The ONA Tour is probably my most listened to Prince tour. Here are five elements on why I consider it to be his greatest =)

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1. The shows were a perfect mix of jazz/funk/rock - It had an excellent setlist (Especially if you love The Rainbow Children)

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2. Prince's guitar playing was phenomenal and the whole band was excellent - There is a diamond quality in how Prince played his guitar every show

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3. Some of Prince's greatest aftershows were during this tour - In particular for me, the Paris/Copenhagen aftershows are on par with Lovesexy aftershows

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4. Prince handling the vast majority of vocals in top form - No backup singers taking over or drowning out Prince's singing

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5. Even many of the soundchecks for this tour were very dynamic (See C-Note)

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While there have been other threads on the greatness of this tour, maybe some opinions have changed or been strengthened over time. Do you consider the ONA Tour to be Prince's greatest tour as well?...Or would you instead place it high up in your ranking? If you're not a fan of the tour, what are some of its aspects that you don't enjoy?

hj

Definitely up there. I'd say the Lovesexy tour, the Act II tour, the Ultimate Live Experience tour, and the Welcome 2 tours are also pretty killer.

...best Tour? No, one of his worst. Boring as hell. I´ve seen it in Oberhausen and was sooo disappionted. NO show at all, boring setlist, too much jazz...nah, this was not the the Prince i fell in love with and i quite like the rainbow children CD. 90% of Prince songs have multi-layered vocals, so the songs sound full. But as u said, on this tour he had no back-up singers, so most songs sound so empty..best example muse to the pharao studio version vs the live-take or the work part one sounds so fucking weak without the whole backing singers..and just one sax..sorry, this was not a show for a big venue 15000-20000.

The ONA show I attended was amazing

misiu said:

...best Tour? No, one of his worst. Boring as hell. I´ve seen it in Oberhausen and was sooo disappionted. NO show at all, boring setlist, too much jazz...nah, this was not the the Prince i fell in love with and i quite like the rainbow children CD. 90% of Prince songs have multi-layered vocals, so the songs sound full. But as u said, on this tour he had no back-up singers, so most songs sound so empty..best example muse to the pharao studio version vs the live-take or the work part one sounds so fucking weak without the whole backing singers..and just one sax..sorry, this was not a show for a big venue 15000-20000.

That's rather interesting. The Oberhausen show is one of my favourite bootlegs.

The One Night Alone - It Ain't Over aftershow is the video (in high quality) I would love to get the most. EXCELLENT aftershow. (That and Small Club.)

The ONA tour was awesome. I saw 4 concerts and an aftershow, all were amazing. The gig in Oberhausen was excellent, I had a great time.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOORING!

I only ever wanted to see Prince live.
Never wanted to see the NPG featuring Prince.

The less I saw of the other band members, the better the show was.

Which tour was the greatest!?

Any of the ALBUM tours in the 80's.

Having seen the DC show and listened to the odd bootleg I'll co-sign the boring claims. Obviously he was having a lot of fun though. I remember Anna Stesia being pretty consistantly kick ass at least.

The setlists were pretty cool, for sure! The "real music by real musicians" schtick was a little off-putting, though.

Best Prince concerts I ever attended were on this tour. Highlights for me were the intimate venues, John Blackwell and NPGMC access to soundchecks and front 3 rows seats. He also seemed more accessible on this tour. He sort seemed relaxed and opened up a bit. I think it was his holiday, do what I want to do and forget the money tour

misiu said:

Saw this one first in FFM, then in Berlin.

Two extreme variations of the same show!

Sound checks were a surreal trip at both!

Greatest Tour?

i cant say, my first show was in OKC in 1997

misiu said:

...best Tour? No, one of his worst. Boring as hell. I´ve seen it in Oberhausen and was sooo disappionted. NO show at all, boring setlist, too much jazz...nah, this was not the the Prince i fell in love with and i quite like the rainbow children CD. 90% of Prince songs have multi-layered vocals, so the songs sound full. But as u said, on this tour he had no back-up singers, so most songs sound so empty..best example muse to the pharao studio version vs the live-take or the work part one sounds so fucking weak without the whole backing singers..and just one sax..sorry, this was not a show for a big venue 15000-20000.

You must have been asleep. The Oberhausen show was out of the 6 times I have seen Prince clearly the best show. And that includes the Sign of the times tour and the Lovesexy Tour. The setlist and the sound were really great and Prince was in great mood.

theplejades said:

misiu said:

...best Tour? No, one of his worst. Boring as hell. I´ve seen it in Oberhausen and was sooo disappionted. NO show at all, boring setlist, too much jazz...nah, this was not the the Prince i fell in love with and i quite like the rainbow children CD. 90% of Prince songs have multi-layered vocals, so the songs sound full. But as u said, on this tour he had no back-up singers, so most songs sound so empty..best example muse to the pharao studio version vs the live-take or the work part one sounds so fucking weak without the whole backing singers..and just one sax..sorry, this was not a show for a big venue 15000-20000.

You must have been asleep. The Oberhausen show was out of the 6 times I have seen Prince clearly the best show. And that includes the Sign of the times tour and the Lovesexy Tour. The setlist and the sound were really great and Prince was in great mood.

the sound was horrible in oberhausen, comparable with the fucked-up sound in Köln in 2010(?), but not so loud..

two of my friends attended the show too and saw him for the first time, but were not impressed. I felt so bad for them. I mean, prince was seen as a legendary entertainer, dancer and musician with a great show. But this one wasnt for sure...Glad he changed it in later years...

But i am ok with it, that u liked it that much...i didnt, boring as hell..like the dvd of that tour...

