What was it like watching Prince evolve as a live performer at that time? Did anyone on this board make every tour?

He was our Hendrix, Doors, Zeppelin, Sam Cook, James Brown and more.

Or wtching him was like those in their time watching the ones mentioned.

I was 18 in 1986, so my junior high and high school years were filled with Prince. The 80s were rather remarkable anyway, because so much new technology was coming out in the music realm. Fashion was changing and outrageous, the movies delved into franchises like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc. So many fun and new things.

Then throw in Prince releasing music every year and it was fucking magical.

i think i was 15 in 1988
It was awesome!

I was 18 in 1980 I did not make every tour but I was there at the beginning with the Rick James Tour and I'll be here forever more.

[Edited 11/25/16 22:15pm]

I went to the 1999 concert. It was a surreal experience to say the least. Everything on point, sexy...really made me mature quickly...lol

TrivialPursuit said:

I was 18 in 1986, so my junior high and high school years were filled with Prince. The 80s were rather remarkable anyway, because so much new technology was coming out in the music realm. Fashion was changing and outrageous, the movies delved into franchises like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc. So many fun and new things.

Then throw in Prince releasing music every year and it was fucking magical.

I was also 18 in 1986, graduating from High School. We went to the 1999 tour to celebrate. I remember him coming onto the stage in a small little red corvette in Pittsburgh, PA. The concert was outstanding! I was glued to his music ever since then.

I was 26 and a senior in College, My mom introduced me to Prince, he just seemed to come out of nowhere...BAM!! Purple Rain was everywhere! I couldn't quite get what he was about. Was he rock, was he soul, was he R&B, was he white, was he Black, was he even a guy? None of it mattered my classmates were gaga over him. I figured I better check it out. He was crankin out music like crazy, he was a machine..loved Doves Cry, I would Die 4 u, Baby I'm a Star..Pop Life, Kiss..hit after hit..every year he was coming out with a new album and a new look..loved Sign O'times.., Every years since I waited to see what he was up to. I respected him cuz he wasn't in-your-face Hollywood, he was from all places MLPS.. I didn't even know where that was..I remember when Paisley Park was built and I remember how sad I was when he lost his child.. I remember when he scrawled Slave on his face and I remember when he changed his name to . I didn't always follow him, and there where some years where I had no idea what he was up to, but he was always up to something whether I liked it or not. Prince was part of my life experince and I miss him like I miss a friend. The world lost a wonderful unique person and as much as I wish it didn't happen it did and I can't be sad, but grateful to be part of it, and someday I will be in heaven and attending a Prince concert that never ends! Peace Brother Prince..I Love You

Such a lovely post Idmendes. I'm about your age and moved to NYC in 1980. Saw him at the Mudd Club, a hip dive that featured artsy bands like Talkng Heads. There wasn't even an elevated stage. I remember saying to my friend after the set - "they were SO great!".

The weekend the movie Purple Rain opened my boyfriend asked me to go to a cabin in Rhode Island. I accepted on one condition - that we would drive into town and see the movie. Then we listened to the album the whole time. Amazing memories. Prince was a phenom bolt from the sky in every way!

[Edited 11/26/16 17:07pm]

AndrePatrone said:

What was it like watching Prince evolve as a live performer at that time? Did anyone on this board make every tour?

for me it was a wonderful experience. to first see him on bandstand, to think he was strange, or gay, or crazy then at 13, to listen to controversy under my covers at night, then 1999, Purple Rain, ATWIAD,Parade,SOTT you'd have to go back to the beatles to find an artist who changed so radically in so short a time. I followed with increasing fanaticism the whole time. I did not go to the purple rain concert, didn't even consider it, i wasn't a rich kid and the show was 50 miles away and i had no car. The other kids in school had ranges of tastes too, not everyone was a Prince fan. I do remember feeling like Prince had really lost a lot of his PR audience by the time of Purple Rain and that people thought ATWIAD was wierd. One kid is saw who dressed up like Prince tried to deny he was ever a fan by the time of SOTT, he said "oh no, have you seen him on his latest record? he's looking wierd". Of course there were the older adults and the christians who didn't much like all the sex shit. The biggest thing was I decided to be a musician during those years.

also, remember that mtv was still a few years away when Prince first came out, I point this out to say that most of us young folks had no way of really keeping up on Prince's live act, videos weren't really played that much on tv at the time, it's only in retrospect that we can appreciate the vast improvements he made as a dancer from 78-85. He had some goofy assed moves and was more Mick Jagger than James Brown when he started, I like to think that MJ calling him onstage with JB was his impetus for at least being in striking range of being as good a dancer as they were and it only took a couple years. Before Purple Rain he didn't do the splits that often, i thought because he hadn't mastered them. He did them in the little red corvette vid but did not do them on the tv show and the 1999 tour did not have him doing anything near what he did on the Purple Rain tour.

