Ok so we've seen his reputation as an artist go downhill, at least in the eyes of the masses and some Hardcore Prince fans, but now I'm hearing all this bad shit about his live performances in Chicago and that (I cant even say this w/o cringing)His shows are boring. These comments are mostly if not all coming from hardcore prince fans...So my question is, if his reputation as a live performer shits the bed WTF does this mean for his career and his legacy?

If he put's on enough crap shows, people will stop going - kind of like if he puts out enough crap albums, people will stop buying them

Maybe he'll retire...

TheEmperorofFunk said:

Ok so we've seen his reputation as an artist go downhill, at least in the eyes of the masses and some Hardcore Prince fans, but now I'm hearing all this bad shit about his live performances in Chicago and that (I cant even say this w/o cringing)His shows are boring. These comments are mostly if not all coming from hardcore prince fans...So my question is, if his reputation as a live performer shits the bed WTF does this mean for his career and his legacy?

I think you may want to slow down....

The negative "comments" that you speak of was from the first Chicago show. I don't think one performance can be turned into "performances"....

Because when you Google or read about reviews for the second and 3rd Chicago gig you don't get the whole "Prince is finished" rumblings...What you read was, "Wow, this guy is still great??? what the fuck was he doing in that Monday show???"

In other words, it's not that serious...

*BTW...you can't judge Prince's performance from us hardcore fans...Because we want to hear dude perform obscure songs from his mammoth bootleg catalogue...We want to hear him do shit like "Electric Intercourse" and "Dinner With Delores"....

If P did that shit in front of a festival of 60,000 or an arena of 23,000 he would get booed off the stage...

Just some context here....

Jboogiee said:

Don't base your opinion on 1 show. Prince still delivers the goods.

The only people who think Prince's reputation as a live performer has slipped are people who listen to him ALL the time.

The people who roll their eyes whenever Prince plays the opening chords to Purple Rain.

The people who've been to every show in their town and listen to every bootleg andn have the nerve to say Prince's setlist "bores" them.

Guess what genius, 99% of the people that go to see him live haven't heard him perform those songs 1000 times like you have.

I saw some people complaining that he performed the same songs that he did at the NAACP Awards back in '05,

He performed those songs on a show that aired once 7 years ago.

Nobody told you to tape the performance and watch it back 100 times.

Prince is the only artists who gets shit for playing older material.

You think fans of the Rolling Stones bitch so much about them playing Satisfaction as many times as they have?

Paris9748430 said:

You think fans of the Rolling Stones bitch so much about them playing Satisfaction as many times as they have?

Yes, I do. I see your point and agree to an extent, but hardcore fans of any artist generally like to hear more than the hits.

[Edited 9/28/12 23:38pm]

The fact that Prince became an artist who doesn't promote any new music on his tours made my excitement about seeing him live go away anyway.

Of course Prince has a lot of qualites as a performer, but to me there's this one aspect missing for much too long: an artist who is hungry to show live on stage how fucking good his newest creations are.

So why doesn't he do that? Does he know that his newest creations are weak in comparison to his past work? If so, why doesn't he work harder on new material that actually makes him proud and want to go on tour with?

[Edited 9/28/12 23:42pm]

[Edited 9/28/12 23:43pm]

funkomatic said:

The fact that Prince became an artist who doesn't promote any new music on his tours made my excitement about seeing him live go away anyway.

Of course Prince has a lot of qualites as a performer, but to me there's this one aspect missing for much too long: an artist who is hungry to show live on stage how fucking good his newest creations are.

So why doesn't he do that? Does he know that his newest creations are weak in comparison to his past work? If so, why doesn't he work harder on new material that actually makes him proud and want to go on tour with?

[Edited 9/28/12 23:42pm]

[Edited 9/28/12 23:43pm]

You could say this about a lot of the majority of classic artists like Prince.

I don't think Stevie Wonder was playing a whole lot of the songs from A Time to Love during his last tour.

There's been this long running joke about The Rolling Stones playing new songs being the cue for everyone to go to the restroom.

It's not just Prince who doesn't focus on his new material at his shows.

Does it make things any better just because it's the same story with other artists? No.

Jboogiee said:

Don't base your opinion on 1 show. Prince still delivers the goods.

Of course he can't always be on his best but there are more not so good shows the last couple of years:

t mention a few:

Rotterdam NSJ

Cologne

first night australia

He seems to be more inconsistent (is that english?).

A bit more focus for the shows (a new album, new set up) might be good for the concentration of all concerned. And therefore an anverage better result?

Saw some clips of the first chicago show on a certain page and the show seemed kinda cool and people were enjoying it.......of course the thing with the people waiting for 30 minutes and he didn`t came back was awful

remko said:

Jboogiee said:

Don't base your opinion on 1 show. Prince still delivers the goods.

Of course he can't always be on his best but there are more not so good shows the last couple of years:

t mention a few:

Rotterdam NSJ

Cologne

first night australia

He seems to be more inconsistent (is that english?).

A bit more focus for the shows (a new album, new set up) might be good for the concentration of all concerned. And therefore an anverage better result?

I saw the first night in Sydney and the only thing really wrong was the problems with the guitar. Things like setlist and that are always debatable but I thought his 'energy' was ok. I think by and large the crowd were happy - unlike 1st night Chicago and Cologne where it sounds like the majority were pissed and where he also seemed to be 'off'. And yes inconsistent is english

TheEmperorofFunk said:

Ok so we've seen his reputation as an artist go downhill, at least in the eyes of the masses and some Hardcore Prince fans, but now I'm hearing all this bad shit about his live performances in Chicago and that (I cant even say this w/o cringing)His shows are boring. These comments are mostly if not all coming from hardcore prince fans...

