Prince= The 1999 tour with The Time & Vanity 6

Non Prince=Teena Marie in Anaheim 2003/2004 (I can't remember the year) but girl put on a 3 hour show, with no encores, and she took requests! LOVED that!

non prince= U2 360 giants stadium

and i liked elements from all the prince W2A shows i've been to so i'm just gonna say my fave live act ever is prince and i can't choose just one of the dates

Lammastide said:

unique said:

it's funny that i've been to a few of the shows others have mentioned, and they pale compared to some of the shows i've been to

i've seen prince play an accoustic set at paisley park, i've seen him rehearse, soundcheck, i've seen pink floyd play with roger waters, i've seen paul macartney so close i could (and did) touch him, i've seen things you people wouldn't believe, attack ships on fire off the shoulders of orion, i've watched c beams glitter in the dark off the tannhauser gate, all those moments lost in time like tears in the rain, but maybe the hippodrome aftershow where he did the war live, and at 5.30am kicked out hits when people were waking to go to work. maybe the rock nite at the celly, maybe the night he played superstition, keep on running and the balad of dorothy parker in the tangerine suit at the indigo2. maybe that accoustic nite at the celly, with norah jones as support. maybe the last nite he played the aftershow in paisley park where he played a medley of purple rain and adore after i was onstage dancing to covers of classic funk jams like brickhouse and skin tight. maybe that aftershow party at the garage in glasgow, that was a shit hot gig. one other hot non prince gig was justin timberlake fronting NERD at an aftershow party for mtv, it was just like one of the best prince aftershows. to me, the cafe de paris was an incredible experience as i was front row in front of the mic at a tiny gig and it was like like he was playing a private show for me, it was broadcast on tv, released on video and prince stagedived on me 3 times, and the follow show i got onstage. so maybe cafe de paris or the accoustic nite or the rock nite at the celly. all so great and so different, it's like picking my favourite between chocolate, cheese, steak and wine, all great but different

Uh... time to die now?

thank fuck someones not so stupid in here

purplemookiebut said:

non prince= U2 360 giants stadium

and i liked elements from all the prince W2A shows i've been to so i'm just gonna say my fave live act ever is prince and i can't choose just one of the dates

I saw the u2 360 tour in Melbourne last december, and i dont really like u2 , but it was a great show. Jay Z (the support) was amazing!!!.

Muse in syndey last december was prob the 2nd best gig I've been to, outstanding in every department..

unique said:

it's funny that i've been to a few of the shows others have mentioned, and they pale compared to some of the shows i've been to

i've seen prince play an accoustic set at paisley park, i've seen him rehearse, soundcheck, i've seen pink floyd play with roger waters, i've seen paul macartney so close i could (and did) touch him, i've seen things you people wouldn't believe, attack ships on fire off the shoulders of orion, i've watched c beams glitter in the dark off the tannhauser gate, all those moments lost in time like tears in the rain, but maybe the hippodrome aftershow where he did the war live, and at 5.30am kicked out hits when people were waking to go to work. maybe the rock nite at the celly, maybe the night he played superstition, keep on running and the balad of dorothy parker in the tangerine suit at the indigo2. maybe that accoustic nite at the celly, with norah jones as support. maybe the last nite he played the aftershow in paisley park where he played a medley of purple rain and adore after i was onstage dancing to covers of classic funk jams like brickhouse and skin tight. maybe that aftershow party at the garage in glasgow, that was a shit hot gig. one other hot non prince gig was justin timberlake fronting NERD at an aftershow party for mtv, it was just like one of the best prince aftershows. to me, the cafe de paris was an incredible experience as i was front row in front of the mic at a tiny gig and it was like like he was playing a private show for me, it was broadcast on tv, released on video and prince stagedived on me 3 times, and the follow show i got onstage. so maybe cafe de paris or the accoustic nite or the rock nite at the celly. all so great and so different, it's like picking my favourite between chocolate, cheese, steak and wine, all great but different

so whats your favourite actual concert then unique ?...i have seen a couple of aftershows and was at paisley park in 2001 and saw his concert in st.paul during that week...they were all great but what was your favourite regular concert ?

