Party fit for Prince — goes without him
Iconic musician a Hall of Fame induction no-show

Brian Ojanpa
The Free Press

NEW ULM —

What was our favorite Prince-no-showed-in-New Ulm moment?

Gosh, there were so many.

Maybe it was the sellout crowd at Turner Hall, casting anxious glances at the doorways as a narrator sang his praises.

Maybe it was Prince-appearance organizer Nancy Kokesch proclaiming herself “nauseous” as it became apparent that the invited Artist had taken a pass.

Or maybe it was huge Prince fan Danielle Cotter of Gibbon, showing off a photo she’d take Friday afternoon of a white limo emblazoned with Prince logos.

“The limo driver wouldn’t say anything,” Cotter’s companion chimed in, “except to say, ‘You gotta stay five feet away from the vehicle.’”

As one of this year’s inductees into the New Ulm-based Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, Prince was the only no-show at the ceremony.

That wasn’t surprising, save for the fact that even as late as Friday morning, New Ulm organizers had been in contact with Prince’s manager, a correspondence that began nine months ago.

Kokesch was one of several New Ulm businesspeople who organized a Prince Party at George’s Ballroom downtown to fete Prince’s Hall induction.

She’d had numerous conversations with Prince’s people, who remained noncommittal throughout the process, but nonetheless seemed to string the New Ulm group along.

“My last contact with them was at, let’s see, 11:37 a.m.,” Kokesch said as she checked her cell phone.

Kokesch said she was told she’d be called back soon. No call ever arrived, nor were any of her later calls returned.

But Friday afternoon, people around town began seeing limos, included the aforesaid one parked outside the ballroom.

Moreover, police barricaded the block in front of the ballroom late in the day, lending further credence that Prince would soon be in the house.

But as of 11 p.m., Prince remained absent.

At Turner Hall, security staffer John Stroeing had a bet going with the bartender. Stroeing wagered Prince would show; the bartender bet otherwise.

“Even if he doesn’t show, the town had fun with it,” Stroeing said. “People have been coming up all day saying, ‘What’s the latest rumor you’ve heard?’”

Kokesch, understandably disappointed, tried to put her best spin on it.

“We knew it was a shot in the dark, but we’ll party anyway without him.”

http://www.mankatofreepre...tart:int=0

Aww, that's kinda sad, but cheer up, he's gotta come home sooner or later
People all over the world have Prince parties and he doesn't show up.

I am having a Prince party tonight, If Prince would like to come he is more than welcome...I'll be having one, everyday, until April 9th 2008.
[Edited 11/3/07 9:50am]

Tame said:

I'll bite.
What happens April 9th 2008?

I guess Prince said "Fuck It, they took to long !" and I agree!

What a party-pooper.

Whoa! That's just real foul! His hometown inducts him into the Hall of Fame and he couldn't even be bothered to phone in one of his patented 2 word, "Thank you." speeches. He didn't even bother to "text" it in! A simple gesture of appreciation that would have take all of what...5 minutes...max?

KidaDynamite said:

You know he probably did say that

Aaaaw, how sad. I feel bad for them.

Well he might still be over in the UK/Europe and it was reported he wanted to take a bit of a break. So maybe it was a case of bad timing on their part.

maybe 2 busy knocking on doors

purpleoz said:

Really? You think so, eh? If that were indeed the case then perhaps this should have been handled a lot differently!



http://prince.org/msg/7/250648

SexyBeautifulOne said:

My response was to the article in this thread, I did not read the second part you have quoted back to me. I cannot speak for Prince or his people but the fact that this woman had to be on their case for a whole nine months even though his people remained noncommittal the entire time is very telling!

Surely this woman was told he was going on tour? Surely this woman saw the press that he was overseas on tour and was taking time to study the Bible afterwards? Seriously would anyone with half a brain that had to chase Prince for nine months with no suggestion of a yes plus the fact he was touring and taking time off afterwards be thinking he would actually turn up!

I don't know the full story but this woman was pushy and refused to take the big hint he wasn't interested and accept no for an answer. Yes, I feel sorry for them and I know all they wanted to do was give him an award but you can't force someone to do something they aren't interested.

As far as I'm concered this is Prince's business to deal with not his fans.

purpleoz said:

So you don't think they could have just told her no, from the get go! In your opinion the lady planning the event is in the wrong because she kept pursuing something that no one told her WOULDN'T happen? Not even on the day of the event?

I'd like to take this moment to apologize to all of the people I must have annoyed the fuck out of when I was so far gone that I couldn't see any fault in Prince either!

SexyBeautifulOne said:

noncommittal- refusing to bind oneself to a particular course of action or view or the like; "her boyfriend was noncommittal about their future together"

I'm not Prince's PR so I'm not going to justify his reasons (which I don't know) or justify my original post anymore. If you want a thread war do it with someone else. You don't know me or what I'm about but go ahead and flame, just don't expect me to respond to it.

purpleoz said:

Who's starting a thread war? You made a statement. I offered a few facts. You totally dismissed them in defense of Prince. A knee jerk reaction that I throughly understand, which is why I apologized for my days of Prince Fandemonium.

I will offer you just a bit of advice, though. You seem a bit "sensitive" which I'm not saying is a bad thing but if I were as "sensitive" about Prince like you seem to be, should for any reason Prince renege on doing a tour after having folks voting on where he should go next...I'd stay the hell off the Org!
[Edited 11/3/07 21:19pm]