So my question is, if his reputation as a live performer shits the bed WTF does this mean for his career and his legacy?

[Edited 9/29/12 3:53am]

remko said:

Jboogiee said:

Don't base your opinion on 1 show. Prince still delivers the goods.

Of course he can't always be on his best but there are more not so good shows the last couple of years:

t mention a few:

Rotterdam NSJ

Cologne

first night australia

He seems to be more inconsistent (is that english?).

A bit more focus for the shows (a new album, new set up) might be good for the concentration of all concerned. And therefore an anverage better result?

Hahaha!

NSJ is bad?!

Cologne was a simple,normal show with an interesting half hour break after the first track.

We can't always have shows like in Gent.

udo said:

To keep it short: An artist who keeps trying to reproduce his former self over and over again (to be exactly since the Emancipation days, with the ONA Tour being the only exception) is creatively dead.

I myself am not interested in creatively dead artists. If others are, so be it.

Paris9748430 said:

The only people who think Prince's reputation as a live performer has slipped are people who listen to him ALL the time.

The people who roll their eyes whenever Prince plays the opening chords to Purple Rain.

The people who've been to every show in their town and listen to every bootleg andn have the nerve to say Prince's setlist "bores" them.

Guess what genius, 99% of the people that go to see him live haven't heard him perform those songs 1000 times like you have.

I saw some people complaining that he performed the same songs that he did at the NAACP Awards back in '05,

He performed those songs on a show that aired once 7 years ago.

Nobody told you to tape the performance and watch it back 100 times.

Prince is the only artists who gets shit for playing older material.

You think fans of the Rolling Stones bitch so much about them playing Satisfaction as many times as they have?

^^^^^^^^^^^ There it is....

Absolutly right Murph. Nice to see you round again.

I thought NSJ was fabulous!

for now his rep is perfectly in tact. I base this on a contsant ability to sell tix if big quantities with such little notice, likewise every non P fan will always talk of their memories old & new of being blown away by seeing him live. However, if he doesn't fix the issues from Chi-town he is fucked, that bad publicity will be brought up by the press before his next gigs.

remko said:

Jboogiee said:

Don't base your opinion on 1 show. Prince still delivers the goods.

Of course he can't always be on his best but there are more not so good shows the last couple of years:

t mention a few:

Rotterdam NSJ

Cologne

first night australia

He seems to be more inconsistent (is that english?).

A bit more focus for the shows (a new album, new set up) might be good for the concentration of all concerned. And therefore an anverage better result?

Dodgy sound quality does not mean dodgy show. I would know as I saw the first night of the W2Australia Tour.
I think the negative vibes from Chicago 1 from fans and the press was only brought about, because of the lack of hits during the first hour (Misleading, but doesn't in any way mean bad show) and the lack of guitar playing in general (remember the Parade Tour? Just because he barely touched his guitar, it doesn't mean the show was awful) and the lengthy waits (which is just standard Prince)

remko said:

THE last year there have been multiple reports concerning sound problems at prince concerts. is this a trend and will more focus tackle the problem?.

Sound is quite depending on where you are in the venue.

Mr P always spends rather much time on his soundchecks (forgot Cologne 1998 and 2011?) to get things right.

The technicians do vary and are fired quite easily; some consistency here could help.

The first NSJ show sounded darkish but was still enjoyable with some hearing protection from where I was.

The bootleggars did not release this show so their recording must have been bad.

Paris9748430 said:

Prince is the only artists who gets shit for playing older material.

One of the biggest problem with Prince fans is that they tend to be blissfully unaware of anything else going on the musical world. A statement like that is so obviously false as to not need examples of how wrong it is.

Prince is over 50. In the pop world, that means you no longer have it. And Prince is no exception. He has to use lighting effects and background dancers to generate any excitement now. It proves that he really is human, and he has nothing to apoligize for regarding his abilities at age 54. He may be completely irrelevant in the pop world (where no one even bothers to listen to any new songs he releases), but he had a nice run that was only marred by his own stupidity. He's scheduled to appear less than 20 miles from me for only the 4th time in my life relatively soon. Unlike the first three times, there is no chance I'm going. Not even with free tix.

His retirement, followed by the release of the oldest songs in his vault, would be greatly welcomed at this point.

LaceyB said:

Paris9748430 said:

Prince is the only artists who gets shit for playing older material.

One of the biggest problem with Prince fans is that they tend to be blissfully unaware of anything else going on the musical world. A statement like that is so obviously false as to not need examples of how wrong it is.

Prince is over 50. In the pop world, that means you no longer have it. And Prince is no exception. He has to use lighting effects and background dancers to generate any excitement now. It proves that he really is human, and he has nothing to apoligize for regarding his abilities at age 54. He may be completely irrelevant in the pop world (where no one even bothers to listen to any new songs he releases), but he had a nice run that was only marred by his own stupidity. He's scheduled to appear less than 20 miles from me for only the 4th time in my life relatively soon. Unlike the first three times, there is no chance I'm going. Not even with free tix.

His retirement, followed by the release of the oldest songs in his vault, would be greatly welcomed at this point.

This sort of opinion always baffles me. What exactly do u gain by Prince retiring? You don't have to attend any concert but many do still love to see him play live. And all evidence is he is still great live and has made quite a positive impression on thousands of concert-goers the world over in just the last few years.