unique said:

it's funny that i've been to a few of the shows others have mentioned, and they pale compared to some of the shows i've been to

i've seen prince play an accoustic set at paisley park, i've seen him rehearse, soundcheck, i've seen pink floyd play with roger waters, i've seen paul macartney so close i could (and did) touch him, i've seen things you people wouldn't believe, attack ships on fire off the shoulders of orion, i've watched c beams glitter in the dark off the tannhauser gate, all those moments lost in time like tears in the rain, but maybe the hippodrome aftershow where he did the war live, and at 5.30am kicked out hits when people were waking to go to work. maybe the rock nite at the celly, maybe the night he played superstition, keep on running and the balad of dorothy parker in the tangerine suit at the indigo2. maybe that accoustic nite at the celly, with norah jones as support. maybe the last nite he played the aftershow in paisley park where he played a medley of purple rain and adore after i was onstage dancing to covers of classic funk jams like brickhouse and skin tight. maybe that aftershow party at the garage in glasgow, that was a shit hot gig. one other hot non prince gig was justin timberlake fronting NERD at an aftershow party for mtv, it was just like one of the best prince aftershows. to me, the cafe de paris was an incredible experience as i was front row in front of the mic at a tiny gig and it was like like he was playing a private show for me, it was broadcast on tv, released on video and prince stagedived on me 3 times, and the follow show i got onstage. so maybe cafe de paris or the accoustic nite or the rock nite at the celly. all so great and so different, it's like picking my favourite between chocolate, cheese, steak and wine, all great but different

I remember the Hippodrome show was one hell of a night for allsorts of reasons.

jodznsez said:

I saw the u2 360 tour in Melbourne last december, and i dont really like u2 , but it was a great show. Jay Z (the support) was amazing!!!.

saw U2 last august in vienna and do have the dvd 360.one show almost like the others ,seen one ,seen all.the only really great thing was the stage.musically the air is out as we say in austria.

completly diff with prince,fabulous vienna concert 2010, sensational purple rain performance in milan 2010 and so and on.....

blackbob said:

unique said:

it's funny that i've been to a few of the shows others have mentioned, and they pale compared to some of the shows i've been to

i've seen prince play an accoustic set at paisley park, i've seen him rehearse, soundcheck, i've seen pink floyd play with roger waters, i've seen paul macartney so close i could (and did) touch him, i've seen things you people wouldn't believe, attack ships on fire off the shoulders of orion, i've watched c beams glitter in the dark off the tannhauser gate, all those moments lost in time like tears in the rain, but maybe the hippodrome aftershow where he did the war live, and at 5.30am kicked out hits when people were waking to go to work. maybe the rock nite at the celly, maybe the night he played superstition, keep on running and the balad of dorothy parker in the tangerine suit at the indigo2. maybe that accoustic nite at the celly, with norah jones as support. maybe the last nite he played the aftershow in paisley park where he played a medley of purple rain and adore after i was onstage dancing to covers of classic funk jams like brickhouse and skin tight. maybe that aftershow party at the garage in glasgow, that was a shit hot gig. one other hot non prince gig was justin timberlake fronting NERD at an aftershow party for mtv, it was just like one of the best prince aftershows. to me, the cafe de paris was an incredible experience as i was front row in front of the mic at a tiny gig and it was like like he was playing a private show for me, it was broadcast on tv, released on video and prince stagedived on me 3 times, and the follow show i got onstage. so maybe cafe de paris or the accoustic nite or the rock nite at the celly. all so great and so different, it's like picking my favourite between chocolate, cheese, steak and wine, all great but different

so whats your favourite actual concert then unique ?...i have seen a couple of aftershows and was at paisley park in 2001 and saw his concert in st.paul during that week...they were all great but what was your favourite regular concert ?

