What were his reasons to do piano and mic tour? i strongly believe

that Prince did that tour because he wanted to challenge himself

as an artist and do things he never done before.

i dont believe that he did it because he wanted

to say goodbye and bullshit like that.

Prince has always done something with each tour he did.

Reinventing himself to keep it fresh

thebanishedone said:

What were his reasons to do piano and mic tour? i strongly believe

that Prince did that tour because he wanted to challenge himself

as an artist and do things he never done before.

i dont believe that he did it because he wanted

to say goodbye and bullshit like that.

It's good to find the occasional reasonable user on this forum.

thebanishedone said:

What were his reasons to do piano and mic tour? i strongly believe

that Prince did that tour because he wanted to challenge himself

as an artist and do things he never done before.

i dont believe that he did it because he wanted

to say goodbye and bullshit like that.

The only reason people are saying he was using as a goodbye tour is because of the kind of opening up and discussing personal things which he was not known to do. People are only responding to the things he said on that tour.

I think it was a bit overdue with his acoustic type output years earlier. One Nite Alone, The Truth, the sit down guitar stuff on the Musicology tour.

Because he thought it would be neat to do it?

Maybe he didn't intend it as a farewell tour, but I think it's likely that he knew he wasn't in good physical shape and couldn't do shows the same way he had done earlier. For the piano and mic stuff he could sit down and the audience wouldn't expect him to move around on the stage like he had done before.

not really, he had planned to do shows with his new band later in the year to promote Black is the new black album.

sfinky1 said:

I honestly believe he was suffering from some kind of arthritic condition in his hip and possibly other joints, which gave him difficulty walking. He went from doing a full arena tour of Australia in 2012 (of which I saw 4 shows) During whIch he was dancing, walking around and moving around non stop, like the prince we've always known - to then switching in 2013-2015 to a power rock trio 3rd EYE GIRL which allowed him to stay in just one place and play guitar, to then switching to just sitting at a piano because it would allow him to sit down for the performance and not have to walk around. Even at the 2012 Australian shows he was sitting in a black box and being wheeled to and from the stage to avoid walking, we took it as showmanship at the time but looking back I think he couldn't walk long distances, something was clearly up.

Yes, I agree with this.

Whatever the reason of him doing this tour it would have been over a life changing experience (I believe)

It was reflection of his life, thats the way I saw it, he was telling us a story, playing all the songs the way he did....alone.

sfinky1 said:

I honestly believe he was suffering from some kind of arthritic condition in his hip and possibly other joints, which gave him difficulty walking. He went from doing a full arena tour of Australia in 2012 (of which I saw 4 shows) During whIch he was dancing, walking around and moving around non stop, like the prince we've always known - to then switching in 2013-2015 to a power rock trio 3rd EYE GIRL which allowed him to stay in just one place and play guitar, to then switching to just sitting at a piano because it would allow him to sit down for the performance and not have to walk around. Even at the 2012 Australian shows he was sitting in a black box and being wheeled to and from the stage to avoid walking, we took it as showmanship at the time but looking back I think he couldn't walk long distances, something was clearly up.

No doubt this is true.

I do think that we will never know the full truth about what happened but there was a real medical condition for him to be taking pain medications.

rogifan said:

thebanishedone said:

What were his reasons to do piano and mic tour? i strongly believe

that Prince did that tour because he wanted to challenge himself

as an artist and do things he never done before.

i dont believe that he did it because he wanted

to say goodbye and bullshit like that.

Sometimes the reasons "why" don't become clear until it's over.

Was he expecting to leave on April 21st? I don't think so .

However he told his sister that he had done what he had come to Earth to do and he was sensing that it was drawing near so he set out to do some things that he wanted to do before that date.

More $ for him, because he didn't have to pay any bandmembers.

Militant said:

muleFunk said:

sfinky1 said:

I honestly believe he was suffering from some kind of arthritic condition in his hip and possibly other joints, which gave him difficulty walking. He went from doing a full arena tour of Australia in 2012 (of which I saw 4 shows) During whIch he was dancing, walking around and moving around non stop, like the prince we've always known - to then switching in 2013-2015 to a power rock trio 3rd EYE GIRL which allowed him to stay in just one place and play guitar, to then switching to just sitting at a piano because it would allow him to sit down for the performance and not have to walk around. Even at the 2012 Australian shows he was sitting in a black box and being wheeled to and from the stage to avoid walking, we took it as showmanship at the time but looking back I think he couldn't walk long distances, something was clearly up.

No doubt this is true.

I do think that we will never know the full truth about what happened but there was a real medical condition for him to be taking pain medications.

