Prince fans warned of 'no-show'
Prince fans are being warned the star and his band may not appear at the "official aftershow" event which follows his gigs at London's O2 arena.
The guitarist's 21-night tour includes parties at the smaller Indigo2 venue.

Fans on chat forums have complained he has sometimes failed to appear at these or has played for only a few minutes.

Prince's website now says that when there are arena gigs on consecutive days, "the band usually opts to rest" instead of appearing at Indigo2.

"If the next day is free, though, watch out," continues the statement.

It adds that this sequence of events is "the way it's shaping up" as the tour progresses.


Many fans who booked tickets to the concerts in the main arena received promotional e-mails from agency Ticketmaster, highlighting the addition of the "aftershow" events to the tour schedule.
The agency's website promotes the "aftershow" as "the white hot place to hang for those still in need of some serious grooves". Tickets cost £75 and £25.

It also states: "Please be aware that Prince and the band are not guaranteed to perform, but as we all know with these cats - expect the unexpected."

A notice was also placed on Prince's own site saying that he would not be playing at Friday night's "aftershow".

However, fans on chat forums such as prince.org and housequake.com have alleged these messages were not prominently displayed when they booked tickets.

They said they had the impression that these "aftershow" events were further Prince concerts.

There has also been confusion because sometimes Prince does turn up at these gigs, so fans are waiting until the events end at about 0500 BST to see if he will play.

Some people claimed they had been contacting Ticketmaster to request refunds.

The star has been playing sets of about two hours in length in the main O2 arena, running through many of his hits, including Purple Rain, Alphabet Street and Kiss.

He said he had prepared 150 songs for his musicians, who include Maceo Parker, formerly a saxophonist in James Brown's band.

Neither Ticketmaster nor the O2 arena could be reached for comment, while promoter AEG referred calls to Prince's PR representative, who was also unavailable.

I don't think any fan would ever have "expected" an aftershow or considered complaining etc if not for the fact that the arrangements were all so formalized this time around, with money changing hands etc. The simple fact is, every Prince fan knows Prince's aftershow performances are awesome. So when Ticketmaster started selling tickets to something called "Prince - the Official Aftershow at Indigo2" (without any indication or warning that no performance was guaranteed - the warnings arrived later) it is hardly surprising that we all reached in our pockets to buy tickets.

It's unfortunate, and it isn't clear where the fault lies. What could have been handled better though, is the response to the fuckup. Realistically, no one expects Prince to play that many aftershow performances, but someone (ie. AEG and Ticketmaster) should have responded to the complaints. Charging people £25 - £75 for the dubious privilege of standing in a poncy bar for hours into the night is obviously taking the piss. IMO.

As for fans sounding like "spoiled brats"... frankly, unless you're rich enough that you wouldn't bend over to pick up £50 that you dropped on the ground, I don't blame anyone for complaining.
[Edited 8/12/07 7:27am]

OK I certainly hope not but I know this was in response to my post so if u carefully re read it u will see I made the same point as u did. I said the article made P fans sound like "spoiled brats" not that I think they are spoiled brats. I can read from the article that the ticket sales were promoted as special aftershows and see that people bought these tickets thinking they would see P perform at the aftershow. Still the article does make the complainers seem like spoiled brats even going as far as to mention Housequake and the org in particular...
[Edited 8/12/07 7:34am]

adorable2 said:

Ah, I wasn't so much commenting on your views (I do agree with what you said), but rather on the people who might take away the impression you described (of fans being spoiled, complaining over nothing etc). There's been a little of that in the Concerts forum - some fans have been delighted with the aftershows, some haven't.

It'd just be nice to see a little solidarity and support. It's not about having a go at Prince or demanding aftershow performances etc. Prince doesn't come by this way very often, we're all appreciate and grateful for any shows we're lucky enough to see. The complaints have more to do with the way Ticketmaster and AEG have mis-represented the event and their subsequent handling of complaints. Some people have travelled far and wide to see Prince, and £25+fees per ticket is fair chunk of money for anyone who works for a living, people with families etc. Put it this way - if you could only afford to go on one night, and it turned out on that night that you'd spent your money for the honour of hearing a DJ spin discs in a bar, it'd be pretty disappointing.

Aftershow performances have NEVER been guaranteed all Prince's career. In London in 2002, I attended three to get one 45 minute performance. What has changed in 2007? Why does tickets being sold through Ticketmaster totally change Prince's arrangements and attitude?

i really see this as AEG/Ticketmaster's screw-up, and not so much Prince's fault. I think they're taking advantage of Prince's reputation as a live performance workhorse and dangling that carrot in front of fans' faces, while Prince's people, in the best possible way they are able, are doing their best to basically say "whoa, hold up, these are afterPARTIES and Prince will show up and play as he's able...nothing is promised, just expect to go and have a good time after the show."

Short of Prince making this announcement his own damn self in the middle of each O2 show, I don't know what else he can do to set people's expectations right...and who knows if he'd even be ALLOWED to make such a statement during the O2 shows?

I think here in the states, we know what time it is with the aftershows/afterparties...when Prince was in Chicago during the Musicology tour, there were several afterparties and one aftershow. Sure, we went to the afterparties thinking it MIGHT turn into a concert, and Prince did show up and gawk at us from his VIP balcony for a few seconds, but we knew what to expect and we just had a good time famming out about the show we'd just seen. Anything else would have been gravy.

It'd be nice if all parties involved could get it together enough to say "this night is an afterSHOW and this night is an afterPARTY", but who knows what the mitigating circumstances are? I think on the purple paisley end of things, they're doing the best they can to temper expectations. It's the promoters who I think are spiking expectations.