i'm not very good at choosing my very best favourite of things that i really like, such as music and movies as i've seen so many and varied things. it's like picking favourite food, do you pick chocolate, cheese or steak? they are all great in different ways. i'm often asked what's my favourite prince or beatles song, but there's 100s or 1000s of them to choose from

there was a time when i might have said the 95 glasgow garage aftershow, as that was an incredibly intense performance, instead of being a laid back long drawn show, it was packed into just under an hour due to the late start, he was in a great mood as referenced in the good life big city remix that quoted the glasgow shows, but instead of dragging songs out too long as he sometimes did, he just made them perfect. the version of the ryde is probably the best version he's done

you can be influenced to pick one show over another simply due to seating location, so you could be front row in the middle during one of the worst tours and consider it better than being at the back of one of his best ever shows. fortunately with prince i'm usually always so far down the front, either prince joins the audience or i join prince on stage, so the location doesn't affect my judgement too much on the prince field, although as cafe de paris was just so small and the place was full of VIPS and it was on the telly and he stagedived on me 3 times on the telly, it does nudge that experience up high, especially when you consider the time spent chatting to larry and the band about woodstock, and meeting chaka khan etc, and this was just hours after the also fantastic hippodrome aftershow, which followed the wembley 98 show someone else mentioned, which wasn't really that great a show, the brixton academy gig the day after cafe de paris was far better, and that was the first gig i got onstage with prince, so another memorable show. the thing is, the 98 tour period wasn't his greatest, but the hippodrome aftershow was something else, he started at 3am and played till 5am or something. when we left the venue people were going to work. the cafe de paris show was also a great one with some unique parts such as chaka khan doing sweet thing and don't talk to strangers and baby baby baby by aretha, that they had just rehearsed whilst we were waiting outside and chatting to the other musicians

you can also be influenced by venue, the ONA shows were great as they were in nice theatres, the sound quality was great, it was a lot more relaxed and laid back, no barriers in front of the stage. during the opening show in london, i got to sing into prince's mic and at one point he literally grabbed my hand and tried to pull me onstage, but i just jumped up myself instead. at the last london show at one point everyone was sitting down and he was sitting right in front of me with his legs dangling over the stage, but everyone was cool and didn't get up to bother him. the ONA shows really were great, particularly as you didn't have to suffer purple rain being played for the seventiethmillion time with no attempt at enthusiasm, instead we got empty room! oh, and we had the informal soundchecks before all of this, how great were they?

and then you have paisley park, seeing prince in his own domain. you really can't top that. you have shows in the big soundstage and others in the smaller room. it's laid back and casual inside, you don't know what you are going to hear, but you know it's going to be good. what can be better than seeing prince play a show at paisley park? being onstage with him? what can be better than that? seeing him rehearse for a show, playing bambi and ballad of dorothy parker mixed with six by madhouse. a few people have been lucky to see the soundchecks, but to attend an actual rehearsal is something else

and then you have special shows such as the accoustic night or rock nights, we are lucky as fans of prince that unlike pretty much every other artist, we have gigs for punters in arenas and gigs for fans in small venues, with an entirely different setlist and atmosphere, but even then the hardcore fans get used to the aftershow sets as well as the main sets, but sometimes he does something very different at the aftershows, and those are the real gems. to see prince on his own with just an accoustic guitar playing specially arranged versions of his songs for an hour is just amazing, and to think norah jones warmed up for that night. in fact we didn't need any warming as it was hot as hell in minnie that week.

so best normal show? excluding aftershows and paisley park shows? i think maybe the first london ONA show, as i saw bowie open the venue the night before so i was used to my surroundings and felt comfortable, i was front row in the middle, with takumi and the friend of princes wife next to me, i got to sing into the mic, get onstage, it was an amazing show and sounded great, and afterwards we helped arrange an alternate venue for the aftershow, and prince turned up. you can't get much better than that can you? oh, the soundcheck, where prince said i wanted to be his manager, and came down to check our tickets. the next day was great too when he did the kareoke session during the soundcheck to thank us for sorting out the aftershow