AndrePatrone said:

What was it like watching Prince evolve as a live performer at that time? Did anyone on this board make every tour?

I wish I'd made every tour! .......I was around the age of 20-27 during that time period, depending on the exact date. I missed out on so much Prince wise during that time, although I loved the man to death. If I'd known like I know now, I would have tried to attend as many concerts and tours as possible!

[Edited 11/27/16 13:57pm]

1contessa said:

AndrePatrone said:

What was it like watching Prince evolve as a live performer at that time? Did anyone on this board make every tour?

I wish I'd made every tour! .......I was around the age of 20-27 during that time period, depending on the exact date. I missed out on so much Prince wise during that time, although I loved the man to death. If I'd known like I know now, I would have tried to attend as many concerts and tours as possible!

[Edited 11/27/16 13:57pm]

You and I are the same age.

In 1981 I turned 20, was married and P was getting lotsa attention. My husband and I had moved from NY to Dallas Texas area and went to more than a few P concerts during those years.

P was the most...sexually enthusiastic...performer I'd ever seen. Simulated sex on a bed that rose from the stage, a bathtub where he took a shower shirtless in glittery strands instead of water, the "ejacucaster" guitar, simulated head w/ Wendy, jumps from the gigantic speakers and risers, dancing and grinding on the piano, high squeals and deep groans.

I've said many times to people who ask about P concerts, I always left feeling like I'd had sex...really good sex...been ridden hard and put away wet...drained of energy...limp and satiated.

The only time I was disappointed was the New Year's Eve where P left the arena before midnight and as my husband and I drove home on I30, the radio dj said P had left cuz he "planned on f*cking by midnight" Lol

I was annoyed but he ended up making up for it with other concerts my husband and I attended so I didn't stay annoyed at him forever.

He was the soundtrack to my life since Soft & Wet in 1976/1977 when I was turning 16 years old and he's always been a presence in my world musically. He was a comfort. Even in the 90s as my marraige was deteriorating and P was going through his WB issues and his marraige issues and the loss of his babies

If I had a "do-over" I'd attend more concerts, after parties and have gone to PP. Next life. LMAO

Whatever his idiosyncracies and antics, he and his music always made me happy, even if it made me cry.

I miss him terribly and will always hold him and my memories of him in a special purple place in my heart. Always.

[Edited 11/28/16 20:14pm]

ldmendes said:

I was 26 and a senior in College, My mom introduced me to Prince, he just seemed to come out of nowhere...BAM!! Purple Rain was everywhere! I couldn't quite get what he was about. Was he rock, was he soul, was he R&B, was he white, was he Black, was he even a guy? None of it mattered my classmates were gaga over him. I figured I better check it out. He was crankin out music like crazy, he was a machine..loved Doves Cry, I would Die 4 u, Baby I'm a Star..Pop Life, Kiss..hit after hit..every year he was coming out with a new album and a new look..loved Sign O'times.., Every years since I waited to see what he was up to. I respected him cuz he wasn't in-your-face Hollywood, he was from all places MLPS.. I didn't even know where that was..I remember when Paisley Park was built and I remember how sad I was when he lost his child.. I remember when he scrawled Slave on his face and I remember when he changed his name to . I didn't always follow him, and there where some years where I had no idea what he was up to, but he was always up to something whether I liked it or not. Prince was part of my life experince and I miss him like I miss a friend. The world lost a wonderful unique person and as much as I wish it didn't happen it did and I can't be sad, but grateful to be part of it, and someday I will be in heaven and attending a Prince concert that never ends! Peace Brother Prince..I Love You

Was that a turning point for you? A clusterfuck over jughead on FB inspired the post, and having only truly got on board around 98 i learned everything in reverse. At what point (if any) did you feel like the exciting pop figure you'd met was no longer.."him"?

purplepoppy said:

Such a lovely post Idmendes. I'm about your age and moved to NYC in 1980. Saw him at the Mudd Club, a hip dive that featured artsy bands like Talkng Heads. There wasn't even an elevated stage. I remember saying to my friend after the set - "they were SO great!".

The weekend the movie Purple Rain opened my boyfriend asked me to go to a cabin in Rhode Island. I accepted on one condition - that we would drive into town and see the movie. Then we listened to the album the whole time. Amazing memories. Prince was a phenom bolt from the sky in every way!