It could just be me but this article makes P fans sound like spoiled brats. Complaining and contacting ticketmaster for refunds because P doesn't show up to the afterparties. The thing is it is a bit confusing because if the tickets were promoted as "aftershows" then the people who bought tickets thought P would show up to Indigo to play. The mix up is in the wording. It should have been made clear from the onset whether these would be afterparties with unpredictable appearances or aftershows with guaranteed attendance of P and the band..

If people really thought that Prince would perform 42 concerts and that such Aftershow performances were guranteed, when it was never stated or written anywhere that such appearances were guaranteed, then they are not only 'spoilt brats' but total fantasists.

If they want to complain about something they imagined and created in their own expectations and fuck-up Prince's stay and the chances for further shows and Aftershow performances, so be it.

Aftershow performances have NEVER been guaranteed all Prince's career. In London in 2002, I attended three to get one 45 minute performance. What has changed in 2007? Why does tickets being sold through Ticketmaster totally change Prince's arrangements and attitude?

It doesn't. It is the fans who have jumped to conclusions because the tickets were being sold through TM.

Flame me all you like, but I challenge you to find one, single instance where Prince performances were guaranteed at Aftershows in writing.

If you can't provide evidence for believing Prince was guaranteed to perform this is all in your fucking heads isn't it?

You're exactly right. It's just a bunch of entitled, whining idiots. They're going to take a special thing and turn into another business arrangement. The whole unpredictable nature of afterhour shows is what make them so extraordinary. I believed this is being fueled by the fairweather fans who scream for Purple Rain throught each concert.

If people really thought that Prince would perform 42 concerts and that such Aftershow performances were guranteed, when it was never stated or written anywhere that such appearances were guaranteed, then they are not only 'spoilt brats' but total fantasists.

If they want to complain about something they imagined and created in their own expectations and fuck-up Prince's stay and the chances for further shows and Aftershow performances, so be it.

Aftershow performances have NEVER been guaranteed all Prince's career. In London in 2002, I attended three to get one 45 minute performance. What has changed in 2007? Why does tickets being sold through Ticketmaster totally change Prince's arrangements and attitude?

It doesn't. It is the fans who have jumped to conclusions because the tickets were being sold through TM.

Flame me all you like, but I challenge you to find one, single instance where Prince performances were guaranteed at Aftershows in writing.

If you can't provide evidence for believing Prince was guaranteed to perform this is all in your fucking heads isn't it?

OperatingThetan said:

You're exactly right. It's just a bunch of entitled, whining idiots. They're going to take a special thing and turn into another business arrangement. The whole unpredictable nature of afterhour shows is what make them so extraordinary. I believed this is being fueled by the fairweather fans who scream for Purple Rain throught each concert.

It could just be me but this article makes P fans sound like spoiled brats. Complaining and contacting ticketmaster for refunds because P doesn't show up to the afterparties. The thing is it is a bit confusing because if the tickets were promoted as "aftershows" then the people who bought tickets thought P would show up to Indigo to play. The mix up is in the wording. It should have been made clear from the onset whether these would be afterparties with unpredictable appearances or aftershows with guaranteed attendance of P and the band..

jdcxc said:

I'm staggered that some people don't seem to be able to understand the simple concept that prince made it a business arragement the moment he advertised pre booked shows.

If you want the old previous magical shows where Prince can do what he wants, simply don't sell tickets beforehand.

It could just be me but this article makes P fans sound like spoiled brats. Complaining and contacting ticketmaster for refunds because P doesn't show up to the afterparties. The thing is it is a bit confusing because if the tickets were promoted as "aftershows" then the people who bought tickets thought P would show up to Indigo to play. The mix up is in the wording. It should have been made clear from the onset whether these would be afterparties with unpredictable appearances or aftershows with guaranteed attendance of P and the band..

SquirrelMeat said:

They're not advertising a P concert but an aftershow event. With the potential crowd so big because of the venue it is only responsible to organize space. I doubt they are making a killing from these aftershows. And I know plenty of Prince aftershows in the past where they charged a cover charge or sold tickets. People have to be savy enough to know that you are paying for a nite club and not necessarily a Prince concert. Don't people research this?

jdcxc said:

Sorry, but I paid for a prince official aftershow, not to confuse with a party or afterparty. Futhermore, ticketmaster listed the aftershows as any other prince show, not a party at the prince's club.

There is no statement that Prince will perform at the main arena either. It all depend in the context of which it was sold. And tickets for the main and after show were sold as concerts.

OperatingThetan said:

You're exactly right. It's just a bunch of entitled, whining idiots. They're going to take a special thing and turn into another business arrangement. The whole unpredictable nature of afterhour shows is what make them so extraordinary. I believed this is being fueled by the fairweather fans who scream for Purple Rain throught each concert.

jdcxc said:

Yeah, I totally agree with you guys. I will say that last night was an exception, since there was no live act at all and a decidedly average DJ and I can understand people saying that £25 is not worth it for no live act or quality DJ. But the incident was handled professionally with people being offered the opportunity to swap their tickets for further aftershows.

People shouldn't be complaining about Prince not being there when he was never guaranteed to be. Some folks act like its not possible to have a good time without P, I mean FFS he just gave you an amazing 2 hour show!!

There should be some live act every night though or at the very least a well known DJ and I think there will be, at every further aftershow, but obviously something went seriously wrong last night.

I had an amazing time at last Saturdays aftershow with Nikka and her band. I hope there's something cool lined up for Tuesday night, too. Can't wait.