best paisley park gig is either the accoustic or rock nights at the celly. best aftershow, too many of them to choose, when amy winehouse appeared behind the curtain at the final indigo2 aftershow, when the curtain opened and prince played let's go by the cars and walked right in front of me, off the stage onto the speaker i was leaning on and then ducked down to make me duck to avoid his guitar. the time he fell off the stage in front of me on purpose as a pretend accident when touching hands with people, when shelby was singing misty blue and prince was running on and offstage screaming with a towel in his hand (off mic, but audible to us, and funny as fuck), or the time the curtain opened with prince sitting at the keyboard in front of us playing superstition, keep on running, dorothy parker, etc, or playing paisley park. in fact paisley park at paisley park was one of my faves, along with when he did speachless by beyonce with mike p on sax. the hippodrome was also great as i got the tamborine thrown from stage, and a couple of years ago i got to tell marva king about that when i got a phone call from her in london when she asked a friend where i was

gerhard12 said:

jodznsez said:

saw U2 last august in vienna and do have the dvd 360.one show almost like the others ,seen one ,seen all.the only really great thing was the stage.musically the air is out as we say in austria.

completly diff with prince,fabulous vienna concert 2010, sensational purple rain performance in milan 2010 and so and on.....

i was lucky to see U2 for the first time in hampden park in glasgow. the glasgow crowd are one of the best, and U2 has long been a very popular band in scotland in particular, and i was front row on a beautiful day in the summertime. i must say they were absolutely fantastic. i was never really a U2 fan although they had some great tracks. i then saw U2 or bono again another 2 or 3 times in the next few weeks. and there were only 4 of them onstage, not a single extra person. and they were fucking loud, mind that's the problem about being front row at a stadium gig. george michael wasn't half as loud when i saw him there though. the earls court gigs were much better for GM, the big screen looked fucking amazing in the dark, and it was miles better than the SECC glasgow

haleno1 said:

unique said:

it's funny that i've been to a few of the shows others have mentioned, and they pale compared to some of the shows i've been to

i've seen prince play an accoustic set at paisley park, i've seen him rehearse, soundcheck, i've seen pink floyd play with roger waters, i've seen paul macartney so close i could (and did) touch him, i've seen things you people wouldn't believe, attack ships on fire off the shoulders of orion, i've watched c beams glitter in the dark off the tannhauser gate, all those moments lost in time like tears in the rain, but maybe the hippodrome aftershow where he did the war live, and at 5.30am kicked out hits when people were waking to go to work. maybe the rock nite at the celly, maybe the night he played superstition, keep on running and the balad of dorothy parker in the tangerine suit at the indigo2. maybe that accoustic nite at the celly, with norah jones as support. maybe the last nite he played the aftershow in paisley park where he played a medley of purple rain and adore after i was onstage dancing to covers of classic funk jams like brickhouse and skin tight. maybe that aftershow party at the garage in glasgow, that was a shit hot gig. one other hot non prince gig was justin timberlake fronting NERD at an aftershow party for mtv, it was just like one of the best prince aftershows. to me, the cafe de paris was an incredible experience as i was front row in front of the mic at a tiny gig and it was like like he was playing a private show for me, it was broadcast on tv, released on video and prince stagedived on me 3 times, and the follow show i got onstage. so maybe cafe de paris or the accoustic nite or the rock nite at the celly. all so great and so different, it's like picking my favourite between chocolate, cheese, steak and wine, all great but different

I remember the Hippodrome show was one hell of a night for allsorts of reasons.

it was a particularly good show, and prince stagediving on me, getting the tamborine and then seeing prince leave when we were on our way home was cool. and the next day when he turned up at cafe de paris, i was there waiting on him like a stalker. in fact i remember someone mailed me a photo of prince entering cafe de paris with me in shot, and then the next day brixton academy, so 4 gigs in 3 days, an arena, a club aftershow, a tv gig in a club and then a theatre show, that was one of my best prince times

I had a great double dose of rock at a Kravitz/Black Crows show. Jesus Christo! The The Black Crows fuckin Rocked! Seriously...they put in some fuckin work and it payed. Same with Kravitz....runnin out in the audience during let love rule. Kinda like at a Prince concert...its hard to yell strange stuff at the top of your lungs like "let love rule" but it just happens when this dude with a mini-fro and a guitar is head banging as a mini-moog is shitting out a bassline. It was in support of "5" His sound then was a great blend of rock and funk and soul.

that said....Everlast opened....the sun was still up even. He blew like a busy hooker in Hollywood.

