I never knew P went on right before The Stones. I always thought that he was the opener before the other acts. One of the old orgers posted the mini concert audio here years ago...rough show but interesting.

Thanks for this very interesting thread on this much mythologised incident. What's really weird for me is that for some reason I imagined this show taking place in a mid-sized rock club, and that false impression seems to have stuck in my head so it took me completely by surprise to see the photos of that huge stadium! It must have been a hugely daunting environment for a still up-and-coming band, 90,000 people is a massive crowd, did Prince ever play to such a big crowd again?

As regards the chicken Brown Mark says that it was fried chicken so not the whole rotten carcass of one that I imagined! I must say that having left chicken too long in the fridge a few times that it's one of the most revolting things I've ever smelt and one would have to be some kind of psychopath to carry it all the way to a concert to pelt a band with!

"one would have to be some kind of psychopath"....THIS. They were getting ready for him..they wanted to cause harm. Word probably spread out so quickly about the first night, the hate mongers had their ammo ready by the second night...Pure racism, hatred and ignorance....I'm glad (so far) that no film or video footage of this has surfaced.

The Pop Life sample is just another myth that has grown up around this concert. It's been discussed here before, and is apparently from some generic sample collection. If you really listen to it, it sounds more like some kind of sporting event and nothing like the sound of booing generated by such a massive crowd.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that this recording has been circulating for a long time. I'm just surprised that I've never stumbled across it before.

I find the reaction of the crowd disgusting, funny and educational all at the same time. Disgusting because nobody should have to be subjected to that kind of vulgar behaviour; funny because they had no idea they were watching the man who would arguably become the greatest live performer of our time as he was developing his craft; and educational because it shows Prince's determination to succeed in the face of adversity. Sure, he was hurt and had to be persuaded to return for the second show, but he never lost his self belief.

I have to say that I'm glad he never really went down the route of playing huge stadium gigs. I'm sure they must be a great ego boost for the performers, but I've always found them to be a terrible way to enjoy live music. I only ever got to see Prince in an arena environment, but he was able to make it feel intimate and personal. I never felt he played to the crowd; he always played to the individual.

Sorry for the double post.

Junglehop said:

I've never seen anyone write the date like that before… '81-10-11' …very odd but thanks for a great post!

Just trying to keep you on your toes, Junglehop! I'm British, but I've lived in Japan for 16 years and that's how the date is written here. I thought the Japanese system was the same as in the US, but maybe not.

airth said:

I have to say that I'm glad he never really went down the route of playing huge stadium gigs. I'm sure they must be a great ego boost for the performers, but I've always found them to be a terrible way to enjoy live music. I only ever got to see Prince in an arena environment, but he was able to make it feel intimate and personal. I never felt he played to the crowd; he always played to the individual.

I agree.I don't like the idea of seeing a concert at a huge stadium.Too crowded and chaotic.

airth said:

airth said:

The Pop Life sample is just another myth that has grown up around this concert. It's been discussed here before, and is apparently from some generic sample collection. If you really listen to it, it sounds more like some kind of sporting event and nothing like the sound of booing generated by such a massive crowd.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that this recording has been circulating for a long time. I'm just surprised that I've never stumbled across it before.

I find the reaction of the crowd disgusting, funny and educational all at the same time. Disgusting because nobody should have to be subjected to that kind of vulgar behaviour; funny because they had no idea they were watching the man who would arguably become the greatest live performer of our time as he was developing his craft; and educational because it shows Prince's determination to succeed in the face of adversity. Sure, he was hurt and had to be persuaded to return for the second show, but he never lost his self belief.

I have to say that I'm glad he never really went down the route of playing huge stadium gigs. I'm sure they must be a great ego boost for the performers, but I've always found them to be a terrible way to enjoy live music. I only ever got to see Prince in an arena environment, but he was able to make it feel intimate and personal. I never felt he played to the crowd; he always played to the individual.

Yeah you're right, I think it's been around for a while, the old Databank website has a listing for it as been released in 2008 so I think it's been floating around for a while. Still really appreciate your analysis of it as I've never really bothered to give it much of a listen before due to the quality apparently being so poor.

