Hello,

I just heard these clips from the ONA soundchecks when he let fans come up and sing "Girls & Boys," "Manic Monday," and "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore" with the band.

I did a search of old threads - there's one by zannalee that confirms that fans got to sing, but am wondering if anyone knows who these people were/are (or if you are here). They were really quite good to be an average audience member, particularly "How Come..."

Also, would a man have equal chance to come up and sing or was he only looking for ladies? Just wondering.

Btw, looking at the org discussions back in '02 of the ONA tour, I can see what the complaint is about his recent tour, if you compare. Those setlists look amazing.

artist76 said:

Hello,

I just heard these clips from the ONA soundchecks when he let fans come up and sing "Girls & Boys," "Manic Monday," and "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore" with the band.

A long. long.. long... time ago some girl in chat was telling her brief story. she got to sing "Manic Monday" on stage.

Then i told her you know it was recoreded on bootleg? she just about freaked out when she heard it

Should could have been putting me on but she seems sincere and genuine

mplsmike said:

artist76 said:

Hello,

I just heard these clips from the ONA soundchecks when he let fans come up and sing "Girls & Boys," "Manic Monday," and "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore" with the band.

A long. long.. long... time ago some girl in chat was telling her brief story. she got to sing "Manic Monday" on stage.

Then i told her you know it was recoreded on bootleg? she just about freaked out when she heard it

Should could have been putting me on but she seems sincere and genuine

That was during the Celebration 2002 on the last night, I believe.

Manic Monday was sung by Connie C, aka Mini Mayte from A.M.P.

alexnvrmnd777 said:

That was during the Celebration 2002 on the last night, I believe.

rdhull said:

Manic Monday was sung by Connie C, aka Mini Mayte from A.M.P.

Double

mplsmike said:

alexnvrmnd777 said:

That was during the Celebration 2002 on the last night, I believe.

rdhull said:

Manic Monday was sung by Connie C, aka Mini Mayte from A.M.P.

Double

mplsmike said:

artist76 said:

Hello,

I just heard these clips from the ONA soundchecks when he let fans come up and sing "Girls & Boys," "Manic Monday," and "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore" with the band.

A long. long.. long... time ago some girl in chat was telling her brief story. she got to sing "Manic Monday" on stage.

Then i told her you know it was recoreded on bootleg?

That's a great moment, and she does a good job too.

[Edited 3/11/12 1:36am]

artist76 said:

Btw, looking at the org discussions back in '02 of the ONA tour, I can see what the complaint is about his recent tour, if you compare. Those setlists look amazing.

Yes, the ONA setlists were quite impressive, as were a lot of the soundchecks.

There are a large number of soundchecks and main shows from that tour in circulation, and in (for the most part) very good sound quality.

artist76 said:

Hello,

I just heard these clips from the ONA soundchecks when he let fans come up and sing "Girls & Boys," "Manic Monday," and "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore" with the band.

I did a search of old threads - there's one by zannalee that confirms that fans got to sing, but am wondering if anyone knows who these people were/are (or if you are here). They were really quite good to be an average audience member, particularly "How Come..."

Also, would a man have equal chance to come up and sing or was he only looking for ladies? Just wondering.

Btw, looking at the org discussions back in '02 of the ONA tour, I can see what the complaint is about his recent tour, if you compare. Those setlists look amazing.

connie sang manic monday during the celly, not the ONA soundchecks

on the second night on the london shows prince did a kareoke session, sitting playing at the piano and inviting fans up to sing. it was a girl from chicago who was an opera singer who sang manic monday. originally he invited one of my friends up, an orger who hasn't been on here a while. you can just make out me asking if he had the lyrics, and prince saying "i have the lyrics", but when she got up she asked prince if she could sing girls and boys instead, and prince made a comment about her taking over. after that the chitown girl got up and did manic monday. i got her to the front of the crowd at the aftershow at the new marquee club and prince spotted her and got her onstage again to sing during the work, where she namechecked myself and a few other fans, including my friend who sang girls and boys and my girlfriend

