I went yesterday, just got back home to Manchester after staying with some friends. I enjoyed it thoroghly, I was so excited to see the Graffiti Bridge wardrobe. We did the VIP.

My first initial thoughts were how small the mannequins were. I mean, I know P was small but holy crap, I'm 5 ft 2 and female and those clothes would of been a perfect fit on me. I also found it interesting to see that some of the clothes were quite worn in. The graffiti bridge white tunic was all bobbly (like what you get sometimes when you wash a top too much), and some garments had loose thread and even hems that were loose.

A few grumbles we had:

-Some of the garments were positioned awkwardly. Ie: the graffiti bridge leather jacket was only shown from the back, so a lot of the front detailing was hidden. Could of done better with having either rotating mannequins or put at a 3 quarter viewing point.

-It seemed sort of moot when the tour guides were telling us we were 'respecting Prince's wishes' by not taking pictures of the main attraction yet it was totally fine for us to take pictures in the VIP bit??

-It got a bit jumbled once you got past the Purple Rain bit. It's all chronological then all of a sudden you jump from Sign o the Times to Graffiti Bridge in one space.

-We also felt maybe the VIP space could of been used to show protoge or associated acts outfits and instruments too seen as it was generally the more hardcore fans that were going for VIP tickets.

-The prices had been hiked up on the shop from the day before. 35 quid I paid for the fashion book. Scandalous. And not in the Prince way!

Other than that I enjoyed the exhibition and I will never forget it. I left a little momento on the fence and snuck a pic of it, so its very blurry lol

lucylula said:

Get this though, we go into the first room of the VIP experience and it is supposed to be like being backstage with flight cases etc and someone actually looked round and said “why have they all got PRN on them”...it was lucky I didn’t get arrested for my response

sorry to double post but omg i know this feel. Apparently someone walked up to the cloud suit and said 'that's cool, i wonder when he wore that'. I didn't hear it but my friend did. I'm sort of glad I didn't

stu said:

CherryMoon57 said:

It's good no-nonsense review, thank you. This part of the article says it all:

"All that is left to display are the artefacts of his brand. It is a peak behind the scenes that just shows another artfully staged scene. The V&A’s David Bowie Is and The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains exhibitions have showed what kind of creative synergy and enlightenment might be realised in an ambitiously and lovingly curated rock and roll exhibition.

That is the kind of exhibition Prince deserves. Unfortunately, like the O2’s Elvis exhibition in 2014* (sanctioned and curated by the Presley estate), this has zero interest in doing anything more than perpetuating a myth. Customers exit through the gift shop, where they can purchase Prince branded T-shirts, mugs and memorabilia but all it really memorialises is the exhibition itself. Prince has long since left the building."

(*and now in 2017 alongside Prince's)

's exactly what I said above, the Elvis exhibition was originally twice the size of the Prince one and went chronologically from birth all the way through to Vegas. It included cars/bikes and a whole bunch of iconic stuff. The current Floyd exhibit at the V&A has massive stage pieces and a room just for projecting some amazing live performance footage. Both were well thought through and labelled. The Bowie one was what they should have been aiming for, its incredible. What you get at the Prince one is cool but as a once in a lifetime thing it could have been so much bigger and better.

stu said:

https://www.linkedin.com/...e-8a5b732a Curator of the show - loads of Elvis experience but no Prince..

It all makes sense now...

CherryMoon57 said:

laurarichardson said:

CherryMoon57 said:

—They have not gone through all of Prince’s stuff. Give it sometime.

The problem is not so much what was displayed, rather how it was displayed and the bizarre idea to have started an Elvis exhibit right next to it. Again, please read before commenting!

stu said:

CherryMoon57 said:

stu said:

https://www.linkedin.com/...e-8a5b732a Curator of the show - loads of Elvis experience but no Prince..

It all makes sense now...

Lawd... I'm so glad David Bowie was around to advise on his exhibition...and to attend it personally with his family before he passed. IMO the "David Bowie Is..." is a prime example of how to do a world touring exhibition for a music artist. The world touring Beatles exhibit I saw in 2015 at the LBJ museum was another outstanding example. I want to add, however, that I haven't seen the Prince exhibit except for pictures online, so I can't comment on it like someone who attended. I did like the pix I have seen of it.

[Edited 10/29/17 19:33pm]

rogifan said:

stu said:

rogifan said:

Duh. She came from Graceland. Who has Prince experience and experience running celebrity museums?

