From A Prince to a Court Jester?.
Hmmm, reading about P performing in Russia this weekend makes me feel uncomfortable. At the end of the day it's his talent and his career to decide what, where and how it should be used [that's why I support him with the whole YouTube debate]. However the flip side is that i have this sinking feeling when he does these gigs, surely he cannot need the $.Would the Prince of old have done these gigs?. Vegas I can just about live with but private gigs given by surely the greatest talent of our era to a few rich socialites is tooo Elton John for me!. Is our Prince suddenly [after 21 amazing nights] reduced to a court jester
[Edited 10/9/07 6:43am]
[Edited 10/9/07 6:43am]

court jester, yes
but...whatever puts more of the less-almighty US dollar in his pocket-less pants...
there's no such thing as having too much money
and, who cares how you get it, as long as you get it
btw...that's courtesy of our socialistic and materialistic society and not my personal feelings

you act like this is the first time prince has done a private gig for businesspeople.

Anxiety said:

well, to put that in perspective I only picked up on him doing these gigs this Year. Aside from the obvious ones for record execs etc are you telling me he's done these before 2007?.

he probably DOES need the money.

its amazed me that one man has managed to keep paisley park afloat since 87 even thru the real lean times in the late 90's early to mid 00's
i think afterthe last few years that big ol warehouse is gonna be safe for a while yet!

jonylawson said:

Hey..Think.. End Game..Prince is a rich talented and smart guy he can buy anything he wants...but we all know he does not own the one thing he really wants right ...

"Hey there, what's your name? (What's your name, cutie?)
And can U tell me how 2 play the game? ("I am a winner") (Listen 2 this)
Do I really have 2 cut my hair? (No)
Now, that's a cross I could never bear (How 'bout them publishing rights?)
Sell my publishing? What a laugh! (Ha ha)
I don't know Bo, but I do know math (I do know math)
Back 2 Minneapolis, there U go
U can't find your house underneath the snow"

Rich people may like music too. If you had enough wedge in your bank to get prince to play in your front room would you do it? i think so. Why is it a sell-out? coz u cant go?

I think it's also a nice way for his band to make some extra money...

3121 said:

I agree with u if i had the dosh i would have him sing me to sleep everynight!! Or something similiar!!

Do you work for a rich company? Have 'em sign Prince for a gig:
http://www.executivevisio...nce.artist

I recall hearing Prince do a gig 3-4 years ago for Genentech employees (a bio science company), but I can't find any web reference to it (only Mary J. Blige and Elton John doing corporate gigs there).

There's a 2005 pdf where an iRise executive describes being at a private concert:

"What is your favorite music or performer?

This is a tough question considering my love
for music. I recently had the opportunity to
witness a private concert by Prince. I have to
say that it was the most amazing display of
showmanship, charisma and raw musical talent
that I have ever experienced."

http://www.cwhonors.org/a...e_2005.pdf

Here's some other celebs doing private/corp gigs:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10295486/

3121 said:[quote]Rich people may like music too.

Yeah..some of my best friends are people....dam I wish I knew some rich thou..

rock/pop stars are always our court jesters.

Two points:

1) Prince plays music in front of an audience and gets paid for it. He did it 21 times at the O2 this summer. A private gig is absolutely no different.

2) If you were a multi-millionaire...and it was your birthday...don't tell me you wouldn't make the call!!!!!

funkyhead said:

Are you so obsessed that you can't just let him get on with whatever he wants to do or are you jealous?

olskooljamz said:

sorry but there's a BIG difference. When P does a gig it's HIS house and he calls the shots. Can you imagine him in 2002 turning up to a corporate gig and starting a set with TRC!. In a corporate environment it is they who call the shots, the thought of someone as independent as P doing this type of gig seems to be such a contradiction.

As to whether i would pay to get P to do a private gig, then sorry no way. I'd feel that i was paying him to lose his dignity.

dayzofwyld said:

hardly obsessed you dope head. It's his life, his call but does it mean we have to don our Purple tinted specs and smile politely?, does it mean we can't venture an opinion?.

3121 said:

what a dumb statement, of course rich people like music, however like the drunk assholes at the London shows do you you really think they know what genius they have performing in front of them. Seriously just the thought of him singing Purple Rain to a bunch of execs makes me want to puke.
Oh and for the record I got good n' plenny o ma own dough!

He is firstly an artist and secondly a business man and a smart one too!

Why can't an artist be a businessman and take his art to the second level.

While other singers are bankrupt, Prince is still around, thank goodness!

pplrain said:

amen to part of that, taking his art to a corporate level is NOT the next level, it's plain wrong on many levels. Prince only became a good business person through trial and error starting in '97 [Crystal Ball onwards]. Now unless he has got back into bad habits and is damn near broke I cannot see any other reason than pure greed to do these funtions.

Other artists have branched out into fashion and are making money hand over fist. Prince has stuck to music for his income. After the Warner Bros fiasco, I think it is only fair Prince makes his money instead of letting other people profit from his hard work. I think he is doing the right thing and he gets 100% of my support.

It's fine as long as Prince remembers the people who go broke just to see him. and he just did that in London for... 21 nites!

I don't think he's being a sell out because he's still chooseing in the end where he wants to go. When isn't making a cool million a wise choice? wouldn't you?

wlcm2thdwn said:

Come on, if I told you the Foo Fighters or Radiohead were performing at a millionaire Daughters B'Day party [that's what P did this weekend by the way!!] wouldn't you think it was just not right?.
The other point of course is that P has mostly favoured art over $, look at the decisons over the great 80's period when he could have made a tonne more $.

Prince loves to perform in different places for different faces...seems to me he'd like the challenge of it! Sounds like fun!!

Obsidian said:

hardly a challenge! tut, tut!

I think the question is: What does he do with the money?
If he spents it on charity projects:
Imagine the difference you can make to other people's lives with millions of dollars in your pocket.

c'mon get real

he WORKS as a musician that is his job, you might be a dentist, grocery clerk hair stylist, that is your WORK.
if he is the court jester,would that make you somebodys servant?
its only semantics

funkyhead said:

Getting paid a lot of money to play for a bunch of rich stuffed shirts is not the challenge I'm talking about...that part is easy for him..rather the challenge of actually entertaining them...they would hire him just for the prestige of it weather or not they actually like him could be quite another thing altogether! Making them want to get up and dance the way his usual fans in a comfortable concert venue do could be a challenge.

So you think that after 30 + years Prince doesn't worry about how the show will come across? You think he never cares if the audience likes what they see?

At this point in his career maybe he does or maybe he doesn't but I like to think that he still feels challenged by his job....certain audiences in different places are a definite challenge for many entertainers.

Not to mention the fact that I think these private gigs have a lot less to do with business and more to do with a personal agenda...hence the "private" nature of them.
[Edited 10/10/07 17:41pm]