Updated: 8/31/2016

 

Upcoming 2016 Prince Concerts

• It is with deep regret that there will be no more Prince concerts.

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Current Prince News

Even though the heartbreak of Prince‘s passing is still too raw for most people, his legacy keeps moving forward. Here is the latest news about his Purple Greatness that should be on your radar.

Paisley Park Museum
The opening of Paisley Park as a museum tour is the first major development.

The new announcement that Paisley Park would open to the public reached a fever pitch yesterday when it was announced that it would wing open the gates starting on October 2, 2016 for 2 hour tours. Tickets go on sale starting August 26th.

For the price of $39 you’ll get to walk through areas of Paisley Park that were not previously available to the public an for $100 more, you can tour even more exclusive areas for a longer period of time. Along with the tour, there will also be merchandise sold like programs, shirts and a host of other items.

Guests will also see his video editing suites, rehearsal rooms, private NPG Music Club, a massive soundstage and concert hall, where he rehearsed for tours and held private events, plus thousands of artifacts from Prince’s personal archives including his concert wardrobe, awards, instruments and motorcycles.

The facility is currently going to be run by the Core Media Group which is the same company that runs Elvis Presley’s Graceland. The part that is a little upsetting to us is that according to Funkenberry, Core Media owns 85% of Elvis Presley’s name, image and likeness and we’re not okay for that deal to look even remotely similar. According to details released, they are only in place to run the facility for a period of the next 4 years as it stands.

The estate is over $2 million in the hole due to legal fees and we still can’t understand how that is even possible with the amount of revenue his music is generating right now, as well as ongoing royalties.

While the magic of having Prince make a surprise appearance while you were there or get a sneak preview of a new or unreleased track is not part of the experience anymore, this will bring a lot of closure to fans and especially to those that have never set foot inside of the building as of yet.

Tickets can be purchased at http://www.officialpaisleypark.com/ and also for their newsletter. One thing we can say for those that have not been to Minnesota before is that there is nothing to do there. It would be in your best interest to plan a pilgrim to the paisley holy land along with other possible events like…

Prince Memorial Concert
This strange tidbit of news comes from Live Nation and the announcement via the Associated Press that a star studded wish list of performers including Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, and Stevie Wonder and potentially many members of the Prince family including (purely speculative) Sheila E., Eric Leeds, Liv Warfield, Shelby J. and others will be getting together to do a major concert event in Minnesota on October 13, 2016 at the US Bank Stadium.

While none of the performers have been officially announced, the concert is only a month a half away. There was also discussion via Rolling Stone that it would be recorded and released via television which means that everyone could see the spectacle. Yay.

The show was supposed to have occurred a couple of times before but keeps getting rescheduled. With so many details up in the air and no place that we can find to currently purchase tickets even if you wanted to take a chance, point to the high possibility of another rescheduling.

Considering that Sheila E and separately, members of The Revolution are planning their own tour that will tour the United States, the probability of them participating is far fetched but would seem awkward without their presence. It also means that Prince fans around the globe will be able to get their fill of concert celebrations.

Legal Woes
While the Paisley Park museum launch will help to quell some of the savage money hounds that bang at the gate, his legacy is still up in debate. If his money and distribution of wealth and rights don’t get handled correctly, it could forever tie up his unreleased music in red tape.

To date, even his siblings and half siblings Tyka Nelson, Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson and John Nelson – and a possible niece and grand-niece, Brianna Nelson and Victoria Nelson, still have to be vetted in the process to gain any keys to the kingdom.

Drug Mislabeling
Another huge deal is that there were pill bottles found on the Paisley Park property that were mislabeled as hydrocodone, but were actually the opioid fentanyl. This is a huge breakthrough considering that the quantity he took of hydrocodone would have been perfectly fine, but if it was fentanyl, that quantity would have been deadly.

According to Reuters, “Among medications found in a dressing room, and in suitcases and bags, was an Aleve bottle that contained pills stamped “Watson 385,” which is used on hydrocodone-acetimonophen pills. But at least one of those pills contained fentanyl, the Associated Press reported.”

This is big news for fans that are very upset with the accusations of people not close to Prince insisting that he was a “drug addict.” This opens up the possibility into the branch of the investigation that this could very well have been an accidental overdose due to mislabeling. Stay tuned….

 

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Older Prince News

Prince has died at the young age of 57. Read more here.

This page will update any news that may come out in the aftermath of this horrible devastating tragedy.

