Is Prince losing his appeal when it comes to touring and concerts?

In 2004 his Musicology tour was sold out compeltely, every show was sold out and was the top grossing tour of the year. But recently including his Welcome 2 America tour, only 2 shows sold out, and 2 shows at the Izod Center were cancelled due to low number of attendance. There was a vid of the Izod concert with half of the area seats empty.

Also in Manchester he cancelled 2 shows because he couldn't sell out the place even if it was just a 2,5000 seater...

There were no shows cancelled in Manchester.

Militant said:

There were no shows cancelled in Manchester.

Here is the link to the article that said it did...

http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/22/prince-cancels-second-manchester-gig-after-first-fails-to-sell-out-4314163/

feeluupp said:

Militant said:

There were no shows cancelled in Manchester.

Here is the link to the article that said it did...

http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/22/prince-cancels-second-manchester-gig-after-first-fails-to-sell-out-4314163/

A tweet posted and deleted 5 minutes later is hardly a cancelled concert. To even be aware of it you had to be following his at the time manager on twitter. The gig the following night sold out and he was back to perform at the MEN Arena not long after.

Noodled24 said:

feeluupp said:

Here is the link to the article that said it did...

http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/22/prince-cancels-second-manchester-gig-after-first-fails-to-sell-out-4314163/

A tweet posted and deleted 5 minutes later is hardly a cancelled concert. To even be aware of it you had to be following his at the time manager on twitter. The gig the following night sold out and he was back to perform at the MEN Arena not long after.

Exactly.

They were talking about doing a second show that SAME night in case there were people who weren't able to get in to the last minute secret show at the small venue.

He was back less than 3 months later selling out the ARENA for two nights, a venue 10 times bigger.

feeluupp said:

Militant said:

There were no shows cancelled in Manchester.

Here is the link to the article that said it did...

http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/22/prince-cancels-second-manchester-gig-after-first-fails-to-sell-out-4314163/

The 2nd Manchester show was announced about 15 mins before the first show ended, no one was expecting it, and it was pouring down outside so Manchester was pretty quiet in general around the city centre, so they pulled it, and let the people that did show up into the end of the first show, along with free entry for the night after.

He sold out how many arenas in the UK? With 2 weeks notice and little promotion that usual UK tours would get, cheapest tickets £75 ($120 ish) up to £130 I think it was?

The manchester arena alone holds 21'000 (2 nights so roughly 41'000 between the 2)

I hardly think thats losing his Live apeal

[Edited 10/18/14 11:26am]

[Edited 10/18/14 11:27am]

Trolls are hilarious , Decline? , i was the only one there in Leeds on a lonely cold night.

I am not sure I would go, unless it was very good seats. I do not like crouds or lound stuff... and my hearing is not as good as it once was.

didn't he play portugal recently? and i know spain would show him love (Septimo?)

Prince has different kinds of tours, some more ambitious and mainstream for big venues he does every couple of years, others for smaller venues in a hit and run mode. He knows the general concertgoer will only see a Prince show every couple of years, so Prince intentionally does not overreach for his public all the time year after year.

When you think about the kind of show Prince could put on if he really wanted to fill arenas or stadiums, it's kind of staggering. There are so many things he could do if he really wanted to cash in, like play the full Purple Rain album live plus outtakes at heavily promoted concerts with special guests Wendy and Lisa, 20 costume changes, etc. there's quite an audience out there for whom PR was special, it's the Sergeant Pepper of the 80s.

maybe because his shows are so unpredictable? the average guy (casual fan or even a non-fan who gets there just because a big name is playing in his/her city) who helps sell out arenas expects a diet of hits played traditionally, something that Prince stopped doing after 2004...

SuperSoulFighter said:

And venues allow him to break curfews and will eat the costs themselves.

many artists, even long time big names, have trouble touring nowadays. its hardly just a Prince issue. its just the way things are now.