The V@A do, like we keep saying - a world famous museum with experience of working with estates to put together massive exhibitions for different musical artists, That is the (gold) standard that Prince deserves. [Edited 10/30/17 0:08am]

Yes, do it like the Bowie exhibit...and tour it world-wide.

stu said:

rogifan said:

Duh. She came from Graceland. Who has Prince experience and experience running celebrity museums?

The V@A do, like we keep saying - a world famous museum with experience of working with estates to put together massive exhibitions for different musical artists, That is the (gold) standard that Prince deserves. [Edited 10/30/17 0:08am]

purplethunder3121 said:

stu said:

rogifan said: The V@A do, like we keep saying - a world famous museum with experience of working with estates to put together massive exhibitions for different musical artists, That is the (gold) standard that Prince deserves. [Edited 10/30/17 0:08am]

Yes, do it like the Bowie exhibit...and tour it world-wide.

Yes, please.

dippydippywaveofmydo said:

Just got back from the exhibition. Did VIP which was cool but the main exhibition is the best part about it. So if I go again I’ll just get general admission. Some very cool stuff to see. Took me about 2 hours to look at everything. Only disappointment was the merchandise. T shirts are boring and cheap looking. £72.50 for a tambourine? I don’t think so. Also, yes, they’ve hiked up the price of Cloud Guitars. I wanted to get one. Apparently they sell for $1,750 at Paisley (correct me if I’m wrong). That’s around £1,300. They’re on sale at the exhibition for £2,160! Not sure if they’re priced so much for importing reasons but christ that’s a lot of money. So that was disappointing. But, the actual exhibition was excellent and I’ll probably go again in December or January. The spirit of Prince is definitely there!

the VAT along on a £2160 guitar is £432 which goes to HMRC. so that's £1728 pre VAT price. remember there would be duty on top of VAT plus shipping prices, plus factor in the cost of staff and venue hire. you also get to inspect and collect the goods in person, no online ordering, waiting and customs etc. the exchange rate is crap, so overall the difference in price is understandable

This is the guitar that you get to hold (with gloves) in the V.I.P Room.

Some Items from the expo

purplethunder3121 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

The previous sticky self-locked.

The 02 exhibit is open. Housequake's FB page posted a video from Planet Slop from press day with a (albeit shaky) walkthrough. Beautiful items, and even a guitar I've never seen before in there. His jumper from the Brit awards performance (with Wendy, Lisa, & Sheila) is there, the Grammy's green trench from "Purple Rain" performance, the shawl/cape he wore to the Oscars or the premiere (I forget which one) and often wore during "Purple Rain" on the tour - all that is in there, plus a lot more.

The link above is to the video, FYI.

[Edited 10/26/17 8:09am]

I would still love to see a video of the exhibit done a la David Bowie's awesome "David Bowie IS" which travelled the world and was filmed and shared by fans to those who couldn't see it in person. And that was an exhibition Bowie was involved in and actually attended before his untimely demise. I think that a Prince exhibition could be done equally well...

He wasn't actually involved in it as such...he gave the curators access to his archives, but all the decision-making and planning was theirs. He did visit the exhbition with his wife and daughter.

Angelsoncrack said:

lucylula said:

Get this though, we go into the first room of the VIP experience and it is supposed to be like being backstage with flight cases etc and someone actually looked round and said “why have they all got PRN on them”...it was lucky I didn’t get arrested for my response

sorry to double post but omg i know this feel. Apparently someone walked up to the cloud suit and said 'that's cool, i wonder when he wore that'. I didn't hear it but my friend did. I'm sort of glad I didn't

So you get annoyed with people who know less about Prince than you do? Charming!

hw3004 said:

Angelsoncrack said:

sorry to double post but omg i know this feel. Apparently someone walked up to the cloud suit and said 'that's cool, i wonder when he wore that'. I didn't hear it but my friend did. I'm sort of glad I didn't

So you get annoyed with people who know less about Prince than you do? Charming!

No, I'd just think someone that had paid 60 quid to go to an exhibition about Prince would know that the cloud suit (one of his most famous suits) was worn in the Raspberry Beret video (also one of Prince's most famous tracks). I have no problem with casual fans.

That script...
.
I'd always wondered where / why the Nikki had emerged - now we know!

Angelsoncrack said:

Well, I enjoyed going today but, pretty much for the reasons that some here have stated such as lack of personal content, it could be so much better.

Also a bit odd to see the Prince gift shop at the end with quotes about Elvis above the merch displays. But then again the only Elvis I care about is Costello.

jjam said:

Well, I enjoyed going today but, pretty much for the reasons that some here have stated such as lack of personal content, it could be so much better.