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Prince had a dance party at Paisley Park and played excerpts from an upcoming live album from the Prince, Piano and a Microphone tour. He also mentioned at the party that Atlanta concert was the best of the tour so far. So far…

Also, as seen on the internet(which is always true), Prince’s plane made an emergency landing in Illinois on his way back home due to a medical emergency. He was taken from the plane to a hospital via ambulance. He’s back home and fine though. He was also seen riding his bike to to his local wrecka stow for Record Store Day. Read about that here.

Prince sent an email out via the Fox Theatre system to alert users that the Atlanta shows were canceled due to Prince having the flu. No alternate date was announced since he has to obviously recover and then figure out when to get the dates on the books. We did a post here with all of the juicy details regarding the dates and how it would break a 12 year absence. However, it looks now that the clock will continue to tick away until new dates are made known.

Ticket holders are asked to hold on to their tickets and that they would be honored on the new date or they could request a refund. The letter read as follows;

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016 – It is with profound regrets that Prince has to postpone two shows scheduled for tonight at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. Both shows, scheduled at 7 and 10 PM, as part of his Piano & A Microphone Tour, will be postponed as the entertainer is battling the flu.

Prince did a surprise concert on Friday March 18th, 2016 in New York City to announce that he’s writing a book called The Beautiful Ones. Check out all of the details here.

Prince’s tour, Prince, A Piano and A Microphone comes back to the states and will hit Oakland California in literally a one day notice before tickets went on sale. It’s aready sold out. He hits Paramount Theater for 2 shows on 2/28 with no notice as to where he’ll go next.

And for those wondering, he may be coming to your city relatively soon.

The Australia shows were all sold out, as well as New Zealand.  It was also reported that he played a few songs on the piano in the foyer of the Langham Hotel in Auckland on 2/23. Nobody complained about the noise.

The first show of the tour hit on 2/16 to rave reviews.  The set lists covered a lot of ground and also included emotional dedications to Denise “Vanity” Matthews who passed away on 2/15.

SHOW 1 – 18:30 pic.twitter.com/pa1se2d2Zq

— Prince Downunder (@welcome2aus) February 16, 2016

The Sydney shows have met with good reviews also.

And the great reviews just kept coming.

The stage was also altered to a 360 degree stage so that they could sell more tickets in the back of the arenas and those sold out quickly as well.  He also added a show in Perth and tickets for that show have also sold out.  We are finding that sometimes there are very pricey VIP tickets that still linger, so if you have deep pockets, double check things before believing that the show is truly sold out.

Prince has a huge issue and slammed scalpers because of how quickly the shows sold out leaning towards blaming scalpers for snatching up the tickets away from fans and scolding anyone re-selling tickets claiming that they were “not interested in music”.

No word on where the tour will head to next after they finish this round of shows.

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There was also some incorrect news indicating that Prince would be releasing his previous albums starting with For You on wax. Prince quickly let everyone know that the story was fake and there was no deal worked out with WB to make that happen. While he did supply a link to the fake story, we don;t want to in order to make sure that the offending site doesn’t get more undeserved traffic.

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Prince fans got a huge dose of live, live all the way live at Paisley Park with multiple shows starting on Thursday January 21st and running through Saturday the 23rd, 2016.

The entire area where he performed was remodeled for this gala event as Prince shared here;

For the first two shows on Thursday evening, Prince kicked off his Prince, a Piano and a Microphone sets playing tons of hits and completely solo similar to how he ended the One Nite Alone tour years ago, but this time rotating the entire show around the concept which he hasn’t done previously.

Here are the setlists from Thursday nights two shows that happened at 8pm and 11pm courtesy of Funky MrG.

Set lists from both last night shows… #PianoAndAMicrophone (via @funkymanudo) #Prince pic.twitter.com/jQeZL3Cew9

— Funky Mr.G (@FunkyMrG) January 22, 2016

Friday night featured acts PHO and then headlined by Larry Graham and Graham Central Station. It was primarily a Livestream event that was broadcast to the world, but there isn’t a way to see it again if you missed it live. So best bet is to subscribe to the Livestream channel so that you don’t miss it if it happens again.

Saturday nite was simply Prince playing a DJ set, but the night did close with Prince and Shelby J singing to “1000 X’s & O’s” over a track playing from his laptop.

Here is a photo captured of Prince doing his DJ thang.

