HonestMan13 said:

Speak for yourself. I saw him twice at the o2. It was okay, nothing special. I don't track down boots of his live shows anymore - they're just not worth tracking down these days.

Tori Amos on the other hand...

laurarichardson said:

just look at the setlists... they're widely available. he didn't play guitar at every show... indeed not even close. i attended 6... saw a Planet Earth song at one... and it was a 30second snippit.

MattyJam said:

just interested matty... why did you think it was ok and nothing special? i went 6 times and whilst mucically brilliant, i did walk away thinking "hmmm... i've seen him do better". but i put it down to age.

my girlfriend who'd never seen him live, thought he was amazing. just wish she'd seen him earlier in his career.

nuthinbuttamuffin said:

I saw him once before on the ONA tour which I enjoyed more.

The o2 gigs seemed kinda soul-less to me. The musicianship was undoubtedly world class and Prince's band always sound tight. But the whole show seemed very choreographed and tailored for the masses, which I suppose was to be expected.

I never saw him perform the hits back in the day (I only became a fan around the mid-nineties), so I was excited to see Purple Rain etc. But it all just seemed as if he was going through the motions. Most nights he would be on stage for no more than an hour and a half, which is really the least amount a performer can get away with in a live show. I remember getting to the encore and thinking "oh, is that it?".
[Edited 11/6/09 4:08am]

I was very pleased with the O2 shows - I saw 2 main concerts and 1 aftershow....

to me these were absolutely amazing, brilliant....

the atmosphere there was just amazing, better than the 2 ONA concerts I saw in Ålborg and Copenhagen in 2002.

I guess what I saw in London is keeping my Prince-spirit up, I don't like the 3121 and Planet Earth albums,

but LIVE Prince is the greatest, he truly still is an amazing performer, the best on the planet...



(too bad about the absolutely lame Indigo Nights release though)

Even more than what he plays live, Prince used to love to continue tinkering with his songs. Extended versions and different mixes would come out regularly. It's like he was so excited by his new creations that he just couldn't stop playing with them.

Nobody really plays all of their rcurrent stuff if they've been around for a million years. See The Rolling Stones and U2 for starters. And yes Iknow U2 played some new songs live but they removed some from their live set as well as the tour went on. This is simply par for the course of artisst of Princes caliber after 30 years in the business. Come on now.ts

xlr8r said:

So right!

I dont think he is bored I think its a well thought out business strategy.

Prince would not have been able to play 21 nights in London with any of his previous tours. He can only do that at this stage of his career because of his back catalogue.

In terms of London I do agree though that the aftershows would have been the perfect forum to play more of his new stuff but to be honest I would not have changed a single thing about that residency and I was lucky enough to go to 8 or 9 main shows and 3 aftershows. To be in the room for the fist time Chelsea Rogers was played live was awesome for me but the vast majority of the audience would not have had the first clue about the song.

laurarichardson said:

I WORKED in the record industry so I know what sales are like, and how they work. My point is this guy is brand new and selling very well. I'm not talking about the "X million" sales mark of the past because it wasn't all real sales. Sponsors bought records, payola was used for chart positions,etc. Soundscan did not begin until 1991. (good article right here on MJs sudden growth of sales :http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124760651612341407.html ) Plus they weren't battling illegal downloading 20 years ago.
MY point is that the economy is not the only force behind weak sales for an artist. If an artist is pushing forward and finding an audience they can still sell.
As far as age and exposure goes - Bob Dylan, at his age with little media or airplay, can still move records AND hit number one on the charts (three years ago - Modern Times - has gone platinum in US and Canada).
Overall sales may be down, but there are plenty of artists still selling enough to make a living and build an audience.

nuthinbuttamuffin said:

That's different than the show on DVD, where he opens the show with a full version.