As great as Kravitz and the Black Crows were...they didn't have nothing on Prince at the House of Blues on 4-20/21. It's 2001 and I'm hearing the extended/rocked out version of Paisley Park...Dorothy Parker(if U listen to the aftershow CD put out by NPG rec's U can hear me chanting my "dorothy parker" in the b/g-vox track).

Best Prince concert, a tie between Gold Experience in Brabanthallen and the ONA tour in the Hammersmith Odeon.

Non-Prince: Also very difficult to choose:

Bowie at The Hammersmith a day before teh ONA tour took off!

Beck in Scheveningen for the Midnite Vultures tour.

U2 -> Zooropa tour, all 3 I saw! Damn impressive!!

Best Prince concert....hard to chose as there's been alot. I'd have to say my first ever Prince concert which was the D&P tour,Earls court 1992.

Other favs-

Stevie Wonder- A wonder summer's night at the o2 2008

Lenny Kravitz-Brixton academy 1993

Alexander oneal personal appearance-NYE 2009

Jameroquai--Wembly arena 1998

Duran duran reunion- Wembly 2004

starbuck said:

Best Prince concert, a tie between Gold Experience in Brabanthallen and the ONA tour in the Hammersmith Odeon.

Non-Prince: Also very difficult to choose:

Bowie at The Hammersmith a day before teh ONA tour took off!

Beck in Scheveningen for the Midnite Vultures tour.

U2 -> Zooropa tour, all 3 I saw! Damn impressive!!

that was a great show. i know the guy who recorded the excellent quality bootleg, it almost sounds like a soundboard

i was in the balcony in the middle at the front, we just went down there and crouched/stood where the usher would stand, so had a fucking amazing view. i got a ton of photos from it. i'd never seen bowie before, and i was surrounded by this most hardcore fans. this guy next to us was at the gig 30 years before where bowie killed ziggy. i remember him as his voice/throat was fucked due to cancer

bowie played all the classics you could think off, i mean far more than the hits, but all the great album tracks. there wasn't a single song you could think off that you would want to hear that he didn't play. apart from laughing gnome. the cunt. the only song i wanted him to fucking play!

how did you get tickets for it btw?

you also remind me of the times i've seen beck, who is amazing. his solo accoustic show was one of the best. he played erotic city and raspberry beret. another time he played creep by radiohead when i saw him support radiohead, now that was a fucking great gig. he had all these puppets too

Prince: tie between ONA Oberhausen and 20Ten Antwerp

Non-Prince: Wendy and Lisa at Carre, Amsterdam (89) and Live at Paradiso Amsterdam (one of the shows their live dvd was recorded)

Prince - September 13 , 2007 - O2 , London

wow, there's a question!. In recent memory it has to be the final aftershow at the o2 , c3 hours, Amy Winehouse, every style catered for, looked amazing, the energy exchange and love really was electric - it was one of 'those' nights.

blackbob said:

hi...just wondering whats the best concert you have ever seen ?...prince or not....mine.....i have two.....both prince......one nite alone tour.....london hammersmith....sat 5th october 2002....just amazing....going to the soundcheck...and then the 3 hour concert in a small venue ....playing the lesser known songs and being in the front 10 rows.....i coundnt speak afterwards as i had lost my voice from singing soo much.........and the last night of the 21 nights at the o2 arena ...london...21st september 2007.....far bigger place ..near 20,000 capacity but what an atmosphere....fantastic experience.....seen him about a dozen times but these two stand out for me......so whats yours ?.....prince or not....

hey I was at both those gigs!, do you remember being stuck in the lobby forever at Hammersmith waiting to get into the sound check lol!. It was worth the wait.

jodznsez said:

purplemookiebut said:

non prince= U2 360 giants stadium

and i liked elements from all the prince W2A shows i've been to so i'm just gonna say my fave live act ever is prince and i can't choose just one of the dates

I saw the u2 360 tour in Melbourne last december, and i dont really like u2 , but it was a great show. Jay Z (the support) was amazing!!!.

Muse in syndey last december was prob the 2nd best gig I've been to, outstanding in every department..

u had jay-z open? we had MUSE

purplemookiebut said:

jodznsez said:

I saw the u2 360 tour in Melbourne last december, and i dont really like u2 , but it was a great show. Jay Z (the support) was amazing!!!.