If you want to know all that went down, there’s probably no better synopsis then what you’ll get here either via the video below or a recap of the weekend on The Digital Garden website here;

As for more details on the tour to take it outside of his residency, he hasn’t shared them at all and at this point, it’s very obvious that he’s doing a LOT of shows from paisley Park and that people are willing to come to him. But stay tuned.

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Prince showed up in St. Barts at Roman Abramovich‘s New Years Eve party and killed it with the following set list:

Let’s Go Crazy
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
U Got The Look
Cool Mono on guitar
Let’s Work/Musicology/Jam
Question Of U/The One
When Doves Cry
Nasty Girl
Sign O’ The Times
Hot Thang
Controversy
1999
Little Red Corvette
Nothing Compares 2 U
Kiss
Guitar
Plectrum Electrum
Purple Rain

As you can see, it was slap full of hits. Not to mention that the audience itself was a virtual ho’s Who that had Leo DiCaprio, George Lucas, Paul McCartney, Brett Ratner, Chris Rock, LA Reid, Guy Oseary, Lyor Cohen, Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, as well as tycoons David Geffen, Barry Diller, Len Blavatnik, Steve Tisch, Jeff Bewkes, Vivi Nevo and Michael Ovitz.

It was most definitely the place to be.

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Prince linked to a video for the 2007 song Somewhere Here On Earth that someone dropped on Vimeo. Not sure if he linked to it to let his legal folks know to have it pulled down or if he really wanted people to see it again.  Somewhere Here on Earth Prince ‘Somewhere Here On Earth’ from Phil Griffin on Vimeo.

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Prince‘s new album HINTnRUN Phase 2 dropped unexpectedly on Tidal and has since also hit iTunes as well. We covered it in a review which you can read here. Won’t speculate much more here. We already did that.

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A lot of neat things also popped up like Nik West‘s video on when she met and played with Prince.

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Prince decided while he was hanging out that he would go ahead and present the first presentation of the American Music Awards to The Weeknd. A lot of people commented on his guitar that he carried, but didn’t play. Why do you care? It’s Prince! Check it below.

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Prince was embarking on a international tour that was to cover a 16 cities in 11 countries. The tour is called Prince Spotlight: Piano & A Microphone and was to highlight simply Prince, a microphone and a piano.  The tour was postponed however due to the tragedies in Paris. No word as to when they will resume. It seems to us that they need him over there more than ever now. we’ll see how long the postponement lasts. This is not an outright cancellation.

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In related news, Andy Allo also canceled her tour as well. She instructed anyone that purchased tickets to email her your receipt to info@allevolution.com for something special as a thank you for buying tickets. She was scheduled to play in Paris on Friday, but again, her tour is also postponed until further notice.

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Also on Friday Nov. 6, a live authorized concert recording was aired on the Current. It’s a 20 minute recording of a medley played by Prince and 3rd Eye Girl that was recorded in Paris at Le Zenith back in 2014.  They also released a sneak preview of the show.  Also on Prince sat in as guest guitarist for an Andy Allo performance entitled  OUI CAN LUV that aired exclusively on Tidal. You can read more about both shows here including information about their stunt to play all Prince on their radio station once an inch of snow lands at Paisley Park.

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Prince did a show with Judith Hill at Paisley Park on 10/24 to help celebrate the release of Judith Hill’s new album Back In Time. It was great according to folks who were there.

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Prince has been performing a lot of private shows as of late. He played a private show on 10/14 for the WNBA champs the Minnesota Lynx when they snagged the championship title and played a 3 hour concert. You can read all about it here. Plus then again on 10/15 (into the A.M. of 10/16) he opened the doors to fans after they had tweeted (and the removed) a post that said: “Wanna come over and watch the game 2morrow? What do u wanna do after?” referring to the Falcons/Saints game. The report of the event made no mention of whether they actually watched the game, but they didn’t play until after it was over and played for almost two hours to an intimate crowd of about 35 joined by Liv Warfield on the stage.  Here’s the aforementioned report. And that’s not to mention the private show he gave Madonna earlier this month (check the older Prince new below). They’re practicing for something….

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Prince did not play at Tidal but surprisingly the media kept it quiet as possible. Never any reason given why they backed out. Somebody say something.

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Meanwhile, Prince did make a surprise appearance on The Today Show to chat with Tamron Hall, which you can see here.

