I've been looking at the concert setlists in anticipation of this weekend's week of Prince madness in Chi-town, and I've noticed something...

while Prince throws a lot of fun covers into his aftershow set lists (when he does them), ever since Ray Charles' death (and even a week or so before), Prince is staring to play a LOT more covers. At least it seems that way in print. Am I wrong?

What really concerns me is this...

If Prince is truly retiring the perfoming of some of his greatest hits, are Chicago audiences going to miss out on a few of the hits that earlier audiences heard because Prince is suddenly feeling REEEEALY nostalgic..and not for his own stuff?

Anyone have any insight on this?

I love hearing a few inspired covers, but I'd rather here the classic Prince stuff first...
Keith/Kacey

Kacey725 said:

A comparison of the setlists over the whole of the tour reveals Prince is not particularly ditching hits for covers. Moreover, as you point out, what is set down in print can be misleading - it's important to understand what is actually played on the night rather than going by the setlist and assuming he played an entire song. The mention of a song (whether a 'hit' or 'cover') doesn't mean you'll hear any more than several bars on occasions.

The opening of the show has remained steadfast throughout the tour. There have been some relatively minor changes, and additions.

On some occasions he has played more hits than he was playing at the start of the tour, including his most recent performance.

With regard to covers, one cover has sometimes replaced another at that point on the setlist.

As for Chicago, he's playing 5 nights. Going by the way Prince (historically) likes to mix things up slightly and provide variety for people who see more than one show in the same town, I'd guess it's highly likely that he'll play at least the vast majority of the hits he has played on the tour over these nights.

And your real concern: Prince is not 'truly retiring the perfoming of some of his greatest hits'. He has made that clear in several interviews. Describing the tour as the last chance to see the greatest hits performed was promotion-speak: Prince has said that it's the last time in a while that he'll play some of these songs so he can make way to play other material in future shows.
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[This message was edited Wed Jun 23 3:01:59 2004 by langebleu]

asfar as aftershows go....it isn't unusual 4 Prince 2 do several covers.
listening 2 aftershows from 1988 right thru to 2004..... it's sumthin he does,& does well!

long as he's playin,& tearin' it up..... does it matter?

rockon!!

Last night, Prince didn't do many covers...looks like he balances everything quite nicely.

Keith/Kacey