Muse in syndey last december was prob the 2nd best gig I've been to, outstanding in every department..

u had jay-z open? we had MUSE

yes odd mix, but JayZ, for me, blew u2 out the water. brilliant.

but muse, as i said before, were perfect.

unique said:

starbuck said:

Best Prince concert, a tie between Gold Experience in Brabanthallen and the ONA tour in the Hammersmith Odeon.

Non-Prince: Also very difficult to choose:

Bowie at The Hammersmith a day before teh ONA tour took off!

Beck in Scheveningen for the Midnite Vultures tour.

U2 -> Zooropa tour, all 3 I saw! Damn impressive!!

that was a great show. i know the guy who recorded the excellent quality bootleg, it almost sounds like a soundboard

i was in the balcony in the middle at the front, we just went down there and crouched/stood where the usher would stand, so had a fucking amazing view. i got a ton of photos from it. i'd never seen bowie before, and i was surrounded by this most hardcore fans. this guy next to us was at the gig 30 years before where bowie killed ziggy. i remember him as his voice/throat was fucked due to cancer

bowie played all the classics you could think off, i mean far more than the hits, but all the great album tracks. there wasn't a single song you could think off that you would want to hear that he didn't play. apart from laughing gnome. the cunt. the only song i wanted him to fucking play!

how did you get tickets for it btw?

you also remind me of the times i've seen beck, who is amazing. his solo accoustic show was one of the best. he played erotic city and raspberry beret. another time he played creep by radiohead when i saw him support radiohead, now that was a fucking great gig. he had all these puppets too

Me and a friend arrived a day early. I knew about the Bowie concert and tried to get the ticks thru the phone (from Holland) but to no avail. We just walked to the Hammersmith a few mins before time and a black market dude was getting a bit desperate to sell his ticks so we got in for 85 quid a ticket!! I was also in the back, more to the left. That was one hell of a Bowie concert!

You saw Beck open up for Radiohead cool!!! I saw Sigur Ros warming up for Radio head at Werchter 2 years back, that was also a damn excellent performance (both Sigur and Radio).

i remember when mob dep and run dmc opened for limp bizkit and papa roach. i sat down for them. of course admitted i used to like limp bizkit is bad too. and mindless self indulgence opening for korn..terrible.

I was at this show and got up on stage and got my boggie on...

I also caught prince's ear ring but some chick slapped it out of my hand...

It became a free for all....

Awesome show non the less.

I wish there was some vid.

funkyhead said:

blackbob said:

hi...just wondering whats the best concert you have ever seen ?...prince or not....mine.....i have two.....both prince......one nite alone tour.....london hammersmith....sat 5th october 2002....just amazing....going to the soundcheck...and then the 3 hour concert in a small venue ....playing the lesser known songs and being in the front 10 rows.....i coundnt speak afterwards as i had lost my voice from singing soo much.........and the last night of the 21 nights at the o2 arena ...london...21st september 2007.....far bigger place ..near 20,000 capacity but what an atmosphere....fantastic experience.....seen him about a dozen times but these two stand out for me......so whats yours ?.....prince or not....

hey I was at both those gigs!, do you remember being stuck in the lobby forever at Hammersmith waiting to get into the sound check lol!. It was worth the wait.

yes i remember it well...standing there for well over an hour....thinking to myself....if we get down there early...we can get right up the front....of course you forget that there are even bigger fans of prince who will wait for feckin days to get up the front....!....but it was worth it for the soundcheck alone....but it was a long day and i had just got off the train from glasgow so after the soundcheck and the 3 hour concert....i was just too tired to go to the rumoured aftershow...i was out on my feet...so caught the last train to cambridge to my brothers house...but what a day !

ONA Frankfurt : the soundcheck, being so close as never before or after, the tight band, the songselection, Prince in topform-specially his voice, the sound, the stage-lighting.........just beautiful !!!

Others coming close:

Queen 1982 Vienna: Mercury's voice and May's guitar,their great songs, the show and the energy......a once in my life top-experience!

