I think you're wrong. He isn't over the internet at all. Just be patient.

I agree that he isn't over the internet... but I do agree with Anxiety's sentiment: I think Prince's approach to the internet is very utilitarian and cynical.

He has abandoned the idea of using the internet to form an interactive community, and rather use it simply as a retail outlet for whenever he has something to sell.

His approach to the 'net with a site design that is static and unidirectional as far as interface is concerned is like circa 1997. The design is not forward looking, does not engage his audience, does not welcome their input, basically does not take into account that most people on the internet are just as much content CREATORS (through forums, video/pic upload, blogging, twitter, facebook, myspace, etc.) as they are readers, downloaders, buyers, etc.

NPGMC represented Prince's hopes at creating a utopian internet community, and it lasted for awhile before it got out of his/moderators control... and policing it to conform to his rules proved to be too much.

Had Lotusflow3r been an interactive site, where members/subscribers/users could engage each other through forums and the like, then the site would self-generate content and keep people coming back during these periods of no official updates. Instead what we have now is pretty much like a cyber graveyard.

If the rumors are true that Prince is playing Montreux this summer and being paid the most of any performer in history--that kind of price usually comes with some kind of exclusivity, that the performer cannot do any other shows within a certain time window or geography of the paid gig. This makes a full scale European tour unlikely this summer... and because it's in July, and we've heard no plans/rumblings of anything else in the U.S. it also means that a full scale, well planned out, promoted full-on U.S. tour is unlikely this summer as well. Maybe a few hit-and-run type gigs along the way, but nothing massive like Musicology arenas. Lotusflow3r, neither the CD nor the site, have generated sufficient interest for that.

These are of course my speculations, but speculations based on longtime fandom lol... with the full knowledge that things could change any minute. That being said, even Prince's "unpredictibilty" is becoming very easy to anticipate.


As for the site itself, based on the interviews with the designers, it is clear that they did not have much knowledge of Prince's work or his past endeavors. Their ability to deliver the kind of site that would be satisfying to the fans in terms of thoroughness (content wise) is limited to what Prince provides... and Prince hasn't seemed to have reached the point in his life where he is at peace with his own history, or at least those parts of his history which now seem to conflict with his current religious, political, cultural outlook on life. Chances of any classical material appearing on his site are therefore slim.

It's a damn shame because someone as prolific as him with such an amazing history--its retelling alone chronicled by a serious rendering of his works (past and present) would make for a robust, compelling, and $$$$-making site.

there's a whole lot of good sense in this post.

I very much agree with Nu as well but I still feel there is a tour with rehearsel in progress. The recent Greg Boyer interview said Prince told him to be ready and by seeing his various bands play on TV and in LA means to me something exciting is coming up.
[Edited 5/13/09 10:36am]

does prince do proper "tours" anymore?

well recently someone posted a site that listed all of his tours and tourdates and it seems he has toured for almost every album since the start of his career including hit and run style tours and club gigs like 3121. shit he even had an Earth tour for PE so for him not to tour for lotus just wouldn't make sense. Then again on Tavis he did mention that he tours Know when he feels like it so that leaves us in the air wondering as we are now.

well recently someone posted a site that listed all of his tours and tourdates and it seems he has toured for almost every album since the start of his career including hit and run style tours and club gigs like 3121. shit he even had an Earth tour for PE so for him not to tour for lotus just wouldn't make sense. Then again on Tavis he did mention that he tours Know when he feels like it so that leaves us in the air wondering as we are now.

well, he has done concerts supporting each album, but from 3121 on, it doesn't seem like he's done actual "tours". i think the last proper tour he did was the thing with tamar! other than that, it's been residencies and special one-off gigs, or three-shows-in-a-day kinda things. which is cool - it's still a chance to see him play - but it kinda changes the game in terms of how we plan on making a show, y'know?

His approach to the 'net with a site design that is static and unidirectional as far as interface is concerned is like circa 1997. The design is not forward looking, does not engage his audience, does not welcome their input, basically does not take into account that most people on the internet are just as much content CREATORS (through forums, video/pic upload, blogging, twitter, facebook, myspace, etc.) as they are readers, downloaders, buyers, etc.

Yeah the last time Prince did anything close to a tour was when he did hit-n-run gigs with Tamar. But the last REAL tour that subscribers to his site could really take advantage of was Musicology.

The 3121 Vegas residency was not a tour... it was for people who could afford to travel TO HIM... just like all this LA stuff is. Nice and all that you guys out west get to see him 3x in a day, but that ain't doin jack for me in NYC or folks in DC, Detroit, Chi, MPLS, ATL, etc.

Maybe he'll do a string of club-venue type gigs... that would be cool.

Or Prince is preparing for a US tour and hasn't had much time to tell the guys what to update the website with.

Or things are being compiled cleared as we type and some more updates are coming for the summer.

Or Prince is on holiday.

Or Prince and the teams computers are broken and only the website host server is running and remains unchanged while they wait in a queue on some premium rate tech support helpline to get their's fixed...

Or time has slowed down for Prince fans and although we are only about 1 month and a half into our year's subscription it seems like it has been 11 months already.

Stanley Lieber
to support

Mar 31

Hi, I'm a member of lotusflow3r.com. I thought I'd whisper some
requests in your ear about unreleased material for the site. The
following is classic unreleased stuff that would be absolutely
FANTASTIC to have.

audio OR video:

1983 August 3, live at First Avenue
1984 June 7, live at First Avenue
1986 September 9, live at Yokohama Stadium
1987 December 31, live at Paisley Park
1988 August 19, live at the Trojan Horse, The Hague (aftershow)
1993 April 12, live at DNA Lounge, San Francisco (aftershow)
1994 February 13-14, live at Paisley Park
1994 June 7-8, live at Glam Slam
1995 August 5, 12, 27, live at Paisley Park
1995 September 9, 16, live at Paisley Park
1995 October 23, live at Paisley Park
1995 November 11, live at Paisley Park
1995 December 9, live at Paisley Park
2009 March 28, live at the Conga Room

These are AMAZING shows.

See if you can talk Prince into it!

-sl

LotusFlow3r Support
to Stanley Lieber

Apr 6

Hi Stanley,

Thanks for your email, it's very important for us to listen to requests from our members so that we can try and make the site the best that it can be.

I have certainly taken note of your comments, and will pass them onto the proper persons for consideration.

Lotusflow3r.com support