For those of us that are old enough to remember, Who was a better opening act, The Time or Sheila E.

Between these two only, Please !

The Time !!!! Hands down.

As much as I hate to say this, and I love Sheila to death, I have to say for the time period as it was, The Time was a more seasoned band than Sheila E. Remember, it was her first time out on the road holding her own. Back in 84-85 when she was touring with Prince, I have to say that although she was a good opening act, she was still a little green, and very new to being in the spotlight. Now, on the other hand, she holds her own congas very well, pardon the pun, and for that matter, so does the Time. But since U put the question as U did. I have to say the Time wins this round.

MrHappy404 said:

Thanks for your comment. I have to agree. Sheila E was very new to that type of large production. The Time sort of grew with Prince. Some say, at the time, they were growing even larger.

THE TIME
no question, hesitation or debate.


I saw them open for Prince on the Controversy tour, & those boys were TOO FUNKY, TOO COOL & TOO TIGHT. They all played & stopped on a dime, & had more attitude than is legally allowed by law.

By the 1999 tour, on many stops people preferred THE TIME to Prince (this I know, based on all the comments I heard after that show.) Everyone of course dug Prince & was mainly there to see him, but people thought that The Time simply put on a better show all the way around. Rumor had it, as many know, that on certain tour stops Prince took The Time's name off the concert posters..

Prince HAD to break that group up, & he was totally right to say that they were the only band that he was ever "afraid of."

I'm still angry at him for doing that, though.
JUST THINK if The Time were at full "Jesse Jimmy & Terry" strength..
I think they'd still blow Prince out of the water..
at least, he'd really have to stay on his toes musically to stay "ahead" of them.


I know I shouldn't even hold my breath, but I am praying for 1 MORE "full-strength" TIME REUNION..
hell, if I had the money, I'd pay them to reunite myself..
& it would be WORTH EVERY PENNY.

get it up!

No contest..."The Time" Get any 1999 tour on "video" with them & U can hear & see how skin-tight they were.....any other lineup after that one just don't do it 4 me~
But Sheila baby...U know I love & dig what your about~ It's a Bay Area Thang~

I agree with all who say the Time was better. However, I think that if you look at from the standpoint of who was the better OPENING ACT, then I might have to give Sheila the nod. Mainly because, while Sheila was entertaining in her own right, there was no way she was going to upstage Prince! The Time was able to do that actually rather frequently.

The Time, as a band were tighter than both Sheila E's band AND the Revoulution!
Man for man, Time were better muscisians than the Revolution, with exception of Dr. Fink and maybe, MAYBE, BrownMark. They had been playing together longer than the Revolution had been together.

Prince really took a chance having such a polished and funky band open for him, and he got his butt kicked a couple of times for it!