w/Sheila E opening

30 years ago: Prince holds court at the Summit

By J.R. Gonzales

Photo: Steve Campbell, Houston Chronicle

Who cares? That didn't matter to the thousands who saw Prince 30 years ago Saturday at the Summit. For six nights, he, the Revolution and opening act Sheila E. brought a blend of sexiness, raunch and religion to the Bayou City.

Forget Purple Rain. This was a Purple Torrent.

"Prince is the (Jimi) Hendrix of the '80s," 19-year-old Dawn Harber told Houston Post reporter Hope E. Paasch. "The dude (Prince) can play the guitar. He can sing, he's sexy. His music is sensual (like Hendrix) but in a different time span."

...

The Post's Bob Claypool wrote the concert had the potential to be "the hottest show on the road at the moment." But after starting his show with "Let's Go Crazy," "Delirious," "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" the show kinda, well, meandered a bit.

[U]nfortunately, there's a long, totally self-indulgent middle portion that features Prince doing a lot of solo noodling at the keyboards, even doing a few stagy monologues with God (most of this talking is muffled in such a setting anyway).

This segment seems to drag on forever, and the result is that the audience (on its feet from the very first song) finally does the unthinkable -- it sits down, not so much out of attentiveness as from simple boredom.

Things turned around by the end, Claypool noted, as Prince rolled out "Darling Nikki," "When Doves Cry" and "I Would Die 4 U."

But don't think Prince and the Revolution would just come into Houston for a few days, play a few songs and leave it at that.

Plans were afoot for Prince and crew to turn Rockefeller's into a purple paradise for an Apollonia 6 video.

"They were going to paint the place all-purple, put in carpets, and the even wanted to paint the Rockefeller's limo purple," Collen Fisher, Rockefeller's general manager, told Claypool. "They were going to put a bathtub upstairs and make some purple bubbles."

For the trouble, Rockefeller's would have received $3,000 as Prince and crew covered the renovation costs.

In the end, alleged disputes within the Prince camp nixed those plans.

In a less-publicized move, Prince and the Revolution staged a free concert for handicapped children at TSU.

"He really brought the whole show over there, the smoke, lights, everything," Russ Simons, project coordinator at the Summit, told Claypool. "The show was for handicapped, blind and deaf kids, and he did the whole thing at his own expense."

J.R. Gonzales

Web Producer, Houston Chronicle

http://www.houstonchronic...to-7360678

Today that venue "The Summit" (where I saw my first concert, Sting's "Dream of the Blue Turtles Tour" and also in 1988 saw the "Lovesexy 88" tour) is now this huge and famous megachurch of Joel Osteen:

[img:$uid]http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2.-lakewood-church.jpg?769134[/img:$uid]

Awesome pictures! Thank you for posting.

wouldntulove2loveme said:

Awesome pictures! Thank you for posting.

U R WELCOME

it was an awesome year

I ws there for 4 of the 6 shows. They were awesome! I bought tickets to two shows, won tickets from a radio station for one show, and was given tickets to the fourth show by a mom who wanted me to take her son.

The radio station I won the tickets from is Majic 102, which has always been Houston's R&B station. The receptionist did NOT believe a 25-year-old white banker in a suit was actually going to see Prince, LOL.

The show I went to with my friend's son was the one where our tickets were up high, and right alongside the stage. I could see lots of cool stuff. For instance, there were little signs that said "PRINCE STEP HERE" so he knew where to go to hit lighting cues. And I'm pretty sure Bobby Z's entire show was programmed. It seemed like all he did was sit on a chair and hit cymbals.

That show at TSU is STILL famous. There's a story about it in the Houston Chronicle every three or four years. The same guy always writes it (Ken Hoffman). He wasn't at any of the shows but he just thought Prince playing a free show for handicapped kids was incredibly awesome - which it was!

Prince held the ticket sales record at The Summitt for many, many years. I think ZZ Top finally sold more tickets, but I'm not 100% sure of that.

Great post, thanks for posting!

ufoclub said:

Today that venue "The Summit" (where I saw my first concert, Sting's "Dream of the Blue Turtles Tour" and also in 1988 saw the "Lovesexy 88" tour) is now this huge and famous megachurch of Joel Osteen:

[img:$uid]http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2.-lakewood-church.jpg?769134[/img:$uid]

You bet it is! And the music each weekend is absolutely KILLER! If you've never been, and want to go, hit me up. I'd be honored to take you and introduce you to Joel Osteen and some of his friends!

I think it would absolutely incredible if Prince played with the Lakewood band. Trust me, they could keep up. I doubt Prince would ever do it but if I ever get the chance, I'm going to ask.

I was as the '88 Lovesexy show, too! It was my wife's first Prince concert. We'd been married around a year, and I know she was getting tired of me always harping about how great Prince is.

One of the happiest moments ever was during "Purple Rain", looking over at my wife. She was waving her hands back and forth, singing the "Ooooh Oooh Oooooh" part, and she had the BIGGEST, HAPPIEST smile on her face!

.

[Edited 8/13/15 18:51pm]

OldFriends4Sale said:

I know I was there for the guy on the bottom. I think that was opening night. The poor dude was completely flummoxed! He just sat there, with his jaw hanging down at his feet, LOL. Probably the same thing I would have done, though!

Enjoyed the pics and info.

Thanks.

ufoclub said:

Today that venue "The Summit" (where I saw my first concert, Sting's "Dream of the Blue Turtles Tour" and also in 1988 saw the "Lovesexy 88" tour) is now this huge and famous megachurch of Joel Osteen:

.