Yes, I think that it probably was some kind of concession to his physical condition, or just his advancing age in general, at least in part. Quite apart from being some kind of “goodbye” tour, he may have been sketching out how he might adapt going forward. He couldn't have continued performing as he had been indefinitely, into his 60s and beyond. I wish he'd done it sooner, it's not as though he didn't have pure musicianship to fall back on.

fen said:

A couple things to keep in mind...Prince was small and thin. MOst older people have the strain of extra weight which does in deed make it difficult to do deep knee bends etc. Also, the pain pills would have helped with those things you mentioned. He may have forced himself to throw a few deep knee bends and sprints in his steps when the cameras and audiences were around in order to cover up the pain or arthritis issues. They would have hurt but they might have stemmed off any speculations. The fact is that P was on pain pills for a reason and there is no way that a man his age who had performed as long and as strenuously as Prince had wouldn't have some pain/physical issues. I believe due to his tone and lack of fat he was still able to do stuff other 57 year olds couldn't do but that doesnt mean it didn't hurt like a son of a bitch...Pain pill and adreneline kicked in to help him through it. Also compared to what he used to do (splits, full dance routines, etc) he was not doing much physically.

soladeo1 said:

fen said:

Yes, I think that it probably was some kind of concession to his physical condition, or just his advancing age in general, at least in part. Quite apart from being some kind of “goodbye” tour, he may have been sketching out how he might adapt going forward. He couldn't have continued performing as he had been indefinitely, into his 60s and beyond. I wish he'd done it sooner, it's not as though he didn't have pure musicianship to fall back on.

I don't know if this is true. Footage of him rushing to and from limousines in the last year of his life show a nimble, quick-footed fellow. Also, during the 3EG shows he can be seen doing deep knee bends duration solos, something usually pretty difficult for even totally healthy 57-58 year old men.

antonb said:

not really, he had planned to do shows with his new band later in the year to promote Black is the new black album.

Planning to do something like that later doesn't refute the possibility that he was in bad physical condition when he chose to start doing the piano and mic shows.

i hate that prince passed the way he did for the rest of time all we will have in unanswered questions myths and doubts unless a will or video of the final days come up.what i do believe is that none of the people that worked with prince really knew him personally he might attended shows with them and did public related stuff but on the level of really opening up and letting them into the life of the man that employed them i dont think so

purplerabbithole said:

A couple things to keep in mind...Prince was small and thin. MOst older people have the strain of extra weight which does in deed make it difficult to do deep knee bends etc. Also, the pain pills would have helped with those things you mentioned. He may have forced himself to throw a few deep knee bends and sprints in his steps when the cameras and audiences were around in order to cover up the pain or arthritis issues. They would have hurt but they might have stemmed off any speculations. The fact is that P was on pain pills for a reason and there is no way that a man his age who had performed as long and as strenuously as Prince had wouldn't have some pain/physical issues. I believe due to his tone and lack of fat he was still able to do stuff other 57 year olds couldn't do but that doesnt mean it didn't hurt like a son of a bitch...Pain pill and adreneline kicked in to help him through it. Also compared to what he used to do (splits, full dance routines, etc) he was not doing much physically.

soladeo1 said:

I don't know if this is true. Footage of him rushing to and from limousines in the last year of his life show a nimble, quick-footed fellow. Also, during the 3EG shows he can be seen doing deep knee bends duration solos, something usually pretty difficult for even totally healthy 57-58 year old men.

I’m not saying that he wasn’t in good shape (notwithstanding any underlying pain that he was in), but he was approaching 60 and must have been aware that some kind of adjustment would be necessary eventually. Refusing to count birthdays and pushing himself as hard as he did may have benefited him psychologically, but that isn’t going to change the physical realities of life. I saw the P&M tour as a mature step toward acknowledging this, and illustrative of the fact that it needn’t be seen as negative thing, but an opportunity to explore new creative possibilities. A gifted musician can simply play and be captivating.

[Edited 3/12/17 13:15pm]

soladeo1 said:

He read my threads about it.

soladeo1 said:

sfinky1 said:

I honestly believe he was suffering from some kind of arthritic condition in his hip and possibly other joints, which gave him difficulty walking. He went from doing a full arena tour of Australia in 2012 (of which I saw 4 shows) During whIch he was dancing, walking around and moving around non stop, like the prince we've always known - to then switching in 2013-2015 to a power rock trio 3rd EYE GIRL which allowed him to stay in just one place and play guitar, to then switching to just sitting at a piano because it would allow him to sit down for the performance and not have to walk around. Even at the 2012 Australian shows he was sitting in a black box and being wheeled to and from the stage to avoid walking, we took it as showmanship at the time but looking back I think he couldn't walk long distances, something was clearly up.

There may have been physical reasons for the Piano and a Microphone tour. Another reason could have been that since Hannah was pregnant, he did the tour without 3rd Eye Girl with the intention of getting back to his "normal" shows after she had the baby.