[Edited 11/26/16 17:07pm]

were you there to see prince or did you discover him there, waiting for another band?

PeteSilas said:

AndrePatrone said:

What was it like watching Prince evolve as a live performer at that time? Did anyone on this board make every tour?

for me it was a wonderful experience. to first see him on bandstand, to think he was strange, or gay, or crazy then at 13, to listen to controversy under my covers at night, then 1999, Purple Rain, ATWIAD,Parade,SOTT you'd have to go back to the beatles to find an artist who changed so radically in so short a time. I followed with increasing fanaticism the whole time. I did not go to the purple rain concert, didn't even consider it, i wasn't a rich kid and the show was 50 miles away and i had no car. The other kids in school had ranges of tastes too, not everyone was a Prince fan. I do remember feeling like Prince had really lost a lot of his PR audience by the time of Purple Rain and that people thought ATWIAD was wierd. One kid is saw who dressed up like Prince tried to deny he was ever a fan by the time of SOTT, he said "oh no, have you seen him on his latest record? he's looking wierd". Of course there were the older adults and the christians who didn't much like all the sex shit. The biggest thing was I decided to be a musician during those years.

talk more about this please. by the time i got into prince he had already converted to being a witness. i can only imagine what those early years were like

I think he was the first band. Then either talking heads or the b52s, memory kinda fuzzy, saw both a few times. My friend took me there. I had no idea who was playing. Very informally hip place way downtown before it became tribeca. The "stage" was basically the corner of one of the rooms. All cutting edge stuff. I already loved good music though.

sonshine said:

It was exciting. I was 17 in 1980 so being a young adult at the height of the PR era was perfect. We played 1999 and PR more than any other records before or since. I was exposed to Prince before 1999 when my slightly older college bf brought some records home from school - Rick James, Peebles, EW&F, Donna Summer, The Time and Prince. At first I thought he'd lost his mind. We were white kids from a small rural community who never heard that kind of music. We ended up seeing Prince in a club in Mpls before he was "famous" and I wasn't quite sure what to make of him and didn't pay as close attention as I later wished I had (after 1999 came out and I realized this was the same guy). I was an avid follower up until the mid 90's when he seemed to go "off the rails". Wish I had hung in there because I've gone back and filled in the void between then and 2013 when AOA and PE dropped and i got back on board. There's so much great stuff I missed out on. But maybe that's what it took for me to really appreciate him again was the time to mature myself in order to fully grasp the enormity of his talent.

Was the performance lackluster?

purplepoppy said:

I think he was the first band. Then either talking heads or the b52s, memory kinda fuzzy, saw both a few times. My friend took me there. I had no idea who was playing. Very informally hip place way downtown before it became tribeca. The "stage" was basically the corner of one of the rooms. All cutting edge stuff. I already loved good music though.

I wouldve loved to have been a young adult in NY at those times

.

I was 16 in 1982. I knew Prince thru the hits that he'd had so far, but I hadn't yet discovered Prince.

.

I had a thing for a girl back then and she, being a Prince fan, called me out when I said that I was too... quickly showing me that I really didn't know anything. But me being me, I challenged her to show me what I didn't know. That led to a really awesome experience with her and a fun relationship. And, she got me hooked on Prince, something that I didn't know would turn out to be a forever kind of thing.

.

Back then, I didn't have the kind of money that I felt like I could spend on music. I had a part-time job, and the money I did make needed to be spent on clothes because my mom wasn't spending money on trendy fashion that I wouldn't want to wear in two months' time.

.

But I went out and bought Dirty Mind, Controversy and 1999 and wore those cassettes out.

.

Purple Rain came out right before I went off to college. I think I went and saw it once a week until I went off to school (5 or six times), and then I took a girl I met at school to see it twice also.

.

Around that time I started scouring the record bins for any Prince or Prince-related material I could find. It became such a habit that the owner of the place I used to shop just started putting it aside for me when he had it. That's how I got things like Let's Work 12-inch, Irresistable Bitch, and Purple Rain on purple vinyl which he said he only received one of.

.

I didn't get to a show until the LoveSexy tour, unfortunately. But when I finally did, of course it was killer because there was just nothing else like him. Fortunately, I was able to see him about 10 more times over the years, once three nights in a row with a 4am aftershow in the mix also.

.

The greatest thing about the 80's was that Prince filled it with music for me. There was other music I liked, but no one had my attention like he did. And the best part of that was that I never knew what was coming next.

.

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