I have no idea about the validity of this quote, but when the boot was going around a while back, this Jagger quote (apparently two years after the shows) was referenced:

Mick: I talked to Prince on the phone once after he got two cans thrown at him in L.A. He said he didn't want to do any more shows. (Laughs) God, I got THOUSANDS of bottles and cans thrown at me! EVERY kind of debris. I told him, if you get to be a really big headliner, you have to be prepared for people to throw bottles at you in the night. (Laughs) PREPARED TO DIE!

I think he understates the amount of trash that was thrown at Prince, but yea, the stones went through some shit as performers early in their career. I imagine that scene in the country bar from The Blue Brothers was too real for a lot of old school performers. Probably doesn't go on so much these days. Anyway, this was Keith Richards' supposed reaction:

Keith: Prince has to find out what it means to be a prince.
That's the trouble with conferring a title on yourself before
you've proved it. That was his attitude when he opened for us on the tour, and it was insulting to our audience. You don't try to knock off the headline like that when you're playing a Stones crowd. You'd be much better off just being yourself and projecting that. He's a prince who thinks he's a king already. Good luck to him.

He didn't need your luck, Keith, but thanks! And by the way, he was being himself. You mofos just weren't ready for him. But ya know what? This is just another example of why I love Prince. He has always been challenging society's perception of what it means to be a humanoid and that made some people very uncomfortable.

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

Thanks for this very interesting thread on this much mythologised incident. What's really weird for me is that for some reason I imagined this show taking place in a mid-sized rock club, and that false impression seems to have stuck in my head so it took me completely by surprise to see the photos of that huge stadium! It must have been a hugely daunting environment for a still up-and-coming band, 90,000 people is a massive crowd, did Prince ever play to such a big crowd again?

As regards the chicken Brown Mark says that it was fried chicken so not the whole rotten carcass of one that I imagined! I must say that having left chicken too long in the fridge a few times that it's one of the most revolting things I've ever smelt and one would have to be some kind of psychopath to carry it all the way to a concert to pelt a band with!

when did he say this?

PeteSilas said:

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

Thanks for this very interesting thread on this much mythologised incident. What's really weird for me is that for some reason I imagined this show taking place in a mid-sized rock club, and that false impression seems to have stuck in my head so it took me completely by surprise to see the photos of that huge stadium! It must have been a hugely daunting environment for a still up-and-coming band, 90,000 people is a massive crowd, did Prince ever play to such a big crowd again?

As regards the chicken Brown Mark says that it was fried chicken so not the whole rotten carcass of one that I imagined! I must say that having left chicken too long in the fridge a few times that it's one of the most revolting things I've ever smelt and one would have to be some kind of psychopath to carry it all the way to a concert to pelt a band with!

when did he say this?

He talks about it in the interview suomynona posted earlier in the thread: http://prince.org/msg/5/326322

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

PeteSilas said:

when did he say this?

He talks about it in the interview suomynona posted earlier in the thread: http://prince.org/msg/5/326322

ok so maybe the chicken story was embellished along with so many others.

Back in 2009 (I think around June or July), Wendy & Lisa did an internet radio show a few times a month I think it was called the Listening Lab; it was on LuxuriaMusic.com. Lisa had worked really hard and interviewed Bobby Z., Matt, and I think Dez, and added her own thoughts. (If memory serves, Brownmark wasn't available in the time Lisa had to do a phone interview.)

She compiled all these people's memories of those Rolling Stones gigs. It was very interesting hearing all of their own takes on those two shows. Wendy even popped up with some thoughts, because she was there. She had been around since around that time, hanging with Lisa (I love how people thought she just popped up in 1983 all of a sudden - she was around way before that). She was backstage, and talked about seeing a blur of Prince run by. He got right in a car, went to the airport and flew to Minneapolis (as we all know).

The whole show was about 45 minutes. It was the most fascinating take on that I'd ever heard.