Ah yes, the phoney pastor who ignores the bible and instead preaches some superficial self help crap and earns millions that way. "Hey look at this one woman who survived this massive massacre: that is god performing a miracle!" No it isn't you nitwit, because if it was: explain to me why god focused on saving that one woman while nearly a million others got slaughtered?

Sheila E
1. Shortberry Strawcake

2. The Belle of St Mark

3. Oliver's House

4. Next Time Wipe the Lipstick Off You Collar

5. Erotic City

6. the Glamorous Life

Prince & the Revolution

1. Let's Go Crazy

2. Delirious

3. 1999

4. Little Red Corvette

5. Take Me With U

6. Yankee Doodle

7. Free

8. How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore

9. Temptation

10. Let's Pretend We're Married

11. International Love

12. Father's Song*

13. God

14. Computer Blue
15. Darling Nikki

16. The Beautiful Ones

17. When Doves Cry

18. I Would Die 4 U

19. Baby I'm a Star

20. Purple Rain

Great pics. The jherri curl needs to make a cultural comeback.

frazetta said:

Great pics. The jherri curl needs to make a cultural comeback.

lol love the Purple Rain hair

Are u related to the artist Frank Frazetta?

theres video of this show

BartVanHemelen said:

ufoclub said:

Today that venue "The Summit" (where I saw my first concert, Sting's "Dream of the Blue Turtles Tour" and also in 1988 saw the "Lovesexy 88" tour) is now this huge and famous megachurch of Joel Osteen:

.

Ah yes, the phoney pastor who ignores the bible and instead preaches some superficial self help crap and earns millions that way. "Hey look at this one woman who survived this massive massacre: that is god performing a miracle!" No it isn't you nitwit, because if it was: explain to me why god focused on saving that one woman while nearly a million others got slaughtered?

LMAO, you're so wrong that I can't help but actually laugh out loud.

RodeoSchro said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Ah yes, the phoney pastor who ignores the bible and instead preaches some superficial self help crap and earns millions that way. "Hey look at this one woman who survived this massive massacre: that is god performing a miracle!" No it isn't you nitwit, because if it was: explain to me why god focused on saving that one woman while nearly a million others got slaughtered?

LMAO, you're so wrong that I can't help but actually laugh out loud.

RodeoSchro said:

ufoclub said:

Today that venue "The Summit" (where I saw my first concert, Sting's "Dream of the Blue Turtles Tour" and also in 1988 saw the "Lovesexy 88" tour) is now this huge and famous megachurch of Joel Osteen:

[img:$uid]http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2.-lakewood-church.jpg?769134[/img:$uid]

You bet it is! And the music each weekend is absolutely KILLER! If you've never been, and want to go, hit me up. I'd be honored to take you and introduce you to Joel Osteen and some of his friends!

I think it would absolutely incredible if Prince played with the Lakewood band. Trust me, they could keep up. I doubt Prince would ever do it but if I ever get the chance, I'm going to ask.

I was as the '88 Lovesexy show, too! It was my wife's first Prince concert. We'd been married around a year, and I know she was getting tired of me always harping about how great Prince is.

One of the happiest moments ever was during "Purple Rain", looking over at my wife. She was waving her hands back and forth, singing the "Ooooh Oooh Oooooh" part, and she had the BIGGEST, HAPPIEST smile on her face!

.

[Edited 8/13/15 18:51pm]

Wow, you are tight with Joel Olsteen? I remember, years ago, I was thinking that working on their video production would be a solid salary job while living in Houston.

ufoclub said:

Today that venue "The Summit" is now this huge and famous megachurch of Joel Osteen

Damn, that sucks.

OldFriends4Sale said:

RodeoSchro said:

LMAO, you're so wrong that I can't help but actually laugh out loud.

SHEILAAA Her Purple Reign era 84-85 get-up was cool, the clothes she wore in the videos, being the 'female Prince' and all, but my personal favorite is the SOTT dress

I love the way Prince would say during the Purple Rain tour, "My name is Prince and I have come to play with you." Lol, just epic.

ufoclub said:

RodeoSchro said:

You bet it is! And the music each weekend is absolutely KILLER! If you've never been, and want to go, hit me up. I'd be honored to take you and introduce you to Joel Osteen and some of his friends!

I think it would absolutely incredible if Prince played with the Lakewood band. Trust me, they could keep up. I doubt Prince would ever do it but if I ever get the chance, I'm going to ask.

I was as the '88 Lovesexy show, too! It was my wife's first Prince concert. We'd been married around a year, and I know she was getting tired of me always harping about how great Prince is.

One of the happiest moments ever was during "Purple Rain", looking over at my wife. She was waving her hands back and forth, singing the "Ooooh Oooh Oooooh" part, and she had the BIGGEST, HAPPIEST smile on her face!

.

[Edited 8/13/15 18:51pm]

Wow, you are tight with Joel Olsteen? I remember, years ago, I was thinking that working on their video production would be a solid salary job while living in Houston.

Not really any tighter than anyone else can be. He always likes to meet visitors after his sermons. He's a super, super nice guy.

RodeoSchro said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Ah yes, the phoney pastor who ignores the bible and instead preaches some superficial self help crap and earns millions that way. "Hey look at this one woman who survived this massive massacre: that is god performing a miracle!" No it isn't you nitwit, because if it was: explain to me why god focused on saving that one woman while nearly a million others got slaughtered?

LMAO, you're so wrong that I can't help but actually laugh out loud.

He's not wrong. Being a nice guy doesn't mean you teach what's in the bible. Bart is right on.

CharismaDove said:

I love the way Prince would say during the Purple Rain tour, "My name is Prince and I have come to play with you." Lol, just epic.

Yes I loved that as well
And the shows where a woman would walk out before the start and throw flowers out into the audience