i wonder if that tour was any good. i have only seen the brixton video and that sounds kinda funky.
anyone?

hello? anybody home?

Hmmm, for me they are probably his lowest point.
He seemed in a mess, didn't know which direction to go.
WAY too much emphasis on Larry Graham.The set lists were pretty impressive, but too much time was spent either 'giving it up'(the mic, that is) to Larry, or turning the songs into a 30 second snippet before launching into a 15 minute jam with...u know who, Mr G again!

Just,...not 4 me

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Funny how things turn out... after 15 years of following Prince, I was closest to his inner circle during the NPS tour or was it called JOTY? ANyway- as I watched his Auburn Hills, MI show Dec. of 98 I was amazed by how tame his shows had become. Brief flashes of brilliance and showmanship and then more boring jamming with Larry Graham. I don't care how good a bass player LG is, he is a horrible entertainer. Then last summer as I sat right in front of Prince during the soundcheck in Toronto.. blownaway by 'Bambi'and freaking out while he played 'days of wild' all I could see was Prince pointing to someone backstage. To my horror , out came Larry Graham. Thank God Larry was just playing bass and wasn't given a mic.

Was the tour any good? Not really... like the last person said, a low point in terms of Prince concerts. It was hard to believe this was the same guy who did Parade, SOTT and Lovesexy in consecutive years.

thebumpsquad said:

FIRST TIME FOR ME TO SEE HIM PLAY BAMBI, IT WAS FABULOUS. HE DID MOST OF IT ON TOP OF THE BEAUTIFUL BABY G PIANO WITH GUITAR.
I THOUGHT THE CONCERT WAS FUNKY AS HELL. HE HAD NOT PLAYED IN COLUMBUS, OHIO SINCE 1979 AND THE CROWD WAS LOVING HIM.

You know, this is kinda a confusing tour period too, so many shows within short space of time all with similar names!
We have -
-New Power Soul Tour, April-June 98 - U.S. - 8 dates
-New Power Soul Tour, August 98 - Europe - 9 dates
-New Power Soul Festival, Sept-Oct 98 - U.S. - 6 dates
-New Power Soul Music Festival Presents..The Jam Of The Year December 98 - Europe - 9 dates

All in all, that's ALOT of New Power Soul travelling!

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I went to the Dec. 98 concert in Auburn Hills, also, and remember being extremely pissed off at how much time was spent on everyone else but Prince. And wasn't that the one where Mayte was dancing for some song and he had to call her out afterward and make out with her on stage?

did you hear the album at all?!?!

the answer is NO!!

i went to the nps show in philadelphia at the electric factory (i think, maybe, 21 april 98) and had a blast! it was such a fun show. yeah, too much time with larry, but the style of the show was like an aftershow, not a venue performance. very few hits, lotsa jams, so much fun! but, i'm biased because a lot happened that night for my friends and i. one of my friends was brought on stage, another one became friends with mike scott (the guitar player at the time) i met some really cool people and my 'poom poom' sign was born that night. the performance was brilliant and prince's ego was at a high point, which always makes for a fun night. i have been to worse prince shows...like all those damn hit n' run/jam of the year shows where the same 20 songs were halfheartedly run through. i'll take a jam session over that stuff any night!
[This message was edited Fri Oct 10 18:15:50 PDT 2003 by imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty]

dustysgirl said:

Whoops my earlier post described me being bored during the Auburn Hills show.. my mistake. AUburn Hills was 1997 if I remember correctly. That show went on forever and I thought it was ok... too much larry and chaka though. It was 1998 at the Joe Louis Arena that I had my boring experience standing side stage. It hit me then... Prince was doing this to make $$ and nothing else. Joe Louis was the show where he and Mayte kissed during The One.

The 1997 Phily show at the Corestates was pretty excellent from the video tapes I've seen. Also, the fact that two or three diff camera man (amateur) recorded the show and then edited it together - made for a great presentation of the show. WWhat I loved m ost was when he did Do Me Baby giving Mike Scott and Rhonda Smith solos. Wow can Mike Scott play... infact, I met Mike once and he said that he'd love to see that video! Anyway - I loved that performance when Prince started into Adore, then Insatiable, then Scandolous into How Come U don't call me all in the same Do Me Bab song... Awsome!

Ronny said:[quote]

dustysgirl said:

and then divorced a year later

I would love to see the Brixton gig, i saw it once at a market but didnt have enough cash. Pity !

craigle said:

What about the Tivoli UTrecht aftershow and Cologne music hall...these shows were great!!! i liked that era...freaks on this side!!!

I saw him in Columbus Ohio and the fans were so loud, that Prince responded by giving a great show. A bit too much Dougie Fresh, but great.

See, Prince is a performer, if you do not clap, he will not play as good.

Hippodrome aftershow was excellent but I'm biased as it's the only aftershow I've been 2.
Main show at Wembley was the worst show I've seen though!!

I'm surprised to hear that Larry Graham is renowned on this site as such a poor performer. I thought Graham Central Station were immensely entertaining opening for Prince in Calgary in 97. I did not expect an opening act and did not know CGS, but had a Sly greatest hits CD. My first Prince show and Prince the entertainer was fabulous (great dance moves). Prince in Regina in 2002 was more of a fabulous bandleader. Which begs the question why I am writing this as I did not see a show in 98, but what's exactly wrong with Larry.

lonelyxmas1 said:

Nuthin wrong with him, I just wish he'd stick to being the opening act, and not muscle into Prince's set.I didn't pay my £££ to watch him play, let alone hear him *ahem* 'sing'.

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buttcheeks said:

That WAS a fierce fucking concert. He must have jumped off that Beautiful piano and gone into the splits 50 times. His energy was amazing...although I was disappointed that Chaka wasn't at that show. And I agree that way too much time was given to Larry - maybe an hour or so out of the 3 1/2 hours of music that night. When Doug E. Fresh started the "O-HI-O" chant, I forgave Larry everything, cuz at least he's a good musician. I guess Doug E.'s a pioneer or something, but he does not belong on stage at a Prince concert.

This was the first time I got to see Prince, and the crowd WAS loving him. So was I. Good times. Of course the ONA show in Lakeland was on another planet.

The Paris concert - august 98 - was terrific

Oh, and 2Freaky - you're absolutely right. Thanks for being part of that crowd...we really did get him going, huh?

BriXton was off the hook - not too much Doug E Fresh - or fucking Larry...was THE best gig I saw on that tour. The smaller venue really suited it, and it was a really good vibe.

Took my record producer friend Youth and Dr AleX from the Orb, and they were totally blown away by the show Youth said it was the best gig he'd seen in years.

Would love 2 see more of that footage that's 4 sure.

Couple of smokes, couple of jars made good nite all 'round!

PS: Besides, Brixton is a fucking great venue - would like 2 see Him perform there again...
*Relocation Edit*
[This message was edited Sat Oct 11 13:52:41 PDT 2003 by bananacologne]