Great Tour. TRC is not a great album but the soundchecks and preferred seating for music club members was incredible and made up for it.

Moonbeam said:

The setlists were pretty cool, for sure! The "real music by real musicians" schtick was a little off-putting, though.

That was the Musicology tour's theme. ONA was more "if you came to get your Purple Rain on, u in the wrong house" sort of thing. I enjoyed the 2 ONA shows I saw, mainly because I got into an aftershow, had up close NPGMC seating and got to speak to him briefly but it wasn't my favorite.

That nod goes to the 2 Musicology shows I saw where everything worked perfect. Great band, great sound, seating in the round, acoustic set (YES!), not too many ballads and a nice varied set list that had a nice mix of hits, new stuff and lesser played lower tier crowd pleasers (DMSR, Shhh)

misiu said:

theplejades said:

You must have been asleep. The Oberhausen show was out of the 6 times I have seen Prince clearly the best show. And that includes the Sign of the times tour and the Lovesexy Tour. The setlist and the sound were really great and Prince was in great mood.

the sound was horrible in oberhausen, comparable with the fucked-up sound in Köln in 2010(?), but not so loud..

No, not at all. I was in Oberhausen 2002 and in Köln 2011, so I know what im talking about. The Oberhausen show was great and the sound was crisp, everything was fine.

ludwig said:

misiu said:

the sound was horrible in oberhausen, comparable with the fucked-up sound in Köln in 2010(?), but not so loud..

No, not at all. I was in Oberhausen 2002 and in Köln 2011, so I know what im talking about. The Oberhausen show was great and the sound was crisp, everything was fine.

I agree with you, the sound was crisp. Loved that period/tour!! Attended 4 regular shows in a little two weeks time, including soundchecks and afterparties. As a "bonus" (to ourselves) we also visited the aftershow in Nighttown. The best two weeks ever!!!

I appreciate all the different perpsectives and experiences, even from those who aren't the biggest fan of the tour...Perhaps you may enjoy it more in the future? ...The soundchecks were really amazing, Prince's interactions with fans were great too

This tour was meant for his loyal fans really and for that group this tour remains a highlight for sure. Access to sound checks, front row seats in small venues, after shows, etc. He played songs most folks would not have heard of before, talked about the music club, the celebration. Again, all for his diehard fans.

luv4u said:

The ONA show I attended was amazing

Yes, the ONA show I attended was ver cool too, however, my favorite Prince concerts were the Love Symbol and Piano and Mic. The Love Symbol was such a naughty, funky, fun show and P&M was incredibly emotional for obvious reasons.

Empress said:

luv4u said:

The ONA show I attended was amazing

Yes, the ONA show I attended was ver cool too, however, my favorite Prince concerts were the Love Symbol and Piano and Mic. The Love Symbol was such a naughty, funky, fun show and P&M was incredibly emotional for obvious reasons.

Last night I happened to watch the video of one of the Radio City NY shows, and it was just that!

I loved that tour and have heard most (if not all) the existing boots available. The op makes some great points (especially the quality of Prince's guitar work). The musicianship was insane! I would love a comprehensive video release from this tour.

[Edited 1/8/20 11:59am]

ludwig said:

misiu said:

the sound was horrible in oberhausen, comparable with the fucked-up sound in Köln in 2010(?), but not so loud..

No, not at all. I was in Oberhausen 2002 and in Köln 2011, so I know what im talking about. The Oberhausen show was great and the sound was crisp, everything was fine.

...i saw those shows too, so believe me, i also know what i am talking about...boring concert as hell, shit sound, waste of money!!! Even the 1998 cologne concert had a better sound...so thats says a lot..but hey, i dont give a fuck anymore...

i only once witnessed a perfect sound with prince. It was 1993 in Wegberg. But that time he didnt use his soundsystem and it was open air...A short concert but very very entertaining, great show...Thats what made prince so fucking great!!!

PurpleColossus said:

I appreciate all the different perpsectives and experiences, even from those who aren't the biggest fan of the tour...Perhaps you may enjoy it more in the future? ...The soundchecks were really amazing, Prince's interactions with fans were great too

Atlanta, GA, 2 nights

The soundcheck(s) were great. I missed the one on night 2 and could hear "calhoun Square" playing while I waited for my friend who was late, which sucked cause it's one of my favorite Prince songs.

First night soundcheck was really fun. He brought a local up on stage that said he could play guitar and let the guy jam. Dude was good. Brought some other people up and one dude started doing the worm and dry humping the stage Darling Nikki style. It was hilarious. Prince damned near fucked everything up though by asking us if we had been searched prior to entry; presumably for recording devices. When he was done, we all had to leave and go back out ot be searched and when we re-entered, several assholes were grabbing other people's seats and shit was getting tense for a while.

Second night check, by the time I got in it had turned into a Q&A that was neat until it degenerated into a religous back and forth. I was so turned off I ducked out to grab a drink and a smoke and actually met my (ex) wife outside so maybe god does work in mysetrious ways. If I hadn't been an atheist who tunes out quick when know it alls start debating "the truth", I probably would have never gotten married.

Prince also said "I heard there was some drama last night and scolded us about how it was "all over some concert seats" when, in reality, it was him that that basically started the whole thing by ushering us out to be searched after we'd waited in line for hours to be seated. Left a bad taste in my mouth.

The shows sounded great and it was cool seeing him in a smallish place with great seats but the same things that turned me off about the Rainbow Children album were the same things that dragged the shows down for me.

Time was, a Prince show was Uptown and everyone was welcome and equal. Parts of these shows felt like a divisive sermon, especially when he told the people upstairs to join the NPGMC if they wanted good seats. My ex was sitting up there and told me she was put off by that comment. I understand.