There are various "historic" events that I always wish i had been old enough at the time to have witnessed first hand. For example Bowie's last gig as Ziggy at Hammersmith or Queen at Live Aid. Having been a Prince fan since 1987 I always wish i'd been that bit older so I could have seen the 1999 Triple Threat Tour - to have seen Prince & The Revolution, The Time and Vanity 6 all at the same time, on the same bill must have been amazing. Did any org'ers here go to that tour, if so what was it like? Was it as brilliant as my daydreams envisage?

I saw it in Oakland, was late so missed most of Vanity 6's show. That night, I think it was Good Friday, the Time stole the show, they were so great it was sad. When P came on he was so different so those who hadn't seen him in concert weren't expecting all the guitar work.

There was a point where he reached out to get a flower from a girl and she almost pulled him off the stage, he never came that close to the edge of the stage again.

International Lover was the shiznit! He still had the Bed!!!!!


and corvette he did it just like the video, he even put his heel up.


in a nut shell..The Time stole the show as far as showmanship but my love of P made him the highlight for me.

wow that was in 1983

I am so old

I saw P twice on the 1999 tour. The first one was a day after my 14th birthday on Mar 28, 83 in Los Angeles. At this show, it was just P and Vanity 6. P yanked The Time off of the bill for fear of getting upstaged. He did this all through the 1999 tour. Big major cities such as L.A. and New York, The Time wasn't allowed to perform. Anyway, the show in L.A. was star- studded. I personally saw Stevie Nicks, Billy Idol, LaToya and Janet and a few t.v. actresses. But Stevie Wonder and The Boss, Bruce, were also in attendence. This show was great. P pulled out all of the stops. His playing and singing was fantastic. Vanity 6 were o.k. The Time were their backup band, playing behind the curtain. I saw P again on this tour early April in Long Beach. This time, The Time did perform. Anyone could see why P pulled them off tour when he did. The Time kicked the shit out of P's set. The crowd were totally favoring The Time's set.

My first P concert was in Feb 82 at the Santa Monica Civic. It was the Controversy Tour. Zapp and The Time opened. That night, P owned it. The Time were good, but not nearly as good as they wer on the 1999 tour. I wasn't the least bit surprised of all of the rock elemets in the 1999 show, cuz P had it on the Controvery tour. P ALWAYS rocked hard early in his career. In 83, he was headed towards Purple Rain, so on the 1999 tour, he was very "Hendrixfied". It was already there and I dug it. The crowd at the Long Beach show had a grip of "rude boy" girls. Girls who came dressed and resembled Vanity. But, even they were totally turned out by The Time. P's band couldn't fuck with The Time's chemistry. Were talking the o.g. lineup with Jessie Johnson. Jessie would tear it up during his solos, all the while The Time were doing these slick ass dance steps. The little shit they did in "Purple Rain" was soooo watered down to the cold-blooded shit they did on the 1999 tour. They were wicked. To dig P, u either were a girl who liked all the talking P would do or u were a musician who respected his playing skills. Otherwise, u were going to dig The Time better.

Great guys, sounds like i missed a lot then (boo hoo). Keep those memories coming people. Anyone remember the Vanity 6 set? How were they live? How long did they play for, considering the limited catalogue to work with?

Was there a 1999 torbook???


No one seems to know....

my first tour was the purple rain tour in '85...i really wish i'd gotten into prince just a couple of years earlier, at least to the point where i'd want to see that tour. of course, i woulda been 12 or so at the time, and the last thing on my mind then was rock concerts. but my mom went to shows all the time...she had no excuse!

origmnd said:

Not at the stands that were selling the t-shirts and posters. I bought two t-shirts, two posters and all kinds of buttons. If there was a tourbook, I didn't see one.

Good tour. He was just entering superstar status, and the crowd was really into it. I think that he was just learning how to work such a large audience as the headliner. For instance, although he was really good, I must say that the Time stole the show that night.

to see Prince play extended guitar on "Something in the Water"

I was 15 at the time and in the 10th grade. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go because the purple whore never looked towards Mississippi after his 1980 tour with Rick James and never returned until 1997.

Anyway, being one of the biggest customers at the record store by my grandmother's house, I had become friends with two of the ladies that worked in the store. These girls were in their early 20s and always reminded me of Lisa and Wendy. They were traveling to Dallas one weekend to see the concert and asked if I would like to come along. My grandmother told me "hell no, you ain't going out of town with no strangers".

Since I didn't get to go, that's my only memory of the tour except for a friend in the 1990s making me a copy of his bootleg video of the Minneapolis concert.

I've seen one of the shows on video and I tell you the The Time and Prince were fierce but like others said, The Time stole the show. The music overall was as ferocious as you can imagine. Lady Cab Driver and Automatic live, man I wish I was 24 in 1983 and not 4 so that I could have gotten to see it in person cause that shit was crunk. They were "dead on it".

butterfli25 said:

I wanted to go to that show!!! I remember it was heavily hyped on KSOL,but I didn't get tickets Monday at school,everyone was raving about this show.

The 1999 tour was historic for me because it changed my life! It was my first Prince concert and I became a life long Prince fan. I saw the show at Radio City Music Hall in NY March 21, 1983-5 days before my 16th birthday. It was the most amazing show I had ever seen (up to that point). The Time did not perform that night (though I heard that they were backing Vanity 6 behind the curtain). Vanity 6 was ok. During the intermission I saw Eddie Murphy and Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five in the audience. Then Prince took the stage. I am not exaggerating when I say that the show changed my life! It was sooo great! I remember the bed. And his dancing!! He was all over the stage!! For months afterwards my friend and I quoted different things that Prince said thoughout the show (sorry I can't remember any quotes right now!)
That weekend, my friend who was at the show with me, gave me the 1999 and Controversy albums at my Sweet 16 party. The 1999 show was the beginning of a long love affair with Prince and his music that is even stronger today!

I saw the show in Gary and my memories are photos that I have of Vanity that reveal what she was not wearing under her camisole.

DavidEye said:

we got the tickets in February!

blackguitaristz said:

I'm finally going to see The Time on the 25th hear in Portland, Black. I've been waiting my whole life to see these guys.

uptown26 said:

i have this show on tape...

prettymansson said:

NO WAY!!!

butterfli25 said:

sweet mercy i was there. upper deck in the nose bleeds but what a show.

sweet mercy i was there. upper deck in the nose bleeds but what a show.[/quote]


what's up homie
yep saw Lovesexy at the Colliseum too!

heckaslammin said:

Cool. Have a good time!