I mean, it's 1 of my favs as well, and I will always love it. But, does
any1 else feel a bit embarrassed each time Prince opens with this?

Don't ya'll think he has another song, more contemporary, that would be a
fiery song 2 open up a show?

I mean, it's like Madonna opening all her shows w/ 'Holiday,' or Springstein with 'Born in the USA' or Bon Jovi 'Dead or Alive' or Lionel Ritchie w/ "All Nite Long.'

if its one of your favorite,just enjoy it when he plays it!Even if,of course,he's got plenty of great other songs to open!Why do you feel embarressed about it?

poopy said:

maybe embarrased was the wrong word, sorry. but LAWD, he has SO many other songs that would wet thangs if he opened up with them.

2 name a few:

la la la, hee hee hee
play in the sunshine (if he wants 2 rock and burn the guitar)
temptation

Eewh, when was the last time Prince opened up with "Let's Go Crazy"? The Purple Rain tour?

Novabreaker said:

was it not 1 of the 1st songs he played on the musicology tour? does that not count as opening?

Oh, I thought he opened up each night with "Musicology"...

Novabreaker said:

hmmm, no problem...aint nuthin but a muffin and we have cows in the fridge!

ReverendHubert said:

He opened up with Musicology - swiftly followed by LGC...

The Musicology tour was very much a hits tour, and not only that but he played half the songs from Purple Rain alone. The ONA tour he didn't play LGC, certainly not as an opener - that was The Rainbow Children.

YOU have to go back to 2000/2001 for when he last played LGC - but it wasn't as an opener, it was towards the end of the setlist.

Playing it once every 5 years is not really overkill, is it? Even longer if you live outside the USA.

Okay, if you collect live boots from over his entire career, it would leave you with the perception he has played it a lot. But Prince is only playing it once that night for that particular crowd.

At the end of the day, LGC is used because it is a fast paced, uptempo fun song with an established call-and-respond from his most famous album and which shows off his guitar licks - in other words, a crowd pleaser. Hardcore fans always want lesser-used songs to be played, whereas the casual concert-goers want the hits they know and go home disappointed if he doesn't play them.

Funny thing is, I'm a fan of the 80s goth group The Sisters of Mercy and they actually still tour every couple of years. They are on tour at the moment and I recently checked out a discussion forum about them very similar to this one - and the fans there were moaning about how they're doing all the hits and none of the lesser-played stuff! Just like here!

It's a very fine line that a performer has to walk in regards to playing certain songs. Personally, I wouldn't mind if Billy Joel never played Piano Man again. Or Jimmy Buffett never played Margaritaville. Or Barenaked Ladies never played If I Had $1,000,000. Or Prince and LGC. But, I have to understand that most people are probably there to hear exactly these songs. I can't fault the artist for my being a crazy fan and only wanting to hear the obscure stuff.

I read (in Rolling Stone maybe) that on Billy Joel's current tour to hype his career retrospective box set he started out playing some really obscure songs but had to stop because the audience wasn't responding to them. Piano Man and My Life it is then.

I went through a lot of my CD collection once and realized that my favorite tracks on most albums are never the ones that have been released and become popular. Just an observation...discuss.

Bosco said:

I know what you mean. I'm going to see Aerosmith next saturday and if they didn't play Dream on or Walk this way and played something more obscure i would be happy, but there is somebody that has never seen them or a more casual fan that would be disappointed if they didn't play it

Never tire of the 12".

Rhastus said:

I saw Aerosmith a couple of months ago and was highly underwhelmed. Of course they played everything you'd expect. They did, however, play a couple of gems from their second album which was nice. But I may never forgive the omission of Janie's Got A Gun