Tina Turner - Break Every Rule Tour 1987, she was on peak of her astonishing career, sold out Vienna Stadthalle 3 times in a row ! Born to perform and a lovely person too !!

U 2 - Zoo-TV 1992 Vienna Donauinsel. 55 000 people singing along to Where the Streets Have No Name....goose-flesh !! And Axel Rose joining them on stage singing Knocking on Heavens Door - classic!

But last year I was absolutely not willing to pay huge ticket-prices for this 360° tour. The stage might have been impressive, but non of their music-output of the last 20 years has really caught me - and that's the main thing at a concert, don't need this gigantic stuff (anymore).....

NevermindAlexzander said:

I was at this show and got up on stage and got my boggie on...

I also caught prince's ear ring but some chick slapped it out of my hand...

It became a free for all....

Awesome show non the less.

I wish there was some vid.

The Key Club, West Hollywood, CA 7/25/98:

Well, to date, this one seems to last in my memory as one of the best concerts I've ever seen Prince perform, which might be because it was at a really small place, I was up in the second row, and there was fairly little drama, other than us waiting outside the club and inside for nearly 10 hours to hear Prince perform. The concert was actually a warmup for his Europe tour, which lasted for . At one point he actually said that he was going to play for 3 1/2 hours. He lied though, he only played for three.

Ticket sales were actually very organized. There was the usual fiasco of lots of people arriving just before tix went on sale around 8:00 p.m. and eventually cutting in line with people they knew at the front. The front portion of the line just got wider & wider as the time drew near. But hey, we know this is always going to happen, and it didn't affect whether we got in or not.

Fans paid $40.00 and were given a wristband instead of a ticket, and were allowed to buy 1 wristband for a friend if needed. With the wristband, we had the option of going straight inside, or leaving for awhile to change clothes, eat dinner, or whatever & come back later before showtime. Those of us who went straight inside basically had our choice of the closest spots in front of the stage. Apparently all 600 tickets eventually sold out, and the line stretched clear down several blocks. The show was actually a party to celebrate the grand opening of the Key Club, which had been known formerly as Billboard Live on the Sunset Strip.

The Key Club is a very small venue, even smaller than Club Townsend (January 98 aftershow). They came up with the good idea of playing lots of Prince songs while we waited 3 hours until showtime. Of course, all of the hardcore fans were singing along with every lyric. Two pairs of female & male dancers came out for awhile, and this also prevented any boredom during the long wait.

The band took the stage around 11:15 p.m., and what followed was 3 hours of funk and seduction ending around 2:15 a.m. Same band as the Tonight Show appearance (Rhonda, Mike Scott, Marva, Morris, Kirky J), with Larry Graham joining on stage for the first few songs & 1 song later. thankfully abandoned the "Coolio" hairdo, and went back to the straight hair parted in the middle, with 3 butterfly pins at the back. He first wore a floor-length black outfit similar to the Vibe show, changed into a white JotY tour outfit, followed by a red JotY outfit with a white bowler hat w/ black "Come On" strip around it. Everyone in the band wore the Moonwrap earrings.

Highlights & funny moments:

- Performances of Nothing Compare 2 U, Love...Thy Will Be Done, (Let's Get) Funky, long slow version of The Ride, 1 verse of Erotic City, The One, and Come On remix.

- was in an especially great mood because just about everybody closest to the stage shook his hand, and he was joking & smiling a lot throughout the show.

- During Let's Get Funky, he threw in Halle Berry's name during the lyrics, because she was watching from the balcony. Jaleel White ("Urkel") was also there.

- When did a fast double twirl on stage, one of his moon earwraps flew off into the crowd. 15 people dove onto the floor & a guy eventually picked it up.

- About 5 white towels were thrown into the audience, and 1 red towel with the symbol, which himself used & threw toward the crowd, got caught up on a lighting fixture just below the balcony where Londell McMillan was sitting. It reminded me of when a basketball is shot and it gets wedged next to the rim.

- At one point, looked up at the upper side balcony where Halle Berry was partying at the railing, and he said "Uh-oh, y'all didn't know I could see up your dresses from down here, huh? Honey, your skirt's so short I can see what religion you are!" (OK, wrong gender but still funny!).