during the first of the london shows, prince did how come u don't call me anymore, and sang a line "and a black guy goes..." and holds the mic to john blackwell on the drums who sings "call me", and then he ran to the front of the stage and said "and a white guy goes..." and passed the mic to me to which i just copied the same line john sang and sang back "call me" in a falsetto, which seemed to impress prince a few people (some people thought it was a sample played back as i hit the note right), who waved his hand in a "go on" motion, but as i was singing along to the whole show and concentrating on what was being played, and wasn't ready to have the mic thrust to me, i backed down and didn't sing anymore

later on prince grabbed my hand and literally tried to pull me onstage, but i thought i'd pull him over so i let go and just jumped up

later that evening there was a problem with the aftershow which me and my friend helped out by finding another venue where prince turned up with his dj. the kareoke was some kind of thank you to the fans for that. that same night we got taken into the after party pasted both the normal npgmc line and the vip line, which was cool. i was also onstage on the final london night and the second manchester night. basically all the shows where fans were onstage, i was onstage

wishuhvn said:

mplsmike said:

Double

Those were great times for the community and Prince!! Guys did sing with Prince and I was lucky enough to be a part of something special that night...Now if the video of me dancing on stage in Vegas st HOB ever shows up-that would be great but highly unlikely since it was short notice and tight security...And in the Prince in Hawaii book. I'm actually too close to Prince so that I don't make it into any of the photos...But would never give up front row center just to make the books and Programs...Afshin (his former photog) did hook me up with pics of me and Prince...I miss those days and I miss that tour. This last one just didn't work for me...Too big of a stage and hate the arena shows...Just feels like it's for the money but we got our intimate shows and we got spoiled...

on the final night of the o2 shows, at the aftershow there was a lot of photos taken, and the show was filmed (film, not video) too, from a single camera on the stage, mostly pointing from the back of the stage to the front. being front row in the spot where prince's pedals were, i must be in shot a lot. there was one point where prince stood with his back to the audience facing the photographer, with his arms outstretched like a crucifix, and me right beside him. now imagine how dissapointed i was when none of those shots ended up in the book or online. that's one shot i'd really like

there wasn't even an opportunity to see outtakes of the photos. i went to an art gallery exhibition for the sacrifice of victor book in london where they had unused photos on display, and being the first visitor i was first to write my comments in a guest book for prince

i did get my photo on npgmc from being in line to the very first studio tour though, and on live tv the same day too from paisley

unique said:

artist76 said:

Hello,

I just heard these clips from the ONA soundchecks when he let fans come up and sing "Girls & Boys," "Manic Monday," and "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore" with the band.

I did a search of old threads - there's one by zannalee that confirms that fans got to sing, but am wondering if anyone knows who these people were/are (or if you are here). They were really quite good to be an average audience member, particularly "How Come..."

Also, would a man have equal chance to come up and sing or was he only looking for ladies? Just wondering.

Btw, looking at the org discussions back in '02 of the ONA tour, I can see what the complaint is about his recent tour, if you compare. Those setlists look amazing.

connie sang manic monday during the celly, not the ONA soundchecks

Yep, my bad..sorry.

Hey unique, those stories are very cool indeed!

wishuhvn said:

mplsmike said:

Double

Those were great times for the community and Prince!! Guys did sing with Prince and I was lucky enough to be a part of something special that night...Now if the video of me dancing on stage in Vegas st HOB ever shows up-that would be great but highly unlikely since it was short notice and tight security...And in the Prince in Hawaii book. I'm actually too close to Prince so that I don't make it into any of the photos...But would never give up front row center just to make the books and Programs...Afshin (his former photog) did hook me up with pics of me and Prince...I miss those days and I miss that tour. This last one just didn't work for me...Too big of a stage and hate the arena shows...Just feels like it's for the money but we got our intimate shows and we got spoiled...

Wow, those sound like awesome times. As well as all those stories about weekly parties at Paisley. 3121 sounds like it was a fun era too. Hope we have those times again soon. I missed out on all the past ones.

TheDigitalGardener said:

artist76 said:

Btw, looking at the org discussions back in '02 of the ONA tour, I can see what the complaint is about his recent tour, if you compare. Those setlists look amazing.