Prince's longtime fans are moving on, and thanx to his egotistical ways, he's not pulling in many new fans. Not to mention he's basically absent from the radio these days. Not to mention he's nearing 60 years of age. It's no surprise he's not selling out every show, like he use to. If he was to tour the USA, he will have trouble selling out smaller venues....in some places, but not others. I know a lot of you give org member, "Bart" a hard time, but he's 100% correct. Decades of Prince being anti internet, and attacking his fans has greatly alienated him. We're seeing the decades long effects of it now.

[Edited 10/18/14 16:30pm]

Scarfo said:

Prince's longtime fans are moving on, and thanx to his egotistical ways, he's not pulling in many new fans. Not to mention he's basically absent from the radio these days. Not to mention he's nearing 60 years of age. It's no surprise he's not selling out every show, like he use to. If he was to tour the USA, he will have trouble selling out smaller venues....in some places, but not others. I know a lot of you give org member, "Bart" a hard time, but he's 100% correct. Decades of Prince being anti internet, and attacking his fans has greatly alienated him. We're seeing the decades long effects of it now.

[Edited 10/18/14 16:30pm]

This is completely and utterly false... He sold out the Superdome with extremely high prices just a few months ago with a larger audiece than Beyonce drew the previous year. The Live Out Loud tour, even before the average person had even heard of 3rd Eye Girl sold with less than a month's notice. The Welcome 2 shows grossed approx 35 million with again, short notice on all of the shows. If he promoted shows the way most normal musicians promote tours (i.e. with months of advance notice) the man would never have an unsold out show. Some of you spend so much time on the org that you lose touch with reality.

lezama said:

Scarfo said:

Prince's longtime fans are moving on, and thanx to his egotistical ways, he's not pulling in many new fans. Not to mention he's basically absent from the radio these days. Not to mention he's nearing 60 years of age. It's no surprise he's not selling out every show, like he use to. If he was to tour the USA, he will have trouble selling out smaller venues....in some places, but not others. I know a lot of you give org member, "Bart" a hard time, but he's 100% correct. Decades of Prince being anti internet, and attacking his fans has greatly alienated him. We're seeing the decades long effects of it now.

[Edited 10/18/14 16:30pm]

This is completely and utterly false... He sold out the Superdome with extremely high prices just a few months ago with a larger audiece than Beyonce drew the previous year. The Live Out Loud tour, even before the average person had even heard of 3rd Eye Girl sold with less than a month's notice. The Welcome 2 shows grossed approx 35 million with again, short notice on all of the shows. If he promoted shows the way most normal musicians promote tours (i.e. with months of advance notice) the man would never have an unsold out show. Some of you spend so much time on the org that you lose touch with reality.

Finally! I could not have said it better. It's so crazy how much negativity is here. The man can't even fart right. "His farts smelled better in the 80's"

lezama said:

Scarfo said:

Prince's longtime fans are moving on, and thanx to his egotistical ways, he's not pulling in many new fans. Not to mention he's basically absent from the radio these days. Not to mention he's nearing 60 years of age. It's no surprise he's not selling out every show, like he use to. If he was to tour the USA, he will have trouble selling out smaller venues....in some places, but not others. I know a lot of you give org member, "Bart" a hard time, but he's 100% correct. Decades of Prince being anti internet, and attacking his fans has greatly alienated him. We're seeing the decades long effects of it now.

[Edited 10/18/14 16:30pm]

This is completely and utterly false... He sold out the Superdome with extremely high prices just a few months ago with a larger audiece than Beyonce drew the previous year. The Live Out Loud tour, even before the average person had even heard of 3rd Eye Girl sold with less than a month's notice. The Welcome 2 shows grossed approx 35 million with again, short notice on all of the shows. If he promoted shows the way most normal musicians promote tours (i.e. with months of advance notice) the man would never have an unsold out show. Some of you spend so much time on the org that you lose touch with reality.

re-read my comment. notice I said *in SOME places* also, Prince had a concert in the USA this year? he's attendance has dwindled, there is just no way around that fact. Also, when was this "Superdome" concert?

[Edited 10/18/14 19:31pm]

larksanders said:

lezama said:

This is completely and utterly false... He sold out the Superdome with extremely high prices just a few months ago with a larger audiece than Beyonce drew the previous year. The Live Out Loud tour, even before the average person had even heard of 3rd Eye Girl sold with less than a month's notice. The Welcome 2 shows grossed approx 35 million with again, short notice on all of the shows. If he promoted shows the way most normal musicians promote tours (i.e. with months of advance notice) the man would never have an unsold out show. Some of you spend so much time on the org that you lose touch with reality.

Finally! I could not have said it better. It's so crazy how much negativity is here. The man can't even fart right. "His farts smelled better in the 80's"

[snip - unecessary shit-stirring - M]

Scarfo said:

lezama said:

This is completely and utterly false... He sold out the Superdome with extremely high prices just a few months ago with a larger audiece than Beyonce drew the previous year. The Live Out Loud tour, even before the average person had even heard of 3rd Eye Girl sold with less than a month's notice. The Welcome 2 shows grossed approx 35 million with again, short notice on all of the shows. If he promoted shows the way most normal musicians promote tours (i.e. with months of advance notice) the man would never have an unsold out show. Some of you spend so much time on the org that you lose touch with reality.

re-read my comment. notice I said *in SOME places* also, Prince had a concert in the USA this year? he's attendance has dwindled, there is just no way around that fact. Also, when was this "Superdome" concert?

[Edited 10/18/14 19:31pm]

The superdome concert was just in July. Prince's touring low point was in the late 90's (with the exeption of the jam of the year tour) and early 00's (up until Musicology). His level of popularity is way better today than it was then.

savagedreams said:

many artists, even long time big names, have trouble touring nowadays. its hardly just a Prince issue. its just the way things are now.

well, I don't know about Prince, but if many veteran legendary acts are having trouble selling out arenas is because people got tired of paying 90-120$ average for every concert, when 10-12 years ago it was 60$ tops

in Europe I've heard that it is even worse, easily 120-150 euro...

[Edited 10/19/14 4:19am]

And just in case, there's absolutely no need to start the following threads:

Is Prince Getting Shorter?

Is Prince financially destitute?

Is Prince too old?

Is Prince Really That Good on Guitar?

Will Prince Soon Get Hit By Lightning?

Is Prince Doing His Nails Too Often?

Does Prince Really Work Long, Weird Hours?

Can Prince Really Be Considered a Songwriter?

Should Prince Work Out and Get Huge?

Aerogram said:

And just in case, there's absolutely no need to start the following threads:

Is Prince Getting Shorter?

Is Prince financially destitute?

Is Prince too old?

Is Prince Really That Good on Guitar?

Will Prince Soon Get Hit By Lightning?

Is Prince Doing His Nails Too Often?

Does Prince Really Work Long, Weird Hours?

Can Prince Really Be Considered a Songwriter?

Should Prince Work Out and Get Huge?

larksanders said:

Finally! I could not have said it better. It's so crazy how much negativity is here. The man can't even fart right. "His farts smelled better in the 80's"

Musicology was a highly publicised tour with dates planed and announced months in advance. And Musicology isn't the last time he did it, 21 Nights in London sold out night after night along with the Indigo club after and was announced 3 or 4 months in advanced.

However Prince hasn't been doing this kind of tour for years. He now typicaly announces a couple of days (you are lucky if you get a weeks notice) and yet he is still selling out arenas. So the idea that he is not a massive concert draw anymore its laughable

The only full concert I can think that was cancelled fully due to ticket sales this year was Berlin but I think that was more to do with having a 300 euro ticket price.

what a daft topic this is, just pointless.

antonb said:

what a daft topic this is, just pointless.

There's a lot to pick from all over the org. Can we have a section for grown ups