We are mostly long term, hardcore fans on here and as a rule seem to be pretty hard on P [including myself sometimes] BUT i don't get the argument about P churning out somgs from the many hits he's had. At least he mostly tries to add something new to them i.e. Anotherlover [21 nights tour], LRC at the jazz festival and many others over the years. Imagine going to see other living ledgends such as Elton John, The Rollong Stones etc and they didn't play the hits!!, most fans at Arena gigs are Jo and Joeline public so P has to find the right balance so please cut him some slack!. Tar, had to get that off my chest!.

I think people criticise more the fact that his recent live tours have often been promoted with the whole "playing the hits for the last time" line.

We all know he is going to play them, and as you say, so he should.

KeithyT said:

The 'playin hits for the last time' really has become a joke now, wonder if he'll use it again!.

I think at onetime,he really wanted to stop playing the hits. But he knows that aint gonna fly,im sure most of the people that pay to see him in concert wouldnt mind him not playing Purple Rain for the millionth time. I bet he still mocks his hit songs. I remember hearing a song called When doves Scream from a rehearsal. I also read from band members that he was burned out on When Doves Cry.

i feel like he mixed it up quite a bit at montreux. i like a combo of the hits and the more obscure stuff, and i think he delivered that. i hope he keeps it up. i like it when he keeps us on our toes with random surprises.

I'd have to agree KeithyT and Funkyhead that the "joke" of playing them for the last time has become redundant. It also says a lot that he doesn't support the album the tour is named after. I'm not sure how many Musicology songs he played on that tour, but I could be no more than the title track and maybe "Call My Name" on rare occasion.

He talked to Chris Rock about wanting to play all of Emancipation, because it'd be a great 3 hour show, but the other side of him wants to play "Purple Rain" too. The SOTT tour was to start with most of the songs played in the order of the album, then he started added other songs and changing it up, and cutting new songs. During the 02 shows, he played "Planet Earth" once, "Guitar" just a couple of times, and not much else from Planet Earth or 3121. The most play 3121 got was on his live appearances on TV shows. Most all the songs were played live at some point, but nothing was added to the Planet Earth shows.

So yes, play SOME of the hits, but for God's sake....promote the album! You think many of those Musicology tour folks are listening to that album they got "for free" with their ticket? Heck no. They didn't hear him play much live, so they have no connection with the album. Those that were Top-40 fans that were enticed to come to the show because the hits were there and it'd be family friendly probably couldn't care less about that album. Prince didn't care enough to really promote it, why should they listen?

I think Prince's live version of songs are often superior to the album version. So it's disappointing when we don't hear a lot of new material on a tour. I love "When Doves Cry" and "Do Me Baby" as much as anyone, but I wouldn't mind hearing certain stuff live.

the times i saw the musicology tour, i remember him playing the title track, life of the party, on the couch, call my name, and i'm sure i could think of a couple others if i gawked at the track list on the album for a minute. but i'm lazy. and when i saw him on 7/7/07, he did quite a few songs from planet arf. i guess the problem is that the new-album-heavy set lists trail off after a few shows, and the hits start to upstage the new stuff eventually.

Ernest we are basically in agreement but there are some generalisations in your post that are not quite right. I think Life O The Party was a regular part of the setlist on the Musicology tour (but you are right he only really played that and the title track,).

Guitar was played I think every night of the 21 Nights at the O2, and seemed to be a crowd favourite. Somewhere Here On Earth was played quite a few times. Apart from the one off Planet Earth performance he also played Chelsea Rogers twice only as I recall (one of them might have been an aftershow).

ernestsewell said:

Totally agree with ernestsewell, but I'd like CHANGE the word "promote" for "represent" on his/her statement.

A few TV appearances and so are "promotion" ... And we know that doesn't mean a thing except for brief exposure and a quick thrill on TV. What made certain periods actually OUTSTANDING are certain "identity" ... in the sense of clothes, artwork, design, WORK and more WORK on the newer material and the period/album/tour or whatever hes going through. Go figure what would have been "Lovesexy" backed up with an average stage and a straight greatest hits tour with just a couple of songs in from the new album. You get the picture ...

KeithyT said:

"Guitar" wasn't played every night. I have all those shows, including some DVDs, and "Guitar" is not on even half of them. People did react well to it, but it wasn't part of the show on a regular basis. The track list changed a lot over 21 nights of course. I remember one DVD having "Planet Earth" as the opening number. I do remember "Chelsea Rodgers" being played too.

psyche2 said:

Then isn't not my statement anymore. "Promote" means to sell, in music. A tour, named after an album, is for the purpose of promoting and selling an album. If he's just doing a greatest hits tour, name it as such, like The Nude Tour, or Hit N Run, etc. "Musicology Tour" implies he's promoting an album. ALL albums whose songs are played are "represented", doesn't mean he's "promoting" them.



Actually, I don't. His tours since The Nude Tour have been more Greatest Hits prone than album promotions. Although his mid 90's tours were more promotion because he refused to play his hits, and he only stuck to new material, thereby garnering a lot of interest in these unreleased albums, like Come, Gold, Exodus, etc (which all eventually came out). Prince has lost the idealism behind a tour.
[Edited 8/5/09 10:40am]

Is it? This seems to be an old business model for the music industry that Prince abandoned awhile ago.

KeithyT said:

I Agree same line every time

think its just to sell tickets myself

ernestsewell said:

All's good, ernestsewell. The comment was nothing directed to you but random (personal) thoughts. All I meant is that while I agree with your take on the matter I have a slightly different opinion on the "promotion" concept. Which, btw, I think Prince is pretty clever at (dunno, from the free "The Work" on Napster, to the "Musicology" and "Planet Earth" CD give-aways).

Oh well, it's just a question of Prince being PASSIONATE performing new stuff. I personally couldn't find much passion on any of the "Emancipation" stuff, and Prince made his biggest effort making TV appearances, touring, and giving interviews. On the other hand while "The Rainbow Children" lacked any consistent promotion, was beautifully represented on tour.
[Edited 8/5/09 11:28am]

skywalker said:

True that. For better or worse. The concept of an album followed by a tour under the same name is almost vintage.

psyche2 said:

But why should it be? Why do artists think that every tour is just an excuse to play the old songs over and over? I WANT to hear the new material live. It turns me onto the album and makes me appreciate it even more. There were even Prince songs that weren't near the top of my list, which I heard live and learned a new appreciation for them. Any smart artist would play a good amount of their new album on the tour, generously peppered with their older stuff as well.

I feel the same as you, ernestsewell ... But it's all part of "the game". Us, music lovers, still think of music as "albums" ... Side A and Side B, you know ... but youngster think of .mp3 files, "isolated", assorted songs by an artists or band on their iPod. I know this still ain't a rational reason for the lack of "representation" (or "promotion") on Prince's latest albums, but I kinda sense it has something to do with it. Instead, we get Vegas and London residences or Montreux extravangazas. It ain't bad at all, it's just what it is.

Said this, I think it's a real shame such real GOOD music as "Lotus Flower" ain't being worked properly on stage. I wouldn't even name a single song, I just think that album screams for live performance, and we ain't getting much. Pity.
[Edited 8/5/09 16:13pm]

The LF disc would be great to centre a tour around. Begs the Q of why would he release a CD if he had so little confidence in playing tracks from it live; look at the ONA tour which eventually morphed into a greatest hits show, why?.