Yes, the ONA setlists were quite impressive, as were a lot of the soundchecks.

There are a large number of soundchecks and main shows from that tour in circulation, and in (for the most part) very good sound quality.

DG, I will probably orgnote you one day when I have cleared my schedule for some serious digital collecting. Just letting you know.

Dave1992 said:

Hey unique, those stories are very cool indeed!

Ditto. Unique, thanks for sharing.

I can't believe those were just fans, they sounded good for no prep, singing w/ a live band. I bet you were good too. Great stories - gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Prince smells like lavender!

ConnieC said:

Prince smells like lavender!

It's you!

Since I got your name from the nice people here, I did a search and found some old threads about your stint on stage with Prince. Besides smelling like lavender, is there anything more you can share? Was he smiling at you? Were you nervous (you sounded great, by the way!)? Why did you sing "kissing someone else" not "kissing Valentino" - were those the words he gave you? Did he shake your hand? I don't think I would have had the nerve to do it, though I'd probably kick myself afterwards if I'd passed it up.

Do tell!

ConnieC said:

Prince smells like lavender!

Was my story about you right

A long. long.. long... time ago some girl in chat was telling her brief story. she got to sing "Manic Monday" on stage.

Then i told her you know it was recoreded on bootleg? she just about freaked out when she heard it

Or were you looking for a copy?

or was that even you?

i was there!!

funny when prince told the male fams for going front row cos he found it hard to sing his ballads!

amazing time

the chick who sang girls and boys was a little arrogant and fucked up the song...london probably

jonylawson said:

i was there!!

funny when prince told the male fams for going front row cos he found it hard to sing his ballads!

amazing time

the chick who sang girls and boys was a little arrogant and fucked up the song...london probably

as in "eeeeeeeeeh london"

and Uni, I was with you all day and all night...

The orger who sang Girls and Boys was Sneha... she won't mind me saying her first name...

Great day. Sound check, show, after show, after show club... what a day...

And I remember in the sound check he said 'Who's cool?' I said to him 'Morris Day?'. Prince looked at me and say 'Morris Day?! No he ain't cool, he's a fool.... Miles Davis, now he is cool...'

Then he asked for a request and my g'friend said to him 'Movie Star'! That freaked him out a bit.. He did a double take and you could see he was going to say something about that being a boot track and then he remembered it was released on Crystal Ball and he looked at her and made a freaky funk face and then looked the other way.. My g;friend ended up on stage with him later dancing to alphabet street and dancing with him while he was doing a keyboard solo. She was so happy..

He was so playful that day.

I just feel so lucky to have seen that aftershow too at the Marquee. It was short, but I got to see him do Dolphin and Tamborine....

jonylawson said:

i was there!!

funny when prince told the male fams for going front row cos he found it hard to sing his ballads!

amazing time

the chick who sang girls and boys was a little arrogant and fucked up the song...london probably

Yeah, it was funny. She went up when Prince asked if anyone could sing Manic Monday, then when she got there asked if she could sing Girls & Boys. Fine so far, but then she forgot the first line . The girl who sang How Come U Don't Call me was awesome though. At one point Price stopped the music and she thought she'd done something wrong but he just wanted to say she was too good. When she hit the high note in the second first he made a little bowing gesture like, we're not worthy. Wasn't just girls singing. After those a guy went up and sung Shake. It was a great soundcheck and a great night.

TheEnglishGent said:

jonylawson said:

i was there!!

funny when prince told the male fams for going front row cos he found it hard to sing his ballads!

amazing time

the chick who sang girls and boys was a little arrogant and fucked up the song...london probably

Yeah, it was funny. She went up when Prince asked if anyone could sing Manic Monday, then when she got there asked if she could sing Girls & Boys. Fine so far, but then she forgot the first line . The girl who sang How Come U Don't Call me was awesome though. At one point Price stopped the music and she thought she'd done something wrong but he just wanted to say she was too good. When she hit the high note in the second first he made a little bowing gesture like, we're not worthy. Wasn't just girls singing. After those a guy went up and sung Shake. It was a great soundcheck and a great night.