Also a bit odd to see the Prince gift shop at the end with quotes about Elvis above the merch displays. But then again the only Elvis I care about is Costello.

What sort of personal content would you have? Outside of his notebooks I do not think he left anything personal around for the museum. Remember they are saying many displays were already together and he appears to have saved specific items. I would think anything super personal he got rid of or his family has possession of. Remember we have seen the most personal photos of him as a child recently from Tyka. Very little candid photos were seen when Prince was alive.

He kept his rockstar persona going right to the end.

jjam said:

Well, I enjoyed going today but, pretty much for the reasons that some here have stated such as lack of personal content, it could be so much better.

Also a bit odd to see the Prince gift shop at the end with quotes about Elvis above the merch displays. But then again the only Elvis I care about is Costello.

or perhaps give an example of personal content that was in the Bowie exhibit (if you saw that one) that you would like to see in O2 or PP.

[Edited 10/31/17 11:56am]

purplefam99 said:

jjam said:

Well, I enjoyed going today but, pretty much for the reasons that some here have stated such as lack of personal content, it could be so much better.

Also a bit odd to see the Prince gift shop at the end with quotes about Elvis above the merch displays. But then again the only Elvis I care about is Costello.

or perhaps give an example of personal content that was in the Bowie exhibit (if you saw that one) that you would like to see in O2 or PP.

[Edited 10/31/17 11:56am]

Is there anything more personal than a man's private cocaine spoon?

It wasn't just the complete absence of personal stuff (though there was none and the Bowie exhibition has quite a bit of pre-fame/growing up stuff), it's the problem with so liitle being well labelled - it wouldn't have killed them to put up little plaques and photo's with each outfit or guitar - showing them in action. There is no narrative, no story. The PR notebook doesn't have anything next to it explaining who Vanity is.

The Bowie exhibition had loads of alternate and unused album art, unseen photo sessions. Tours and eras are well described.

Prince's tours are barely mentioned (apart from 21 nights) - nothing about the Lovesexy tour to go with the amazing outfits, the record breaking London residency for Nude or Musicology doing massive business in the US after the artistic high point of ONA. NPGMC got more recognition than NPG or The Time or 3EG.

A casual fan could walk out without even realising he could play nearly anything - I don't recall even seeing anything piano related. Or the name change, or the aliases, or awards etc.

I enjoyed it but it's a missed opportunity for a proper retrospective.

stu said:

purplefam99 said:

or perhaps give an example of personal content that was in the Bowie exhibit (if you saw that one) that you would like to see in O2 or PP.

[Edited 10/31/17 11:56am]

Is there anything more personal than a man's private cocaine spoon?

It wasn't just the complete absence of personal stuff (though there was none and the Bowie exhibition has quite a bit of pre-fame/growing up stuff), it's the problem with so liitle being well labelled - it wouldn't have killed them to put up little plaques and photo's with each outfit or guitar - showing them in action. There is no narrative, no story. The PR notebook doesn't have anything next to it explaining who Vanity is.

The Bowie exhibition had loads of alternate and unused album art, unseen photo sessions. Tours and eras are well described.

Prince's tours are barely mentioned (apart from 21 nights) - nothing about the Lovesexy tour to go with the amazing outfits, the record breaking London residency for Nude or Musicology doing massive business in the US after the artistic high point of ONA. NPGMC got more recognition than NPG or The Time or 3EG.

A casual fan could walk out without even realising he could play nearly anything - I don't recall even seeing anything piano related. Or the name change, or the aliases, or awards etc.

I enjoyed it but it's a missed opportunity for a proper retrospective.

thanks i appreciate your response. i was wondering how the traveling exhibit compared to what they have on display at paisley. There isn't a huge amount of curation there as well. IMO. it is

wonderful to be in his space of course but just talking museums, i think it will get better, hoping anyway. Sounds like the bowie exhibit is a good example of how to do it. thx.

I'm going to the O2 in November to see Queens of the Stone Age with a college buddy, we were deciding whether we wanted to get VIP or GA tickets, but have decided to go to the pub instead. I just don't think it would live up to my expectations.

cra1g0s said:

I'm going to the O2 in November to see Queens of the Stone Age with a college buddy, we were deciding whether we wanted to get VIP or GA tickets, but have decided to go to the pub instead. I just don't think it would live up to my expectations.

If I had an opportunity to see Prince items, there is no way I would pass that up. It is something that you might not ever get the chance to see again.

cra1g0s said: