Adorecream said:

I guess any African tour would go like this

.

Prince, back 2 the Motherland Tour 2016

.

1. Capetown South Africa - Newlands stadium 3 nights

1a - Durban - 1 night

2. Johannesburg - 4 nights

3. Nairobi - Kenyatta Park 1 night

3a. Libreville (Gabon) 1 night?

4. Lagos (Nigeria) - 2 nights - Nigeria has 130 million people, surely at least 50k would see Prince, and the south is more stable than the Boko Haram north

4a - Maybe a night in Yaounde or Douala in Cameroon.

5. Abuja (Nigeria) - 1 night

6. Accra (Ghana) - 2 nights

7. Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire) 3 nights

8. (If lucky) Bamako, Mali - 2 nights

9. Casablanca orRabat in Morocco - 2 nights

10. Tunis, Tunisia - 2 nights

11. Cairo or Alexandria - 1 night (If the fundamentalist Islamic rulers would allow it)

.

Finish off with 3 nights in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv Israel and even a night in Amman Jordan.

I think the money issue is not the biggest problem.
At least in Israel, The concert market is big, and people spend top $$ on Golden ring and VIP tickets for shows.
There is also a big love for 80's 90's acts here.
(Robbie Williams (around 30K crowd), Back street boys (3 nights), Maddona (3 times in recent years)... All had big shows here in the last year or two, Among a lot of other huge shows like Paul Mccartney, Rolling Stones, RHCP and Bon Jovi.)

The problem with Prince is that I am not sure his crowd is big enough in these countries.
He might find it hard to fill 20-30K Seats, So he might need to charge a bit less for a show.

At this stage I'm not sure he is trying for big venues in the U.S most of the time, As he makes huge money out of the smaller shows he does.

But he can easily fill a 2500-3500 seater twice, If he chooses to come to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem with his small-gigs-format.

If you read this Prince, Drop me an org messege. I have some connections to hook you up with for a show in Tel Aviv

NorthC said:

The only way for Prince to play in Africa is if he did what people like Paul Simon, Ry Cooder and Robert Plant did, which is to play with African musicians. I would LOVE it if he did this.

Get biracial Cameroonian Andy Allo and do a show or two in areas she's familiar

Get a group of musicians from the area and do Around the World in a Day with traditional African instruments would be cool to hear

NorthC said:

The only way for Prince to play in Africa is if he did what people like Paul Simon, Ry Cooder and Robert Plant did, which is to play with African musicians. I would LOVE it if he did this.

They will probably remind him of what FUNK is again!! He needs to do stuff like that instead of playing with amatuer schoolgirls!!

Adorecream said:

[...] I would not feel personally safe in Sub Sharan Africa and I doubt neither would Prince. He would arrive on stage and then find that he has not been paid or some rebels had taken over in the show (Bob Marley was scared in the Zimbabwe concert, because of violence committed by thugs in the show). And then we don't need to dsicuss the rumble in the jungle fiasco, and things were better back then. Maybe Prince would fare better in a country under a Mobutu like dictator where he would have a bodyguard with him.

.

If he played a Black African show, my guess would be Nigeria, Kenya or Ghana as all 3 are English speaking and have large populations. In Nigeria he would probablyu be scammed, Kenya is too far away, but he may be safe, Ghana is the best choice as it is stable and wealthy by African standards, but who would go to the show.

Sub Saharan Africa below the equator is genrally a pretty safe place to visit. Lets look at your neighbours first. Namibia is a very safe country and one of the most stable in the region. Then you have Botswana, one of the better performing economies on the continent and without any political issues. Zimbabwe, I grant you, should be avoided. Not because it isnt safe, but because no one should ever give Mugabe a platform from which to brag from (Prince going to Zim would definateley give Bob some press time). Mozambique had several years of instbility and war but now seems to be on a peaceful track and having been there just last year, is a safe place to visit.

Then moving up the continent a bit. Zambia, where I live, has been a democracy since the early 90's (before SA) and has had no violent history at all, even under a dictatorship it was peaceful. It is a very safe place to visit. Next door is Malawi, a very poor country but with no history of violence. A concert on Lake Malawi would be awsome. Then we have Tanzania. Not particularly unsafe at all, but it is a Muslim country and so certain "restrictions" on freedoms should be observed. But hey, they have Zanzibar which would be a great place for a concert. Just above there you have Kenya. It used to be pretty safe and secure, but the last few years have seen quite a lot of political strife and incursions of Islamic nutjobs from the north. Remember the Nairobi shopping centre massacre?

We then start moving onto the less stable parts of Africa as we get into the tropics such as Angola (the most expensive place on the continent) and the DRC which is, for want of a better phrase, seriously fucked up. Uganda and Rwanda are very stable and relatively speaking quite prosperous and peaceful.

All in all, there are several countries that could host a Prince concert safely. There are very few that could pull it off technically though. And not many that would have a large enough population interested in it. But from a safety point of view, it isnt all guns, god and gay bashing.

aaroncanderson said:

NorthC said:

You don't really believe Africans can afford the ticket prices he's asking, do you? Especially since he is not popular at all over there. I've only been to East Africa and I only heared P once in the touristy Carnivore disco in Nairobi. They like r&b, reggae and, of course, African music. [Edited 6/27/15 0:43am]

Way to generalize 1 Billion people (Africa is the 2nd most populous continent on Earth). I'm sure in a pool that size there are a few thousand that can afford his tickets and like his music. I lived in Tunisia for a few months and heard Prince regularly on the radio. [Edited 6/27/15 4:28am]

Believe me there are millions who could afford a Prince concert ticket. There is a misconception that Africa is full of mega rich dictators, mobsters and starving poor people. Believe it or not, there is a growing majority in many countries who are middle class, middle income earners who have a disposable income. Southern Africa (Zimbabwe aside) is relatively prosperous compared to what it was 20 years ago. Democracies have risen up, foreign investment has poured in and currency restrictions lifted (except SA). Corruption at government levels are still going strong and doing their best to wreck everything, but the middle classes are growing. Flat screens and satellite TV in the home are the norm and not the exception any more.

Having said that, I doubt they would be very interested in a Prince concert. No one knows who he is anymore. The only place he could really pull it off is in South Africa. Its the only country that international artisits tour. They have their own vibrant music scene, but they also import a lot from abroad and the radio and charts are very similar to those in the West. So there is an appetite for the big international artists in SA. The other countries are not really into western musical culture (unless its RnB).

Caveat - Im talking mainly about English speaking Southern Africa. Most of the french speaking countries are still nut job dictatorships or have spiralled completely out of control due to internal conflicts, oil or diamonds.

And can I just add: Africa is not a country, it is an entire continent. For those that are not sure, look at a world map and Africa is that big chunky land mass slap-bang in the middle of the map. You cant miss it really.

Adorecream said:

Not that I know of, not even South Africa. In fact Prince's world travelling skills are limited.

He has only been to I know of. Question marks are unsure

1. USA

2. Canada

3. UK

4. Germany

5. France

6. Switzerland

7. Netherlands

8. Belgium

9. Spain

10. Portugal?

11. Ireland

12. Denmark

13. Sweden

14.

15. Italy

16.

17. Dubai

18. Australia

19. Japan

20. Argentina (Rock in Rio era)

21. Brazil (Rock in Rio)

22.

23. Norway

24. Austria

.

Please let me know if there are other places as well.

[Edited 6/27/15 3:20am]

Hasn't he ever played in New Zealand? IDK it just seemed like a likely possibility.

There was Hong Kong once in 2003, too.

Prince's experience outside of the Western world and Japan (an early developed country) is limited to Brazil and Arentina (once each), Hong Kong (once) and Dubai (once) AFAIK.

It's not so unusual, though, for Western stars not to go to developing countries, the price of tickets is too expensive (at least to fulfill a stadium and make the expense worth the artist's while) and/or the audience familiar with Western pop is too limited (I know we have some Indian fans here but most of the Indians I've met in my life have no idea who Prince or David Bowie are for example, and I've never seen a Chinese on the Org, or even a Korean for chrissakes!).

I've travelled in various Asian countries, lived in Cambodia for 2 years and I've been in India for some time and u hardly ever see Western bands touring Phnom Penh or even the biggest Indian metros. Sure there are loads of rich people in India for example but how many among them would be interested in seeing a Prince show? Certainly not 20,000 in a single area. And as for the middle class well, my Indian collegues who are teachers in an International School make between 300 and 500€ a month, they certainly wouldn't pay 100 euros for a concert even if they know and like the artist.

My impression, too, is that there is a very limited culture of going to live shows at least in Asia: nightlife is, in fact, a very recent phenomenon, limited to the emerging upper and middle classes and only the youngest generation and then again only in the metros. Things such as clubbing, touring pubs and cafes, let alone going to concerts, were virtually nonexistant in most Asian countries 15 years ago ans still is in small cities, towns and the countryside. People still have a strong tendency to drink at home or in obscure bars reserved to men for cheap, drop dead at 11PM and wake-up at 6AM even on week-ends. At least this is what I've witnessed in India, China and Cambodia, the countries I've spent the most time in.

[Edited 6/29/15 8:56am]

databank said:

Adorecream said:

Not that I know of, not even South Africa. In fact Prince's world travelling skills are limited.

He has only been to I know of. Question marks are unsure

1. USA

2. Canada

3. UK

4. Germany

5. France

6. Switzerland

7. Netherlands

8. Belgium

9. Spain

10. Portugal?

11. Ireland

12. Denmark

13. Sweden

14.

15. Italy

16.

17. Dubai

18. Australia

19. Japan

20. Argentina (Rock in Rio era)

21. Brazil (Rock in Rio)

22.

23. Norway

24. Austria

.

Please let me know if there are other places as well.

[Edited 6/27/15 3:20am]

Hasn't he ever played in New Zealand? IDK it just seemed like a likely possibility.

There was Hong Kong once in 2003, too.

Prince's experience outside of the Western world and Japan (an early developed country) is limited to Brazil and Arentina (once each), Hong Kong (once) and Dubai (once) AFAIK.

It's not so unusual, though, for Western stars not to go to developing countries, the price of tickets is too expensive (at least to fulfill a stadium and make the expense worth the artist's while) and/or the audience familiar with Western pop is too limited (I know we have some Indian fans here but most of the Indians I've met in my life have no idea who Prince or David Bowie are for example, and I've never seen a Chinese on the Org, or even a Korean for chrissakes!).

I've travelled in various Asian countries, lived in Cambodia for 2 years and I've been in India for some time and u hardly ever see Western bands touring Phnom Penh or even the biggest Indian metros. Sure there are loads of rich people in India for example but how many among them would be interested in seeing a Prince show? Certainly not 20,000 in a single area. And as for the middle class well, my Indian collegues who are teachers in an International School make between 300 and 500€ a month, they certainly wouldn't pay 100 euros for a concert even if they know and like the artist.

My impression, too, is that there is a very limited culture of going to live shows at least in Asia: nightlife is, in fact, a very recent phenomenon, limited to the emerging upper and middle classes and only the youngest generation and then again only in the metros. Things such as clubbing, touring pubs and cafes, let alone going to concerts, were virtually nonexistant in most Asian countries 15 years ago ans still is in small cities, towns and the countryside. People still have a strong tendency to drink at home or in obscure bars reserved to men for cheap, drop dead at 11PM and wake-up at 6AM even on week-ends. At least this is what I've witnessed in India, China and Cambodia, the countries I've spent the most time in.

[Edited 6/29/15 8:56am]

I live in New Zealand, I KNOW he has never been here.

You make some excellent points about Asian nightlife though, my guess is there are not too many Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian people here for several reasons.

1. Language difficultlies, most of the English on the org is full of jargon and Princebonics along with people like me who have heaps of typos in their posts and teh rise of text speak amongst the younger and less literate orgers. These countries have limited English speaking skills and most people outside the educated elite do not understand English.

.

2. Yes there may be rich people in Indian, but there 50% of the population live on under a dollar a day and 90% are living on under $10 a day. Most people in these countries are poor and living is a chore, having a spare $100 to see Prince is not possible. Because I doubt a performer with an ego like Prince's would let people into his show for free or $1 a ticket, because their daughter has rcikets and the water buffalo has died.

.

3. The richer countries like South Korea have their own inbuilt pop scene and Prince never had the cult followoing Michael Jackson had in Asia. China has a communist government and many of Prince's albums were banned until the 2000s because of sexualised content.

Also South Korea is quite a racist society, black people have a hard time there, even me when I taught there in 2002 who is 20% Polynesian (No Black ancestry whatsoever) was called an "Afrika dikka dikka" by the kids (African nxxxer), they have K pop artists who wear black face and a performer called "Maikol" who wears blackface and has enlarged lips, it is clearly obvious Maikol means Michael Jackson. Kids who are of mixed Korean and Black GI are marginalised by the others, South Korea is 99% Homogenous and outsiders are forced to the margins. A black pride singer like Prince would go down poorly. In reality South Korea is the Asian Alabama.

.

4. Prince is barely known in these regions, maybe a bit more in the 80s, but not now, he would not sell out the venues. Japan is light years ahead of Korea in many ways - seriously!!!!

.

5. Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Brunei are Islamic countries and Prince's scantily clad women and secxualised lyrics would offend most of these people. Same with Hindu and Bhuddist sensisbilities in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan

.

6. Cambodia and Vietnam would be better, but again you have poverty and corruption (Like in China, Communist Party cronies in Vietnam and the King's wealthy hanger ons in Cambodia) would hog all the tickets for themselves and the few people allowed in would have to stay still like at the Wham Concert in China in 1985. Plus these countries speak French more than English. And Laos, are you even serious, I doubt he ahs ever heard of it.

.

7. So that leaves in reality, Hong Kong (As you say he has been there), the Philippines, but again poverty and corruption are issues there, Thailand and of course Japan.

.

8. Finally Taiwan, its wealthy, stable but corruption is rife and the stadiums there collapse a bit (News recently), still Taiwan is an open society and Prince could do well there.

Rebeljuice said:

aaroncanderson said:

NorthC said: Way to generalize 1 Billion people (Africa is the 2nd most populous continent on Earth). I'm sure in a pool that size there are a few thousand that can afford his tickets and like his music. I lived in Tunisia for a few months and heard Prince regularly on the radio. [Edited 6/27/15 4:28am]

Believe me there are millions who could afford a Prince concert ticket. There is a misconception that Africa is full of mega rich dictators, mobsters and starving poor people. Believe it or not, there is a growing majority in many countries who are middle class, middle income earners who have a disposable income. Southern Africa (Zimbabwe aside) is relatively prosperous compared to what it was 20 years ago. Democracies have risen up, foreign investment has poured in and currency restrictions lifted (except SA). Corruption at government levels are still going strong and doing their best to wreck everything, but the middle classes are growing. Flat screens and satellite TV in the home are the norm and not the exception any more.

Having said that, I doubt they would be very interested in a Prince concert. No one knows who he is anymore. The only place he could really pull it off is in South Africa. Its the only country that international artisits tour. They have their own vibrant music scene, but they also import a lot from abroad and the radio and charts are very similar to those in the West. So there is an appetite for the big international artists in SA. The other countries are not really into western musical culture (unless its RnB).

Caveat - Im talking mainly about English speaking Southern Africa. Most of the french speaking countries are still nut job dictatorships or have spiralled completely out of control due to internal conflicts, oil or diamonds.

Thanks....I'm grateful to see some informed opinions.

I'm thinking that there are a bunch of places in the world where Prince probably wasn't popular even in his heyday.

[Edited 6/29/15 17:37pm]

Adorecream said:

databank said:

Hasn't he ever played in New Zealand? IDK it just seemed like a likely possibility.

There was Hong Kong once in 2003, too.

Prince's experience outside of the Western world and Japan (an early developed country) is limited to Brazil and Arentina (once each), Hong Kong (once) and Dubai (once) AFAIK.

It's not so unusual, though, for Western stars not to go to developing countries, the price of tickets is too expensive (at least to fulfill a stadium and make the expense worth the artist's while) and/or the audience familiar with Western pop is too limited (I know we have some Indian fans here but most of the Indians I've met in my life have no idea who Prince or David Bowie are for example, and I've never seen a Chinese on the Org, or even a Korean for chrissakes!).

I've travelled in various Asian countries, lived in Cambodia for 2 years and I've been in India for some time and u hardly ever see Western bands touring Phnom Penh or even the biggest Indian metros. Sure there are loads of rich people in India for example but how many among them would be interested in seeing a Prince show? Certainly not 20,000 in a single area. And as for the middle class well, my Indian collegues who are teachers in an International School make between 300 and 500€ a month, they certainly wouldn't pay 100 euros for a concert even if they know and like the artist.

My impression, too, is that there is a very limited culture of going to live shows at least in Asia: nightlife is, in fact, a very recent phenomenon, limited to the emerging upper and middle classes and only the youngest generation and then again only in the metros. Things such as clubbing, touring pubs and cafes, let alone going to concerts, were virtually nonexistant in most Asian countries 15 years ago ans still is in small cities, towns and the countryside. People still have a strong tendency to drink at home or in obscure bars reserved to men for cheap, drop dead at 11PM and wake-up at 6AM even on week-ends. At least this is what I've witnessed in India, China and Cambodia, the countries I've spent the most time in.

[Edited 6/29/15 8:56am]

I live in New Zealand, I KNOW he has never been here.

You make some excellent points about Asian nightlife though, my guess is there are not too many Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian people here for several reasons.

1. Language difficultlies, most of the English on the org is full of jargon and Princebonics along with people like me who have heaps of typos in their posts and teh rise of text speak amongst the younger and less literate orgers. These countries have limited English speaking skills and most people outside the educated elite do not understand English.

.

2. Yes there may be rich people in Indian, but there 50% of the population live on under a dollar a day and 90% are living on under $10 a day. Most people in these countries are poor and living is a chore, having a spare $100 to see Prince is not possible. Because I doubt a performer with an ego like Prince's would let people into his show for free or $1 a ticket, because their daughter has rcikets and the water buffalo has died.

.

3. The richer countries like South Korea have their own inbuilt pop scene and Prince never had the cult followoing Michael Jackson had in Asia. China has a communist government and many of Prince's albums were banned until the 2000s because of sexualised content.

Also South Korea is quite a racist society, black people have a hard time there, even me when I taught there in 2002 who is 20% Polynesian (No Black ancestry whatsoever) was called an "Afrika dikka dikka" by the kids (African nxxxer), they have K pop artists who wear black face and a performer called "Maikol" who wears blackface and has enlarged lips, it is clearly obvious Maikol means Michael Jackson. Kids who are of mixed Korean and Black GI are marginalised by the others, South Korea is 99% Homogenous and outsiders are forced to the margins. A black pride singer like Prince would go down poorly. In reality South Korea is the Asian Alabama.

.

4. Prince is barely known in these regions, maybe a bit more in the 80s, but not now, he would not sell out the venues. Japan is light years ahead of Korea in many ways - seriously!!!!

.

5. Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Brunei are Islamic countries and Prince's scantily clad women and secxualised lyrics would offend most of these people. Same with Hindu and Bhuddist sensisbilities in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan

.

6. Cambodia and Vietnam would be better, but again you have poverty and corruption (Like in China, Communist Party cronies in Vietnam and the King's wealthy hanger ons in Cambodia) would hog all the tickets for themselves and the few people allowed in would have to stay still like at the Wham Concert in China in 1985. Plus these countries speak French more than English. And Laos, are you even serious, I doubt he ahs ever heard of it.

.

7. So that leaves in reality, Hong Kong (As you say he has been there), the Philippines, but again poverty and corruption are issues there, Thailand and of course Japan.

.

8. Finally Taiwan, its wealthy, stable but corruption is rife and the stadiums there collapse a bit (News recently), still Taiwan is an open society and Prince could do well there.

Sorry to hear that you had that experience in Korea. It's changed a lot since. I lived there for four years, my last year was in 2012 and one of my good friends who is a black man from Philly was the most popular person in Mokpo. They treated him like the damn mayor, he would get into all the clubs for free and everyone knew him. One of my close Korean friends told me it's only the ignorant that still have reservations towards people of different color or nationailty.

I also watched John Legend perform at the Expo in 2012, there wasn't a seat in site so I think Prince would do alright in Korea.

I travel in Asia a lot and have lived on this side of the world for over 17 years now. When I was in Vietnam I could not find any one who knew who he was. Mongolia still has CD shops in the capitol, they have every major US pop act in stock except for Prince. I agree with Laos and Cambodia, but I think he could play a show in China with success. Taiwan, yes. Singapore, yes.

Adorecream said:

databank said:

Hasn't he ever played in New Zealand? IDK it just seemed like a likely possibility.

There was Hong Kong once in 2003, too.

Prince's experience outside of the Western world and Japan (an early developed country) is limited to Brazil and Arentina (once each), Hong Kong (once) and Dubai (once) AFAIK.

It's not so unusual, though, for Western stars not to go to developing countries, the price of tickets is too expensive (at least to fulfill a stadium and make the expense worth the artist's while) and/or the audience familiar with Western pop is too limited (I know we have some Indian fans here but most of the Indians I've met in my life have no idea who Prince or David Bowie are for example, and I've never seen a Chinese on the Org, or even a Korean for chrissakes!).

I've travelled in various Asian countries, lived in Cambodia for 2 years and I've been in India for some time and u hardly ever see Western bands touring Phnom Penh or even the biggest Indian metros. Sure there are loads of rich people in India for example but how many among them would be interested in seeing a Prince show? Certainly not 20,000 in a single area. And as for the middle class well, my Indian collegues who are teachers in an International School make between 300 and 500€ a month, they certainly wouldn't pay 100 euros for a concert even if they know and like the artist.

My impression, too, is that there is a very limited culture of going to live shows at least in Asia: nightlife is, in fact, a very recent phenomenon, limited to the emerging upper and middle classes and only the youngest generation and then again only in the metros. Things such as clubbing, touring pubs and cafes, let alone going to concerts, were virtually nonexistant in most Asian countries 15 years ago ans still is in small cities, towns and the countryside. People still have a strong tendency to drink at home or in obscure bars reserved to men for cheap, drop dead at 11PM and wake-up at 6AM even on week-ends. At least this is what I've witnessed in India, China and Cambodia, the countries I've spent the most time in.

[Edited 6/29/15 8:56am]

I live in New Zealand, I KNOW he has never been here.

You make some excellent points about Asian nightlife though, my guess is there are not too many Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian people here for several reasons.

1. Language difficultlies, most of the English on the org is full of jargon and Princebonics along with people like me who have heaps of typos in their posts and teh rise of text speak amongst the younger and less literate orgers. These countries have limited English speaking skills and most people outside the educated elite do not understand English.

Whomever knows Prince in those countries will know enough of English to be here, the problem is the lack of fandom not language.

.

2. Yes there may be rich people in Indian, but there 50% of the population live on under a dollar a day and 90% are living on under $10 a day. Most people in these countries are poor and living is a chore, having a spare $100 to see Prince is not possible. Because I doubt a performer with an ego like Prince's would let people into his show for free or $1 a ticket, because their daughter has rcikets and the water buffalo has died.

The poeple who can't afford a Prince show are the same people who have no clue who he is, and the people who know who he and can afford a ticket are not enough to justify him coming here.

.

3. The richer countries like South Korea have their own inbuilt pop scene and Prince never had the cult followoing Michael Jackson had in Asia. China has a communist government and many of Prince's albums were banned until the 2000s because of sexualised content.

Also South Korea is quite a racist society, black people have a hard time there, even me when I taught there in 2002 who is 20% Polynesian (No Black ancestry whatsoever) was called an "Afrika dikka dikka" by the kids (African nxxxer), they have K pop artists who wear black face and a performer called "Maikol" who wears blackface and has enlarged lips, it is clearly obvious Maikol means Michael Jackson. Kids who are of mixed Korean and Black GI are marginalised by the others, South Korea is 99% Homogenous and outsiders are forced to the margins. A black pride singer like Prince would go down poorly. In reality South Korea is the Asian Alabama.

I'm not surprised, China and Cambodia at least are also pretty racist regarding Blacks, however I'm not sure a Western pop star could be unpopular on the skin color basis: an actor, maybe, but not a singer, let alone Prince who is pretty fair skinned. I don't think much Western music ever reached China at all regardless of lyrics prior to 2000: I was in China right after MJ died in 2009 and I met a lot of Chinese who actually had just discovered. who he was and his music precisely because of the news of his death.

.

4. Prince is barely known in these regions, maybe a bit more in the 80s, but not now, he would not sell out the venues. Japan is light years ahead of Korea in many ways - seriously!!!!

I'm pretty convinced that he was just as unknown there in the 80's as now, possibly even more, expept maybe in the few countries that were under a stronger American influence such as the Philipines (after all Can't Stop This Feeling was released as a single only in the Philipines lol)

.

5. Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Brunei are Islamic countries and Prince's scantily clad women and secxualised lyrics would offend most of these people. Same with Hindu and Bhuddist sensisbilities in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan

There is no ban regarding sexuality in Buddhist countries as far as I know. Hindu societies are way more touchy regarding it but I don't think this has been a factor given the small audience Western music enjoys there. I never realized it about Muslim countries but u r certainly right.

.

6. Cambodia and Vietnam would be better, but again you have poverty and corruption (Like in China, Communist Party cronies in Vietnam and the King's wealthy hanger ons in Cambodia) would hog all the tickets for themselves and the few people allowed in would have to stay still like at the Wham Concert in China in 1985. Plus these countries speak French more than English. And Laos, are you even serious, I doubt he ahs ever heard of it.

No one in Vietnam and Cambodia speaks French anymore , English is waaaaay more common there, and no what you say about people being allowed inside a concert venue or forced to behave in a certain way isn't accurate at all. Corruption cannot interfere with people attending concerts, corruption affects the public sector not the private sector. Cambodia is also a Buddhist country BTW. But they just don't have any knowledge of any Western music over there, at all, they have their own music and K pop is becoming popular there as well.

.

7. So that leaves in reality, Hong Kong (As you say he has been there), the Philippines, but again poverty and corruption are issues there, Thailand and of course Japan.

IDK how much Western music Thai people listen to but from my 2 trips there, not much, I heard mostly Thai music and K pop.

.

8. Finally Taiwan, its wealthy, stable but corruption is rife and the stadiums there collapse a bit (News recently), still Taiwan is an open society and Prince could do well there.

I have no idea of the status of Western pop in Taiwan. I don't think corruption is that big a problem though, at least not to the extent of india or Cambodia, and once more it can't affect a concert attendence.

[Edited 6/30/15 7:41am]

Phillipg said:

Adorecream said:

I live in New Zealand, I KNOW he has never been here.

You make some excellent points about Asian nightlife though, my guess is there are not too many Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian people here for several reasons.

1. Language difficultlies, most of the English on the org is full of jargon and Princebonics along with people like me who have heaps of typos in their posts and teh rise of text speak amongst the younger and less literate orgers. These countries have limited English speaking skills and most people outside the educated elite do not understand English.

.

2. Yes there may be rich people in Indian, but there 50% of the population live on under a dollar a day and 90% are living on under $10 a day. Most people in these countries are poor and living is a chore, having a spare $100 to see Prince is not possible. Because I doubt a performer with an ego like Prince's would let people into his show for free or $1 a ticket, because their daughter has rcikets and the water buffalo has died.

.

3. The richer countries like South Korea have their own inbuilt pop scene and Prince never had the cult followoing Michael Jackson had in Asia. China has a communist government and many of Prince's albums were banned until the 2000s because of sexualised content.

Also South Korea is quite a racist society, black people have a hard time there, even me when I taught there in 2002 who is 20% Polynesian (No Black ancestry whatsoever) was called an "Afrika dikka dikka" by the kids (African nxxxer), they have K pop artists who wear black face and a performer called "Maikol" who wears blackface and has enlarged lips, it is clearly obvious Maikol means Michael Jackson. Kids who are of mixed Korean and Black GI are marginalised by the others, South Korea is 99% Homogenous and outsiders are forced to the margins. A black pride singer like Prince would go down poorly. In reality South Korea is the Asian Alabama.

.

4. Prince is barely known in these regions, maybe a bit more in the 80s, but not now, he would not sell out the venues. Japan is light years ahead of Korea in many ways - seriously!!!!

.

5. Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Brunei are Islamic countries and Prince's scantily clad women and secxualised lyrics would offend most of these people. Same with Hindu and Bhuddist sensisbilities in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan

.

6. Cambodia and Vietnam would be better, but again you have poverty and corruption (Like in China, Communist Party cronies in Vietnam and the King's wealthy hanger ons in Cambodia) would hog all the tickets for themselves and the few people allowed in would have to stay still like at the Wham Concert in China in 1985. Plus these countries speak French more than English. And Laos, are you even serious, I doubt he ahs ever heard of it.

.

7. So that leaves in reality, Hong Kong (As you say he has been there), the Philippines, but again poverty and corruption are issues there, Thailand and of course Japan.

.

8. Finally Taiwan, its wealthy, stable but corruption is rife and the stadiums there collapse a bit (News recently), still Taiwan is an open society and Prince could do well there.

Sorry to hear that you had that experience in Korea. It's changed a lot since. I lived there for four years, my last year was in 2012 and one of my good friends who is a black man from Philly was the most popular person in Mokpo. They treated him like the damn mayor, he would get into all the clubs for free and everyone knew him. One of my close Korean friends told me it's only the ignorant that still have reservations towards people of different color or nationailty.

I also watched John Legend perform at the Expo in 2012, there wasn't a seat in site so I think Prince would do alright in Korea.

I travel in Asia a lot and have lived on this side of the world for over 17 years now. When I was in Vietnam I could not find any one who knew who he was. Mongolia still has CD shops in the capitol, they have every major US pop act in stock except for Prince. I agree with Laos and Cambodia, but I think he could play a show in China with success. Taiwan, yes. Singapore, yes.

Glad to know things have changed in Korea! I haven't met a single person in China who know who Prince was, maybe in the upper class in Beijing and Shanghai there must be some people but IDK if they'd fill a stadium. Cambodia and laos are backwards country even by Asian standards so yeah, it's not an option, though Phnom Penh has a very large expat community due to the no visa restrictions policy.

I guess Prince will do free gigs in Puerto Rico and Greece soon to keep up the hjopes of those peoples.

PurpleSpirit319 said:

Adorecream said:

Not that I know of, not even South Africa. In fact Prince's world travelling skills are limited.

He has only been to I know of. Question marks are unsure

1. USA

2. Canada

3. UK

4. Germany

5. France

6. Switzerland

7. Netherlands

8. Belgium

9. Spain

10. Portugal?

11. Ireland

12. Denmark

13. Sweden

14. Finland?

15. Italy

16. Greece?

17. Dubai

18. Australia

19. Japan

20. Argentina (Rock in Rio era)

21. Brazil (Rock in Rio)

22. Mexico?

23. Norway

24. Austria

.

Please let me know if there are other places as well.

[Edited 6/27/15 3:20am]

You forgot Hong Kong!!!

And Hungary (Sziget Festival 2011).

But I think he never performed in greece.

[Edited 6/30/15 20:39pm]

Adorecream said:

databank said:

Hasn't he ever played in New Zealand? IDK it just seemed like a likely possibility.

There was Hong Kong once in 2003, too.

Prince's experience outside of the Western world and Japan (an early developed country) is limited to Brazil and Arentina (once each), Hong Kong (once) and Dubai (once) AFAIK.

It's not so unusual, though, for Western stars not to go to developing countries, the price of tickets is too expensive (at least to fulfill a stadium and make the expense worth the artist's while) and/or the audience familiar with Western pop is too limited (I know we have some Indian fans here but most of the Indians I've met in my life have no idea who Prince or David Bowie are for example, and I've never seen a Chinese on the Org, or even a Korean for chrissakes!).

I've travelled in various Asian countries, lived in Cambodia for 2 years and I've been in India for some time and u hardly ever see Western bands touring Phnom Penh or even the biggest Indian metros. Sure there are loads of rich people in India for example but how many among them would be interested in seeing a Prince show? Certainly not 20,000 in a single area. And as for the middle class well, my Indian collegues who are teachers in an International School make between 300 and 500€ a month, they certainly wouldn't pay 100 euros for a concert even if they know and like the artist.

My impression, too, is that there is a very limited culture of going to live shows at least in Asia: nightlife is, in fact, a very recent phenomenon, limited to the emerging upper and middle classes and only the youngest generation and then again only in the metros. Things such as clubbing, touring pubs and cafes, let alone going to concerts, were virtually nonexistant in most Asian countries 15 years ago ans still is in small cities, towns and the countryside. People still have a strong tendency to drink at home or in obscure bars reserved to men for cheap, drop dead at 11PM and wake-up at 6AM even on week-ends. At least this is what I've witnessed in India, China and Cambodia, the countries I've spent the most time in.

[Edited 6/29/15 8:56am]

I live in New Zealand, I KNOW he has never been here.

You make some excellent points about Asian nightlife though, my guess is there are not too many Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian people here for several reasons.

1. Language difficultlies, most of the English on the org is full of jargon and Princebonics along with people like me who have heaps of typos in their posts and teh rise of text speak amongst the younger and less literate orgers. These countries have limited English speaking skills and most people outside the educated elite do not understand English.

.

2. Yes there may be rich people in Indian, but there 50% of the population live on under a dollar a day and 90% are living on under $10 a day. Most people in these countries are poor and living is a chore, having a spare $100 to see Prince is not possible. Because I doubt a performer with an ego like Prince's would let people into his show for free or $1 a ticket, because their daughter has rcikets and the water buffalo has died.

.

3. The richer countries like South Korea have their own inbuilt pop scene and Prince never had the cult followoing Michael Jackson had in Asia. China has a communist government and many of Prince's albums were banned until the 2000s because of sexualised content.

Also South Korea is quite a racist society, black people have a hard time there, even me when I taught there in 2002 who is 20% Polynesian (No Black ancestry whatsoever) was called an "Afrika dikka dikka" by the kids (African nxxxer), they have K pop artists who wear black face and a performer called "Maikol" who wears blackface and has enlarged lips, it is clearly obvious Maikol means Michael Jackson. Kids who are of mixed Korean and Black GI are marginalised by the others, South Korea is 99% Homogenous and outsiders are forced to the margins. A black pride singer like Prince would go down poorly. In reality South Korea is the Asian Alabama.

.

4. Prince is barely known in these regions, maybe a bit more in the 80s, but not now, he would not sell out the venues. Japan is light years ahead of Korea in many ways - seriously!!!!

.

5. Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Brunei are Islamic countries and Prince's scantily clad women and secxualised lyrics would offend most of these people. Same with Hindu and Bhuddist sensisbilities in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan

.

6. Cambodia and Vietnam would be better, but again you have poverty and corruption (Like in China, Communist Party cronies in Vietnam and the King's wealthy hanger ons in Cambodia) would hog all the tickets for themselves and the few people allowed in would have to stay still like at the Wham Concert in China in 1985. Plus these countries speak French more than English. And Laos, are you even serious, I doubt he ahs ever heard of it.

.

7. So that leaves in reality, Hong Kong (As you say he has been there), the Philippines, but again poverty and corruption are issues there, Thailand and of course Japan.

.

8. Finally Taiwan, its wealthy, stable but corruption is rife and the stadiums there collapse a bit (News recently), still Taiwan is an open society and Prince could do well there.

I'm half from Pakistan. My uncle told me that when he was still living there in the mid-'90s, some guy in his neighborhood convinced people far and wide that Prince was gonna come play in Pakistan and everybody started going nuts. The guy also told them that Prince mentioned the country in one of his songs (which, years after hearing this story I would find out was the song "Push" from D&P), so everybody was super-hyped, a mega-star like Prince coming to such a small country like PAK. But then the guy admitted he had lied and faced a HUGE backlash. Interestingly, this same man attempted to convince people a few months later that Prince had come out as homosexual (a big 'no' in lots of Asian countries). Apparently, he was obsessed with him Just a random story, as I saw you bring Pak up. Today, I don't know if he would sell out there. My cousin who's lived there his whole life knew he was. So maybe. If proper promotion is given, the "PRINCE" brand shines really strong and I'm convinced he'd sell out venues.

NorthC said:

The only way for Prince to play in Africa is if he did what people like Paul Simon, Ry Cooder and Robert Plant did, which is to play with African musicians. I would LOVE it if he did this.

Add Hungary to the list, he has played the Sziget Festival (open air) on 9 August 2011.

KaresB said:

Add Hungary to the list, he has played the Sziget Festival (open air) on 9 August 2011.

.

KaresB said:

Add Hungary to the list, he has played the Sziget Festival (open air) on 9 August 2011.

Don't ignore my posts!

CharismaDove said:

Adorecream said:

I live in New Zealand, I KNOW he has never been here.

You make some excellent points about Asian nightlife though, my guess is there are not too many Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian people here for several reasons.

1. Language difficultlies, most of the English on the org is full of jargon and Princebonics along with people like me who have heaps of typos in their posts and teh rise of text speak amongst the younger and less literate orgers. These countries have limited English speaking skills and most people outside the educated elite do not understand English.

.

2. Yes there may be rich people in Indian, but there 50% of the population live on under a dollar a day and 90% are living on under $10 a day. Most people in these countries are poor and living is a chore, having a spare $100 to see Prince is not possible. Because I doubt a performer with an ego like Prince's would let people into his show for free or $1 a ticket, because their daughter has rcikets and the water buffalo has died.

.

3. The richer countries like South Korea have their own inbuilt pop scene and Prince never had the cult followoing Michael Jackson had in Asia. China has a communist government and many of Prince's albums were banned until the 2000s because of sexualised content.

Also South Korea is quite a racist society, black people have a hard time there, even me when I taught there in 2002 who is 20% Polynesian (No Black ancestry whatsoever) was called an "Afrika dikka dikka" by the kids (African nxxxer), they have K pop artists who wear black face and a performer called "Maikol" who wears blackface and has enlarged lips, it is clearly obvious Maikol means Michael Jackson. Kids who are of mixed Korean and Black GI are marginalised by the others, South Korea is 99% Homogenous and outsiders are forced to the margins. A black pride singer like Prince would go down poorly. In reality South Korea is the Asian Alabama.

.

4. Prince is barely known in these regions, maybe a bit more in the 80s, but not now, he would not sell out the venues. Japan is light years ahead of Korea in many ways - seriously!!!!

.

5. Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Brunei are Islamic countries and Prince's scantily clad women and secxualised lyrics would offend most of these people. Same with Hindu and Bhuddist sensisbilities in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan

.

6. Cambodia and Vietnam would be better, but again you have poverty and corruption (Like in China, Communist Party cronies in Vietnam and the King's wealthy hanger ons in Cambodia) would hog all the tickets for themselves and the few people allowed in would have to stay still like at the Wham Concert in China in 1985. Plus these countries speak French more than English. And Laos, are you even serious, I doubt he ahs ever heard of it.

.

7. So that leaves in reality, Hong Kong (As you say he has been there), the Philippines, but again poverty and corruption are issues there, Thailand and of course Japan.

.

8. Finally Taiwan, its wealthy, stable but corruption is rife and the stadiums there collapse a bit (News recently), still Taiwan is an open society and Prince could do well there.

I'm half from Pakistan. My uncle told me that when he was still living there in the mid-'90s, some guy in his neighborhood convinced people far and wide that Prince was gonna come play in Pakistan and everybody started going nuts. The guy also told them that Prince mentioned the country in one of his songs (which, years after hearing this story I would find out was the song "Push" from D&P), so everybody was super-hyped, a mega-star like Prince coming to such a small country like PAK. But then the guy admitted he had lied and faced a HUGE backlash. Interestingly, this same man attempted to convince people a few months later that Prince had come out as homosexual (a big 'no' in lots of Asian countries). Apparently, he was obsessed with him Just a random story, as I saw you bring Pak up. Today, I don't know if he would sell out there. My cousin who's lived there his whole life knew he was. So maybe. If proper promotion is given, the "PRINCE" brand shines really strong and I'm convinced he'd sell out venues.

Fascinating story... who'd have thought... Thanks for sharing

A lot of pop acts (Katy Perry, Beyonce, Maroon 5, etc.) have been making stops in Macau, usually in addition to Hong Kong. Just wanted to throw that out there. I doubt Prince has enough appeal in those areas to make the trip worthwhile, however.

herrherr said:

A lot of pop acts (Katy Perry, Beyonce, Maroon 5, etc.) have been making stops in Macau, usually in addition to Hong Kong. Just wanted to throw that out there. I doubt Prince has enough appeal in those areas to make the trip worthwhile, however.

.

Macau is not even close to Africa.

But yes, a concert in China would be something.

Adorecream said:

Also South Korea is quite a racist society, black people have a hard time there, even me when I taught there in 2002 who is 20% Polynesian (No Black ancestry whatsoever) was called an "Afrika dikka dikka" by the kids (African nxxxer), they have K pop artists who wear black face and a performer called "Maikol" who wears blackface and has enlarged lips, it is clearly obvious Maikol means Michael Jackson.

.

Holy crap, just look at this: http://populargusts.blogs...korea.html

.

That's just astonishing.

BartVanHemelen said:

Adorecream said:

Also South Korea is quite a racist society, black people have a hard time there, even me when I taught there in 2002 who is 20% Polynesian (No Black ancestry whatsoever) was called an "Afrika dikka dikka" by the kids (African nxxxer), they have K pop artists who wear black face and a performer called "Maikol" who wears blackface and has enlarged lips, it is clearly obvious Maikol means Michael Jackson.

.

Holy crap, just look at this: http://populargusts.blogs...korea.html

.

That's just astonishing.

Things is that the notion that "racism is a bad thing" is a Western concept (and not such an old one on top of it all), quite foreign to certain cultures, just as women's rights and children's rights and human rights in general for that matter. What we take for granted as being universal concepts only fought against by a bunch of creepy conservative mofos are in fact Western concept that only now, slowly, begin to become a universal standard.

kewlschool said:

Dubai in W asia is the closest I'm aware of.

Spain is closer than UAE.

udo said:

herrherr said:

A lot of pop acts (Katy Perry, Beyonce, Maroon 5, etc.) have been making stops in Macau, usually in addition to Hong Kong. Just wanted to throw that out there. I doubt Prince has enough appeal in those areas to make the trip worthwhile, however.

.

Macau is not even close to Africa.

But yes, a concert in China would be something.

~*~You win the geography medal~*~

But seriously, the conversation had progressed beyond Africa.

databank said:

Phillipg said:

Sorry to hear that you had that experience in Korea. It's changed a lot since. I lived there for four years, my last year was in 2012 and one of my good friends who is a black man from Philly was the most popular person in Mokpo. They treated him like the damn mayor, he would get into all the clubs for free and everyone knew him. One of my close Korean friends told me it's only the ignorant that still have reservations towards people of different color or nationailty.

I also watched John Legend perform at the Expo in 2012, there wasn't a seat in site so I think Prince would do alright in Korea.

I travel in Asia a lot and have lived on this side of the world for over 17 years now. When I was in Vietnam I could not find any one who knew who he was. Mongolia still has CD shops in the capitol, they have every major US pop act in stock except for Prince. I agree with Laos and Cambodia, but I think he could play a show in China with success. Taiwan, yes. Singapore, yes.

Glad to know things have changed in Korea! I haven't met a single person in China who know who Prince was, maybe in the upper class in Beijing and Shanghai there must be some people but IDK if they'd fill a stadium. Cambodia and laos are backwards country even by Asian standards so yeah, it's not an option, though Phnom Penh has a very large expat community due to the no visa restrictions policy.

I'm a Chinese-Canadian living in Hong Kong. I feel like I'm the only Prince fan in the whole city. But interestingly, the local English radio station plays a lot of Prince. Not only the hits, but a lot of the new stuff too. So someone at the station must be a fan!

[Edited 7/8/15 9:50am]

aaroncanderson said:

Just curious.

No, But I think his son is going to in the future...

Africa, is that the country next to Marocco?