ICYMI: @Prince3EG called @tamronhall, @williegeist, @alroker & @NMoralesNBC to talk about his album, Hit n Run! https://t.co/J7I1o5bTio — TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 30, 2015

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Also, a big thank U 2 Prince. We announced on 9/28 that some people were fussing about the lack of “Purple Picks” on Tidal that was promised to subscribers as an extra bonus for members. A few hours later and we got one. His majesty must be reading. We love ya! Prince released a track called Free Urself (http://www.tidal.com/album/51844379). What’s even better is that he’s not forcing subscribers to be on the higher end plan to listen, but as far as we know, you need to at least be subscribing.

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Also, Prince released a Tidal exclusive playlist called ALWAYS because he says that this 10 song playlist always works”.  The playlist consist of: GIVE ME YOUR LOVE – CURTIS MAYFIELD SINCE I HAD YOU – MARVIN GAYE ALWAYS – TONI BRAXTON SAY YES – FLOETRY 9 – WILLOW SMITH FEAT SZA LAY DOWN – FLOETRY NOTHING EVEN MATTERS – LAURYN HILL D’ANGELO HE LOVES ME – JILL SCOTT FEEL ALL MY LOVE INSIDE – MARVIN GAYE SOMEWHERE NOT HERE – ALPHA

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Judith Hill‘s new album Back In Time will hit the streets on October 23rd via NPG Records although some folks snagged it via LiveNation when they released it for free for a small 48 hours window. For those that missed it, they should definitely pick up a copy since it’s super amazing and funky;

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In the middle of the night on 10/8/2015, Madonna visited the Paisley Park complex and received a private concert from Prince. Madonna reportedly sat at his feet and Prince was said to look nervous occassionally pointing at her.

Madonna sat on the stage near Prince’s feet and looked up adoringly at him as he played guitar. I will never forget that image. — Andrea Swensson (@SlingshotAnnie) October 9, 2015

Andrea Swennson (@SlingshotAnnie) broked the news and who was present at the private concert speculated;

Prince seemed a little nervous, kept smiling and pointing down at her. I don’t know who was more smitten with whom. — Andrea Swensson (@SlingshotAnnie) October 9, 2015

You can read about the entire happening here.

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A brief on the discussion hit USA Today and also ABC‘s website where Prince shared, “After one meeting, it was obvious that Jay Z and the team he has assembled at TIDAL recognize and applaud the effort that real musicians put in2 their craft 2 achieve the very best they can at this pivotal time in the music industry. “Secondly, TIDAL have honored Us with a non-restrictive arrangement that once again allows Us to continue making art in the fashion We’ve grown accustomed 2 and We’re Extremely grateful 4 their generous support. And lastly, in the tech-savvy, real-time world We all live in 2day, everything is faster.  “From its conception and that one & only meeting, HITNRUN took about 90 days 2 prepare its release. If that’s what freedom feels like, HITNRUN is what it sounds like.” JAY Z added, “Prince has always been a visionary, a free-thinker. We’re honored to offer his breadth of work, “1999,” “Purple Rain,” etc., music that has inspired so many, on TIDAL. We’re also excited to be the home for his new upcoming album, HITNRUN. Both Prince and TIDAL share the belief that all creatives should have the opportunity to speak directly to those that love and support them. This partnership with Prince represents TIDAL’s philosophy in its truest form, a 1 to 1 connection and direct delivery of artistry to the world.”

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Also a couple weeks ago, Prince did do an interview with Ebony here, and he confirmed what we had thought may be part of the motivation for signing on exclusively with Tidal. The first being that it granted artists a better wage for their streams, but mostly because it facilitates the support of black owned businesses. He made that announcement during their performance in Washington DC many weeks ago where he stated that he wanted to visit black owned hotels, and support black owned businesses. Then he confirmed it in the interview when he stated, “I think when there’s a company like that, or the OWN network—situations where we finally get into a position to run things—we all should help.” Again, you can read the full interview here.

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But also don’t forget to check out the interview with Joshua Welton here on what it means to actually produce for Prince who has been known for his entire career to only produce himself. This is a great interview piece and then Prince joins in to the discussion to reflect more on the industry, Kendrick Lamar, Hannah, and more various praise.

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On the streaming front, it got real on Aug. 4, 2015, when Prince uploaded a good selection of albums to Apple and then promptly pulled all of his music off of the service on August 6. It seems to be a continuation of the fiasco early last month when he yanked his music off of all of the streaming services early July. Twitter user @PrinceNewsUK posted a pic of their AppleMusic app devoid of all Prince songs as of this morning. So this new development essentially translates into more drama from the Park in regards to any streaming services with exception to Tidal and the new track that was graced to Spotify. The single Stare was given to Spotify by Prince which was kind of unusual since he had just previously yanked all of his music from the streaming music service and now he’s giving them exclusives. You can stream it via Spotify here (You need to have a Spotify account).

