[Nothing really new here, but FYI... -Ed.]

http://www.dotmusic.co.uk...asp?ps=hp1

Dotmusic.co.uk article on 7-week tour North American tour and Today Show performance.

*****

His Royal Purpleness Prince has announced an extensive seven-week tour of North America to follow his 43rd birthday celebrations.

The shows will kick off after the scheduled events at his Paisley Park Studio complex in Minneapolis, entitled Prince: A Celebration, which feature artists such as Erykah Badu, Nikka Costa, Common, Alicia Keys and Prince-endorsed The Time.

The tour precedes the release of the enigmatic singer's new album, 'The Rainbow Children', with his band the New Power Generation. A release date for the long-player has yet to be announced but fans can expect to here a whole host of new material at the shows.

Although there is no New York show as such, Prince lovers and tourists alike will get to see him performing at the Rockefeller Centre as part of NBC's 'Today' show's Summer Concert Series. The set will be broadcast live between 7am and 10am (ET).

The full tour dates are:

St. Paul, Minn Xcel Energy Centre (June 15th and 16th)
Columbus, Ohio Nationwide Arena (21st)
New York "Today" Summer Concert Series (22nd)
Detroit Joe Louis Arena (23rd)
Omaha, Neb.Omaha Civic Auditorium (27th)
Milwaukee Marcus Amphitheatre (28th)
Dayton, Ohio Nutter Centre (30th)
Rochester, N.Y. Blue Cross Arena (July 1st)
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Place (3rd)
Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg Arena (4th)
Montreal Montreal Jazz Festival (6th)
Toronto Air Canada Centre (7th)
Portland, Maine Civic Centre (10th)
New Haven, Conn New Haven Coliseum (11th)
Chicago United Centre (13th)
Indianapolis Conseco Fieldhouse (14th)
Pittsburgh Mellon Arena (15th)
Savannah, Ga Savannah Civic Centre (17th)
Greenville, S.C. Greenville Civic Centre (18th)
Tampa, Fla Ice Palace (20th)
Columbus, Ga Columbus Civic Centre (21st)
Greensboro, N.C. Greensboro Coliseum (22nd)
Edmonton, Alberta Skyreach Centre (26th)
Vancouver General Motors Place (28th)
Seattle KeyArena at Seattle Centre (29th)
Spokane, Wash. Spokane Arena (30th)
Fairbanks, Alaska Carlson Centre (August 4th)
Anchorage, Alaska Sullivan Sports Arena (5th)

*****