on December 5, 1984, I went to see Prince in concert at the Richfield Coliseum (which has now been demolished) in Cleveland, Ohio. It was for the Purple Rain tour, and boy was I ever excited, since it was the first time ever I got to see Prince live in concert.

I went to buy the tickets when they went onsale about 2 months before the actual concert (it was in October), and I went during my lunch hour. As soon as I got back to my desk at work, I looked at my tickets, and realized that they were not together. So I called the Coliseum, told them what happened, and told them that I wanted two tickets in the same section, same row, next to each other. The person I talked to on the phone was not sympathetic at all, they just said they they couldn't do anything about it. Well, I wasn't about to just let it drop, so I went back to the Coliseum again, and went to the ticket window and made a big stink about it. I don't even remember what all I said, but my tickets were exchanged for two seats together. Whew!

Then my next hurdle was trying to find someone to go to the concert with. I originally asked a guy who I was dating if he wanted to go, but he couldn't, because he was sick. I asked a couple other friends, and they couldn't go, so finally I asked another guy I knew. I remember he was all excited about going, and said, "Hot damn!" on the phone when I asked him if he would be interested in going.

The day of the concert finally arrived, and I remember frantically trying to find a purple lighter for the show. I don't think I succeeded, I think I wound up buying a yellow one. But I do know that I wore all purple to the show. Purple corduroy pants, a purple shirt, and a white sweater over the shirt that had a purple design on it. I was so excited about going to see Prince, that I could barely even eat, I just wanted to get to the show and have fun. Finally, my friend showed up, and off to the concert we went.

I was watching people as they were coming in and taking their seats, and it was interesting seeing how some of them were dressed. I remember one girl had dark hair, but she had put a purple streak in it. Some of the people were dressed really nice, the others were more casual.

Then finally, the lights went down, and the show was about to begin! The opening act was Sheila E, and as we all know, she put on a fantastic show. There was an element of surprise in the show, because the song "Erotic City" began playing, and I thought it was Prince and the Revolution onstage. But when the curtain came up, I saw that it wasn't Prince, that it was still Sheila and her band. I swear, it sounded just like Prince, and who knows, he could have been backstage singing his part, for all we know.

When Prince came out, of course, the crowd went absolutely nuts!!! I remember a bunch of young girls sitting behind me yelling, "We love you Prince, we love you!" I remember thinking, "He can't hear you, shut up!" Of course, the first song Prince played was "Let's Go Crazy", complete with the confetti falling from the ceiling. He played all of the songs from the Purple Rain soundtrack, and a few others, including the song "Free". I turned to my friend and said, "Oh, I love this song!" I remember Prince making the comment about being grateful for what he had. Prince also had the squirting guitar, just like in the movie, and I remember wishing I had a closer seat, so that the water could get me a little wet. I also clearly remember the comment Prince made at the very end of the show, "Be kind to each other; we don't know how much time we have left."

So we left the show, and during the concert, a big blizzard had started. It was windy, cold, icy, and the snow was coming down very hard. Due to the bad weather, it took us a long time to get out of the parking lot and to get home (and I only lived about 20 minutes away from the concert hall!). I think I got home around 2 or 2:30 am, and I had to get up early to go to work in only about 5 hours. But it was worth it, and just to think, back in 1984, the Prince tickets only cost $17.50 each! Funny how ticket prices have gone up since then, but the money you pay for a Prince ticket is still very much worth it. When I think back how young I was in 1984, it makes me feel old now. Think I'm going to put the "Purple Rain" soundtrack on tonight, just for nostalgic purposes.
[Edited 12/5/04 16:24pm]

That's a great story Psych, thanks for sharing.

You're welcome.

Good story. I had the same ticket problem for the Musicology show. Both seats were excellent and extremely close, but on opposite sides of the stage. Some kind fan who was alone, traded seats with one of ours. Great guy!

Knock wood, but I haven't had any ticket problem since (and I hope not to, either). It was great that you found someone who was willing to trade seats with you. Sounds like it worked out well for all involved.