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For people who ventured out to Paisley Park on August 8th for the “dance party”. No performance took place from Prince or 3EG and even the DJ brought in from New York only spun 2-1/2 Prince tunes. Two new songs and a piece of Kiss. But then again, he never said he would play, so not his fault. The party was held for members of the NYABJ (NY Association of Black Journalists) who received a discounted $25 entry and the general public that were charged the normal $50. And it was simply a dance party in the coolest club on the planet. 3rd Eye Girl drummer Hannah Welton originally announced the new HITNRUN album on a BBC show last month. Upload Audio – Download Music – 3rdEyeGirl World Exclusive on BBC Radio 6 Music – Craig Char and also here; Upload Audio – Download Music – Prince Album World Exclusive – BBC Radio 6 Music – COMPLETE!

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“Super hardcore Prince fans that know every song he’s ever recorded – we refer to them as ‘The Purple Collective’ or ‘The Purple Army’ – this album is absolutely for them, because it’s super funky.” “It’s definitely something we’re thinking is going to be released right away, it’s just not been nailed down yet. I can’t wait for everybody to get this album, it’s going to be amazing. “   The full album in its entirety was already played for President Obama which further reveals that it’s pretty much done and is just being tweaked before release. While we did do a piece to chat about the Tidal exclusivity in more detail, we speculated a little about the reasoning. Tidal is not offering artists substantially more than those other providers, but it is indeed offering more. There is also speculation that this is Prince making good on his announcement during his Baltimore show that he was looking to support more black owned businesses. Add to that additional speculation that Prince may have inked an under the table deal with Tidal to get more than the normal pittance they offer other artists. The most annoying part of his streaming options is that barely any of his albums post Warner Brothers are available online. We thought that may be rectified with the exclusivity of the Tidal deal, but it wasn’t. So albums like Rainbow Children, 3121, and others, are mysteriously (and annoyingly) missing. Let’s face it. If we can’t hear some of the better, newer material, it may not be worth jumping ship to Tidal just yet. Meanwhile on the music front, Prince released a new track called HARDROCKLOVER, that has gotten rave reviews. You can listen here and obviously on Tidal, but be sure to purchase it here as well.

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P did hit Washington DC on 6/13, it included two shows at Warner Theater (which sold out “immediately”) and then he also made an appearance at the White House for a 2 hour show for the POTUS and FLOTUS and 500 lucky A-list guests. Those special guests included Tyler Perry, Gayle King, Jon Bon Jovi, James Taylor, Al Sharpton, Angela Bassett, Russell Wilson and his sidekick Ciara, and others including Susan Rice and Eric Holder. Stevie Wonder also showed up at the White House to sit in on Signed Sealed Delivered. But the commoners also got a quick Stevie Wonder appearance at the Warner Theater shows when Stevie came out to sit in with Prince on Superstition. Before that, on June 6, they ripped up Paisley Park with an amazing funk jam that you probably missed. But we also saw that Prince tweeted the following on June 3;

SO B AS FREE AS U CAN B…B AS FREE AS U CAN B…B AS FREE AS U CAN B…B AS FREE AS U CAN B…B AS FREE AS U CAN…. pic.twitter.com/FKjJI8kuiz — Prince3EG (@Prince3EG) June 3, 2015

It also came accompanied with the Free Urself image on the right. Not sure if he’s simply sharing artwork or if this is a song title, the cover for the album he’s teased at coming in the summer or what it may be. Cool either way.

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Prince slapped three 20+ second video clips onto their Youtube channel teasing a new song called Stare that is being touted as “New Funk From Prince coming this summer“.

The video shows an iTunes link (and also in the video description) that points to the Baltimore single they released earlier this month.

So there’s no way to purchase the new single they’re teasing, but at least we know it’s coming.

Meanwhile, Prince and 3rd Eye Girl hit up Toronto for 2 shows getting the HitnRun tour back on the tracks. The Toronto Sun had many positive things to say including the fact that the first half was primarily new music (which is great) followed by a slew of hits. Unlike the Baltimore show we mention below.

They also decided that it was appropriate to discuss Prince’s personal life about his previous marriage feeling that it was in good taste. It’s not. Get over it.