This is a must 2 hear. The band was killing it, and is a wonderful testament and chapter in Princeology 101

http://blog1.kuhl9.com/?page_id=65

The Rolling Stones Concert: my first gig with Prince

The Rolling Stones concert was my first gig with Prince. It was an unforgettable experience and very enlightening to say the least. I remember pulling up to the Coliseum in LA and walking through a small town of tents and trailers. It was a lot like a circus or fairgrounds with all the cables, tents, and generators and people everywhere working behind the scenes. Security brought us to our tent filled with flowers, mirrors, bright lights and a banquet of fruits, lunch meats and a variety of breads. You could hear the crowds roar although you couldn’t see them through the city of tents. As show time fast approached, security lined us up to direct us to the stage. It felt like a scene from the movie Gladiator as we walked towards the stage. I remember a huge set of white curtains towering across the back side of the stage and a very wide stair case taking us down to the stage. As we walked through the curtains from the back of the stage there was musical gear everywhere, technicians running back and forth; it was very chaotic. As we came around the towers of amps and speakers and entered the stage we still couldn’t see the audience because of the large curtains in front of us. We all looked at each other and Prince gave the ready signal. As the curtains opened, the drums started beating and all I can remember was the site of a massive herd of bodies all piled together like cattle; 94,000 if I can remember correctly. Everyone was hot and sweaty from the heat, screaming and dancing to the music, holding up beer cans and bottles. I couldn’t even hear the band, the crowd was so loud! On each side of the coliseum were these massive water hoses spraying every one down to keep them from dehydrating. As we finished the first song I noticed people not liking what they were hearing. This was a crowd of Stones fans, predominately bikers, and they wanted to hear Rock music. We changed up the set in an instance and started performing Bambi but the audience, not being familiar with this music, became very violent. The scene shifted quickly as the crowed began to up their middle finger, hollering out all sorts of profanities. Next thing I noticed was food starting to fly through the air like a dark thunder cloud. Imagine 94,000 people throwing food at each other; it was the craziest thing I had ever seen in my life. I got hit in the shoulder with a bag of fried chicken; then my guitar got knocked out of tune by a large grapefruit that hit the tuning keys and I knew then it was time to run! I dropped that guitar and started flying but the funny thing was, everyone else was already gone! They were smart enough to get the heck out of there not knowing what was going to happen at that point.

http://prince.org/msg/5/326322

2.1.2015

This is an exclusive interview with Mark “Brown Mark” Brown from The Five Count radio show in Mankato, Minn.

Brown Mark

Yeah, you know the thing about the Rolling Stones, I don't talk to journalist too much because they... I was always reluctant to give interviews throught my career. And one thing about the Rolling Stones concert and just an example It wasn't as bad as what a lot of the press made it.
If you go to any Rolling Stones concert IDK if you've ever been to one, but u have a hostile audience, you had 94.000 people packed into a stadium, festival seating so everyone was standing it was hot fire hoses spraying the people down like cattle, and with that kind of an atmosphere you're going to get an very irritable crowd. And they wanted to see the Rolling Stones.
So here we come out and we're somebody new and we're a new group, they didn't know who we were. There were a handful of fans that knew who we were and they worked their way up to the front. But for the most part that was a Rolling Stones crowd so when we got up there it wasn't that they were booing us or didn't not like Prince, it was a typical reaction from a Rolling Stones crowd. One persons starts throwing food from one side of the stage next thing you know we are in the middle of a food fight, it was pretty amazing because it looked like clouds of debris flying from one end of the stadium to the other. lol and we just got caught in the crossfire. It was just a typical reaction of Rolling Stones audiences, I've seen it many times before. And what happened is the announcer went out and he kind of barked at the people "You guys are being disrespectful blah blah blah" Next thing you know they were booing, they weren't booing at us, they were booing what he was saying. The papers took that a whole different way. But the Rolling Stones, man what an awesome gig. When I went out there and I saw all those people I was like WOW so this is the big time.

SoulAlive said:

airth said:

I have to say that I'm glad he never really went down the route of playing huge stadium gigs. I'm sure they must be a great ego boost for the performers, but I've always found them to be a terrible way to enjoy live music. I only ever got to see Prince in an arena environment, but he was able to make it feel intimate and personal. I never felt he played to the crowd; he always played to the individual.

I agree.I don't like the idea of seeing a concert at a huge stadium.Too crowded and chaotic.