- Instrument malfunctions seemed to mess with his mood during the intro to Love Thy Will Be Done, which lasted more than 5 minutes before he started singing.

7/25/98 setlist:

Days Of Wild instrumental

Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin

"You Can Sing It If You Try" (tune of Mary Don't You Weep)

Free

Larry Graham bass solo

Everyday People

The Jam

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Purple Rain

Freaks on This Side instr. jam/Erotic City verse

Push It Up

Jam Of The Year

"Turn It Up" jam

Let's Work

Delirious

Love...Thy Will Be Done

Let's Get Funky

The Ride

Sly & The Family's "Higher" jam from Woodstock

I Want To Take You Higher

Come On remix

Come On pt. 1

The One

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nothing Compares 2 U

MadSex

I Like Funky Music inst. jam

777-9311 intro

Do Me Baby/Adore/Insatiable/Scandalous/Howcome/Do Me Baby

If I Was Your Girlfriend

Take Me With U/Raspberry Beret/Mr. Happy

---

Among the other celebrities spotted at this show were D'Angelo, Halle Berry, Perry Farell, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Larenz Tate, Damon Wayans, Wesley Snipes, Chris Rock, Puff Daddy Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale.

http://home.earthlink.net/~getwild/prince/beento/keyclub98.html

I was gonna say The Key Club show was my favorite as well. This report is pretty much spot on except I don't remember the line outside going on for blocks. It did wrap around the block. Also, Prince was trying to throw his towel to Londell because I seen him make eye contact with him and then attempted to throw him the towel but fell short. As my wife and I watched from the balcony we also rubbed elbows with not only Jaleel White but also a lot of the cast from Family Matters as well as Eric Benet. Halle was up there to and I noticed Prince's security guard make his way to her, spoke in here ear and moments later I seen her make her way backstage. A night to remember.

klick

[Edited 1/25/11 18:32pm]

I think every performer brings something different to the table. Prince bases his shows (at least the 2 that I saw) on music and how he performs the songs themselves. Lady Gaga puts on a show. It's like going to see a music theatre production, and she puts her whole into it - you can tell. Marilyn Manson is a combination of show and music, and seriously had to be one of the best performances that I've ever seen at a tiny Jersey club. Slipknot, well it was something else. I'm not a big fan but my friends took me for my pre-Sweet 16 party week kick-off, it was based on singing only and wasn't as good as Prince does it.

I've seen Prince 6 times and the best of them was the pre-21 nights gig at Koko a few years ago. Similar set to most of the O2 gigs but in a more intimate venue, and it just seemed a lot fresher and more dynamic than the stadium versions.

Other than that, off the top of my head the best gigs I've been to are:

• D'Angelo @ Brixton Academy on the Voodoo tour (supported by Slum Village)
• Ozomatli @ the Jazz Cafe (suppored by City High and Bilal in about 2001)
• Gorillaz @ the O2 2010
• The Prodigy @ Brixton academy 2005
• Justice @ Benicassim 2008

phunkymunky said:

I've seen Prince 6 times and the best of them was the pre-21 nights gig at Koko a few years ago. Similar set to most of the O2 gigs but in a more intimate venue, and it just seemed a lot fresher and more dynamic than the stadium versions.

Other than that, off the top of my head the best gigs I've been to are:

• D'Angelo @ Brixton Academy on the Voodoo tour (supported by Slum Village)
• Ozomatli @ the Jazz Cafe (suppored by City High and Bilal in about 2001)
• Gorillaz @ the O2 2010
• The Prodigy @ Brixton academy 2005
• Justice @ Benicassim 2008

I liked the intimacy at the Jazz cuisine in las vegas .....prince playing in your living room. For me the most wonderful P xperience...

[Edited 1/26/11 13:16pm]

Prince:

Paisley Park 2009

3121 Las Vegas (went to 3)

7-7-7 Target / Macy's / First Ave.

Jam of The Year: Miami (my first show)

Jazz in The Gardens: Miami Gardens 2009

Mike Philly

Stanley Clarke

George Benson

Chaka Khan