Also, the "snippit" argument is quite valid in that playing 30 seconds of a song doesn't really count as a whole song. It's like saying "OMG He played 'Erotic City' last night!" Yeah, he played a loop, on a keyboard, and only sang the verse, shutting it down before even the audience got to the "we can fuck until the dawn" line.

It's also the same argument over on the "Prince's Official Live Album" thread (http://prince.org/msg/7/3230960) where his bait and switch is evident by his promotion of "your favorite songs" like "Condition of the Heart", yet it turns out it was only a 30-second, unrecognizable "interlude".

Fact is, out of 21 shows, and roughly 20-24 songs per show, his ratio of Planet Earth songs is minimal, at best.

Its not about what he plays, its about the way he plays it....

Riverpoet31 said:

ernestsewell said:

uhm, yes he did. if anyone else made a mistake like that you
would be the first to step on your little soap box of idiocy
and shout "YOU FAIL".

IstenSzek said:

He did not play Guitar "almost every night" in London.

I think he is bored yes. Or he is spending too much time playing with the JW's.

Ditch em Prince and start living again!


AND GET YOUR FUCKING HIPS DONE!!!!!

MattyJam said:

But why if you've been feeling the live shows aren't worth it did you feel the need to attend 2 shows on the same tour? The other guy went to 6. someone else on here claimed to have tracked down every boot for every night and the DVDs.

HonestMan13 said:

Because they aren't being honest with themselves or us

MattyJam said:

It´s funny that the people who hate Prince´s current work are complaining he´s not playing them at concerts.

HonestMan13 said:

What a stupid question.

How did I know the shows were going to be lacklustre when I bought my tickets??

rwn said:

When did I say I didn't like Prince's current work? I wouldn't be frustrated at him only performing the old songs if I didn't like his new work. I loved Planet Earth and MPLSound.

MattyJam said:[quote]HonestMan13 said:[quote]

When did you start feeling the shows were becoming lacklustre? During what tour?

motherfunka said:

Exactly. This is hardly a new development. By the time Emancipation came out P was already an oldies act of sorts and his setlists reflected that. The only brief exception seemed to be the ONA tour, but even there he reverted to an oldies format as soon as the tour hit Europe. The last time Prince really seemed to have real belief in his newer material was in 1995 with The Gold Experience. It was the last time he was defined by what he was doing presently. Since then he's always bowed down to his past.

It happens to almost everyone. Michael Jackson, James Brown, Stevie Wonder - all of them became nostalgia acts.

ernestsewell said:

I am sick of people making this mistake. I should have used quotation but I thought the capitalization was enough.

"Bored?! Who, ME?!"

ernestsewell said:

dude, he did it during 15 main shows, that's almost every night.

IstenSzek said:

exactly

ernest, your wrong!

nuthinbuttamuffin said:[quote] at shows less people will know stuff off of Musicology, 3121, Planet Earth, Lotusflow3r and MPLSound.
[quote]

DITTO

HonestMan13 said:[quote]MattyJam said:[quote]

HonestMan13 said:

It was still interesting around the Musicology tour. It was a celebration of his legacy and I respected that.

By 21 Nights it was getting old. His current setlists are just dull and show absolutely no interest in being an artist TODAY. I love his 80's and 90's output and whilst I don't think his 00's output has been as strong I would still rather see him perform anything from LotusFlow3r/MPLSound than watch another tired-ass rendition of a "classic."

I think it's a viscious cycle though. His 00's output isn't as strong therefore he is less interested in performing it. Perhaps if he made a truly great album once again he would be more motivated to play it live. I'm not talking about three or four tracks mixed in with the oldies. I'm talking about performing a WHOLE album, like he used to.

yean not just his current output but his output of the last 15-20 years...he really favors the first 10 yrs of his career...I know that is when "the hits" came from but also I think he just digs those songs more. He ignores the 90s so much but there were some great jams in that period

ernestsewell said:

thank you for the historical context..most people go by their short memories and don't base their opinions in fact.
[Edited 11/14/09 4:55am]