. Prince played more songs in Ames than in Omaha and the versions of most of them were longer.



Ames did get Insatiable. I know that for a fact cause my girlfriend loves that song and we were bumping and grinding to it.



No way. Most songs were longer if you ask me!

way2funky said:

Way2- Chill on my town, man!



You may be right. Sometimes its hard to tell in those medleys because such small snippets get played sometimes. I am terrible are remembering set list details.

I mean he tickled riffs from 1999, A Love Bizarre and The Glamourous Life, too. But did he really "play" them?

Also Rhonda's bassline on The Ride was *really* close to what she does on A Question of U at first. I thought that's what song it was for awhile.


Must be subjective, then. I KNOW the circular breathing saxophone bit was waaay shorter! And I'm not lying. A guy behind me was timing it.

krebsne said


My opinion.



I wouldn't say he played 1999, A Love Bizarre or The Glamourous Life but Insatiable was the entire song. You are terrible at remembering alot of things. You probably shouldn't even be writing reviews!



Did he time the one in Omaha too and send you the results?

way2funky said:

Ouch! Actually this is starting to get silly, man! Truce already. You liked Ames better than Omaha. Cool. As a concert going experience (taking the being on stage out of the equation) I did too. I actually agree with you on that! Ames was better and had more energy.

Although if you go over to the artists board here in the org there is a thread I started there about "auditioning" for Prince (referring to my singing). Someone posted on there (who seemed to have been there) that Prince and the band rented out space in a local bowling alley for a private screening of dvd footage of the Omaha show. From his account they were quite pleased. Go and see it for yourself. Sorry for not posting a link but I've got to get going!

From that I would deduce that a) the crowd wasn't that bad and b) Prince likes Omaha just fine!!