What happened during that concert, why was the stadium virtually half empty??

mikeyaddict said:

I think they only sold half the tickets.

any reason why, was it poor promotion, short notice??

i haven't seen a stadium that empty since the U.S. LOVESEXY TOUR in 88.

• Capacity: 81,338

• Prince performances: 1

• Trivia:

Saint-Denis is a suburb north of Paris.

For Prince performance the capacity of this stadium was limited to 55,000.

but still it looks like all the seats that were available for this performance didn't even sell...

This is the one where he changes shoes during "Musicology", isn't it?

The empty seats near the sides of the stage are normal of course, but I've not watched the whole thing to know how empty it was. It did seem a bit thin, though.

I was there. The concert was announced 4 weeks prior if I remember, and RTL radio promoted it. To be honest, I thought it filled out pretty well, I was a little worried that it mightn't because zero promotion and it being a Thursday night. I think they mentioned it being about 50000 present in the reports which was pretty decent as I said with late announcement and close to zero promotion. If U2/Springsteen/Rolling Stones etc... play Stade de France, they generally announce about 12-15 months before to ensure it sells. I think Prince did a pretty good job without very little promotion.

On RTL, he played awseome accoustice versions of Mountains and Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful, if my memory isn't failing me.

I think the footage can be misleading because, the empty seats are mainly behind and to the side of the stage and upper tiers, which weren't on sale. The tickets for the pitch (field for US) were about 45€ which was reasonable.

I went with a Friend and my son, so I didn't go golden circle this time, but took the higher priced seats (€120) with a great view. Excellent concert 2hrs:45m, and Sharon Jones in support. Prince cycled to the stage and joined her during the set. I really enjoyed this one. DMSR was a great intro and SHHH and Musicology kicked it with Maceo.

The day before he played an unbelievable set on TV (Canal Plus/Le Grand Journal). Laid back and funky.

p.s. my guess is the 81.388 is for the sporting matches. not sure what capacity you can do for a concert.