{{{http://www.canada.com/sea...6EF7FA2A35 This is the sound of Prince cancelling
Cam Fuller
Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Oops, he did it again.

Prince cancelled his Tuesday concert at Centennial Auditorium, 11 months after disappointing fans by calling off his national tour last summer.

"I'm just terribly disappointed,'' Roberta Ross said after getting a refund for her tickets.

"Maybe his astrologer told him not to play here,'' quipped Tim Murphy, who also had planned to attend the concert.}}}

Prince formerly planned to perform a July 3 show last year at SaskPlace. That concert was called off 24 hours after being announced but before tickets went on sale.

Traffic was quiet but steady at the auditorium box office Tuesday afternoon as word spread of the no-show. The Vancouver promoter, Clear Channel Entertainment, blamed "unforeseen technical difficulties.''

"Unfortunately, I can't elaborate on what was stated in the press release. That is the statement I received from the tour,'' said Trisha Soper of Clear Channel.

It's not clear exactly what the term "technical difficulties'' means, even to Kim Gallucci, director of sales at Centennial Auditorium.

"They're not entirely sure themselves. They didn't have an answer.''

About 1,000 tickets had been sold to the show, which is half the auditorium's capacity.

"For any other performer, it would go ahead,'' said Gallucci.

The most recent big-name concert there, B.B. King, sold 1,800.

Competition from other upcoming events like John Prine, Bob Dylan and the jazz festival may have hurt sales. The previously unheard-of price of $106.50 per ticket may also have had an affect.

"It would be price-resistant to people,'' said Gallucci.''

However, Prince's concert in Regina on Monday night was close to sold out at the same price. Joe Kratz, a fan who attended, was amazed at the three-hour spectacle.

"One of the great shows the city's ever seen. The show, the production, the lighting, his vocal delivery, it was first-class all the way. He's a genius,'' said Kratz.

"It was the noisiest crowed I've ever heard at the Centre of the Arts. People were going bananas. Everyone in that building had a great time.''

After years fighting with his record company, Prince now has complete control over his career. He sells special albums directly to fans who join his New Power Generation music club over the Internet. The subscription, US $100, includes privileges like special concert seating and access to an annual fan fest at his studio in Minneapolis. He has absolutely no contact with the media. He strictly forbids anyone to record or photograph him without his consent. Special security guards search every fan attending concerts for cameras and tape recorders. But not in Saskatoon.

© Copyright 2002 Saskatoon StarPhoenix

For a cancellation, that's a pretty good article. Not to mention the author didn't seem to have a chip on his/her shoulder(like normal articles about Prince).

"It was the noisiest crowed I've ever heard at the Centre of the Arts. People were going bananas. Everyone in that building had a great time."

Great quote!! byyyeee!!

Oh well.
I remember a story about the lighting rig falling down at the Florida venue and fans were afraid that the concert would be cancelled, but it was only delayed.
I guess this time the technical difficulties were too much to overcome.

Technical difficulties is just something the npg told the Clear Channel and auditorium people.

That could be anything, lack of sales(1000 isn't too low, from what they said), busing schedule, hotel problems, for whatever reason it's cancelled. Many times they say the artist has got the flu(=artist is in rehab...) or the artist ate some bad lobster(=drummer's got the crabs) or the artist's girlfriend is pregnant(she found him in bed and went and got preggo's with drummer, bitch, now you got da crabs!!).

mrchristian said:

CLASSIC!!! LOL

I have to admit...that got me laff on, mate!

mrchristian said:

LOL! And the band played on...

FunkyMan said:

[snip]



"Special"? At the One Nite Alone show I attended, they were the venue's regular security thugs.



And bootlegs for ONA shows are already circulating.

There are only four things certain in life:

1) Birth
2) Death
3) Taxes
4) Tapers will find a way to smuggle their gear into Prince concerts.
[This message was edited Thu Jun 6 19:09:28 PDT 2002 by matt]