He did play Stadiums (at least here in Holland)

the small Galgenwaard (15.000) in Utrecht for SOTT

Feijenoord Stadium (De Kuip) (50.000) in Rotterdam for the lovesexy tour and the Nude tour (although with the stage on the long side of the stadium for lovesexy, so less people)

Gelredome in Arnhem (30.000) for Prince Live 2010

[Edited 5/30/16 5:09am]

TrivialPursuit said:

Back in 2009 (I think around June or July), Wendy & Lisa did an internet radio show a few times a month I think it was called the Listening Lab; it was on LuxuriaMusic.com. Lisa had worked really hard and interviewed Bobby Z., Matt, and I think Dez, and added her own thoughts. (If memory serves, Brownmark wasn't available in the time Lisa had to do a phone interview.)

She compiled all these people's memories of those Rolling Stones gigs. It was very interesting hearing all of their own takes on those two shows. Wendy even popped up with some thoughts, because she was there. She had been around since around that time, hanging with Lisa (I love how people thought she just popped up in 1983 all of a sudden - she was around way before that). She was backstage, and talked about seeing a blur of Prince run by. He got right in a car, went to the airport and flew to Minneapolis (as we all know).

The whole show was about 45 minutes. It was the most fascinating take on that I'd ever heard.

This sounds really interesting, I wonder if those shows are available online as a podcast anywhere, I can't find them on the current site.

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

This sounds really interesting, I wonder if those shows are available online as a podcast anywhere, I can't find them on the current site.

It was really enthralling to hear all of them grouped together, and speak from their own perspective on it. I can't find the podcast online. It wasn't archived, but I think I have an mp3 of it. I'm going to email Lisa's wife and see what I can do about posting it somewhere, or if they can put it just as audio on the W&L YouTube account or something.

KingSausage said:

TrivialPursuit said:

.

It doesn't matter.

.

You know I have always heard about Prince being booed off that Stones concert stage in '81. It always bothered me. But today I just made the connection that I saw that very Stones tour - the opening show in September in Philly - and you know what? The fans were hostile as hell to the opening acts that day -- George Thorogood and Journey. And Journey actually had the number one album in the nation that very day, and even they were booed!

.

It doesn't matter that Prince was booed. He clearly didn't get that opening acts got booed from Stones fans...even acts with the number one album in the country!

.

[img:$uid]http://img.atwikiimg.com/www10.atwiki.jp/stones/attach/250/3351/IMP-020,021.jpg[/img:$uid]

I think people are jumping to conclusions here by throwing the race-card on the table. I personally very much doubt that Prince's skin color had much of anything to do with how a hot, irritated Rolling Stones' crowd reacted to him.

.

Audiences for rock/blues performers are generally not disposed to boo black people off the stage to begin with. Stevie Wonder opened for The Stones in 1972 and went over big.

.

I *think* the reason Prince and his posse got such a strong negative response was due to disco hangover of the time. 1981 was a very anti-disco year by the rock audience in general. After 1979, the rock audience (yeah, it's mostly white) in the US wanted some good, straight rock music and didn't want fey, disco-ish dandies prancing and hustling around onstage. In 1981, Prince was still mainly known for 'I Wanna Be Your Lover', his only top-40 hit. Some of the Stones' audience would have remembered that one (which is disco-ish), and then when Prince came out dressed in bikini briefs it would have just set off yet another level of negative response.

.

Now, I DO think there is something to our interpreting the audience's response as homophobic. I could get behind that theory, for sure. But I don't think it had anything to do with race, in itself.

Legend has it that Ronnie Wood told Prince after Prince got booed off the stage to keep on doing what he was doing. That he was way ahead of hit time. And that's why Prince and Ronnie Wood were good friends and would play together whenever they were in the same city. Ronnie Wood was supposed to play 'Miss You' with Prince at the Conga Room Show in LA in March '09, when he performed three shows in one night in Downtown LA at LA Live, but was a no show due to an emergency. Prince had lined up Sheila E as the first show special guest, Ronnie Wood as the second show guest and Chaka Khan as the third show guest.

Check out the photo Ron Wood tweeted on April 21. Never seen this one.

https://twitter.com/ronni...7664265217