it was me that persuaded sneha to get up and sing. she said she didn't know the words, so knowing about the lyric book onstage as i sat next to takumi the night before and he looked after the book, i asked prince if he had the lyrics to it and he said yes so she went onstage and then realised she didn't really know the song well enough to sing so asked if she could sing girls and boys instead, as she had recorded that as a demo as she was a singer (now a professional dancer/choreographer), and prince said yes because the night before we arranged an afterparty venue for prince and fans at snehas friends club (the guy was a celeb in his own right). i have a copy of her own version of G&B which isn't bad

there was another girl there who asked me to duet with her on take me with u as she was too scared to go up herself, but right after that he stopped the kareoke bit

what most people don't realise is the sound on stage is very different from the sound that's front of house that the audience hear. the ONA shows had no stage monitors at all, even the guitars were mic'd backstage and prince and the band used IEM's. so if you didn't have a set of ear monitors when you are on stage, you hear the auditorium sound bounce off the back wall and back to the stage, which has a split second time delay and full of reverb and slightly more muddy sound, and it really throws you off. at other shows with onstage monitors the sound quality you get varies wildly depending on where you stand. that's why prince is usually so fussy about doing his soundchecks. they used a similar IEM setup for musicology and the 21 nights in london main shows, but he used stage monitors during the indigo2 aftershows (sneha was onstage at the final aftershow too - the one with amy winehouse - it was the only aftershow where fans were invited onstage to dance)

so when you hear people from the audience singing badly or out of time on stage, that's the reason why. you don't get that problem at paisley as they have good sound everywhere including on the stage

funkylust said:

and Uni, I was with you all day and all night...

The orger who sang Girls and Boys was Sneha... she won't mind me saying her first name...

Great day. Sound check, show, after show, after show club... what a day...

And I remember in the sound check he said 'Who's cool?' I said to him 'Morris Day?'. Prince looked at me and say 'Morris Day?! No he ain't cool, he's a fool.... Miles Davis, now he is cool...'

Then he asked for a request and my g'friend said to him 'Movie Star'! That freaked him out a bit.. He did a double take and you could see he was going to say something about that being a boot track and then he remembered it was released on Crystal Ball and he looked at her and made a freaky funk face and then looked the other way.. My g;friend ended up on stage with him later dancing to alphabet street and dancing with him while he was doing a keyboard solo. She was so happy..

He was so playful that day.

I just feel so lucky to have seen that aftershow too at the Marquee. It was short, but I got to see him do Dolphin and Tamborine....

do you remember the guy who said he liked prince's jumper?

jonylawson said:

the chick who sang girls and boys was a little arrogant and fucked up the song...london probably

Wrong, I have known Sneha for many years and she is not, see Uni's previous posts...

FunkyLust

.

[Edited 3/12/12 5:38am]

TypoQueen said:

jonylawson said:

the chick who sang girls and boys was a little arrogant and fucked up the song...london probably

Wrong, I have known Sneha for many years and she is not, see Uni's previous posts...

FunkyLust

.

[Edited 3/12/12 5:38am]

johnny met her too. the whole lot of us were together, you, me, daf, sneha, johnny, funkylust, and ray and gav were there

unique said:

TypoQueen said:

Wrong, I have known Sneha for many years and she is not, see Uni's previous posts...

FunkyLust

.

[Edited 3/12/12 5:38am]

johnny met her too. the whole lot of us were together, you, me, daf, sneha, johnny, funkylust, and ray and gav were there

She wasn't arrogant, a good soul that gave help so that the fans could have fun.

and my daughter and no ur not gonna date her

Aww, I wish we were all sitting around a campfire, the "older generation" reliving memories, passing down stories to the next generation to be kept alive for posterity, the young'uns asking questions, full of wonder, and everyone bonding as a clan.

Thanks for sharing!

TypoQueen said:

unique said:

johnny met her too. the whole lot of us were together, you, me, daf, sneha, johnny, funkylust, and ray and gav were there

She wasn't arrogant, a good soul that gave help so that the fans could have fun.

and my daughter and no ur not gonna date her

that's the last time i personally ask every member of prince's band to sign her own personal copy of a tour program then

ONA was my favourite tour.

Can't believe it's been 10 years.