Plus on the new Prince/3rd Eye Girl Twitter account, there are a few new photos of the Canadian evening you may want to check out.

On the 10th of May, Prince and 3rd Eye Girl took on Baltimore Maryland this past Mother’s Day in a “Rally 4 Peace” that was quoted as”..a catalyst for pause and reflection following the outpouring of violence that has gripped Baltimore and areas throughout the US. As a symbolic message of our shared humanity and love for one another, attendees are invited to wear something gray in tribute to all those recently lost in the violence. ”

The first hour of the concert was played on Jay Z‘s Tidal music service and there were tons of stars on hand like Beyonce, Alicia Keys, and many more including the invited parents Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Freddie Gray.

The set list included a lot of his hits rocked up 3rd Eye Girl style along with the live premiere of his new song called Baltimore.

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl restarted the Hit & Run tour in the U.S. that started in Louisville, KY on March 14, Detroit, Michigan on April 9th, and some varied shows at Paisley Park with Judith Hill during Record Store Weekend. No announcements have been made regarding any more shows as of yet, but considering that tickets were sold through LiveNation at http://www.livenation.com/artists/55852/prince, that’d probably be a good place to bookmark but the last couple have not appeared there, so you just have to stay tuned. Even though the show hasn’t been placed there yet.

For those alerted on Ticketmaster a month or so ago, Prince sent out an announcement regarding a new artist named Judith Hill where he sent out a personal note to his followers that said;

A Note From Prince

Sorry 2 bother U.Just wanted 2 send U this baby picture of Judith Hill with Her 1st piano.Loox like her parents, who r also musicians- had a plan. Well, that plan succeeded.This is Judith Hill’s debut album BACK IN TIME.Please spend some time with this music and then share it with someone U love.

Meanwhile, even if you missed the download, you can still listen to her entire album here.

For those that have been WAY behind on news, Prince made an appearance at the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary afterparty at the Plaza in NYC on a stage that had already seen performances with Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, B-52’s, Ariana Grande and more. He came on and performed Let’s Go Crazy with the craziest backers ever which included HAIM, Jimmy Fallon, and Bill Murray.

Here’s Jimmy talking about the night here.

A couple of nights before, Prince and 3rd Eye Girl made an appearance at a private party in New York for Michael Jordan showering them with hits like“Let’s Go Crazy”, “Take Me With U”, “U Got The Look”, “1999”, “Controversy”, “Little Red Corvette”, “When Doves Cry”, “Kiss”, “I Would Die 4 U”, “Housequake”, “Alphabet St.”, and ending the night with “Purple Rain”.. While we could regale the evening for you, Doc already handled that, so you can read his take on the evening here.

Word is that he is still in New York, so the city should be ready. maybe. It’s hard to know anymore.

And before that, at the beginning of February, a photo of Prince’s gear posted on Instagram showing Prince’s equipment being loaded for London. There was talk that they wanted to keep it secret, but the poster shown below in the concerts you missed” section started appearing everywhere online including here and here, so the secret was apparently out.

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl performed at Koko in London for a private Autism Rocks event on 2/2 and then on 2/4 in Dubai for the same organization. It was an invite only event with very few tickets made available otherwise.

the first show in London had an amazing set list that you can view on Docs site here: http://www.drfunkenberry.com/2015/02/02/prince-performs-private-show-at-koko-in-london-for-autismrocks/

Meanwhile, Prince appeared at the Grammy’s and presented the award for Best Album of the Year that was won by Beck, but not before making some strnng statements such as “Albums. Remember them? Like books and black lives, albums still matter.“

Anywho, if you lived under a rock, Prince also made an appearance at a W Hotel in Los Angeles to sit in with a band just because he could, but the big news is that minus this story, he’s MIA. Many are saying we should be thankful that he gave us a huge wave of appearances beore his disappearance, but we’re just frustrated. Things were looking so awesome.

And as many already know, Prince has removed all of his social media accounts out of the blue. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube accounts were all pulled and there is no reasoning as to why. An inside source speculates on why he thinks that may be here on Funkatopia.

Mr. Christopher also joined Dr. Funkenberry to chat about the disappearance on a great Spreecast that you can view here.

Warner Brothers touted that a tour was coming, but they’ve been known to be lying asses before. So we just wait.

In the meantime, Andy Allo took over the Funkatopia Radio Show and played all of her favorite songs that inspired her. So we kept the ball rolling with fun stuff while we wait for the tour info that WB said is coming which we’re beginning to believe may be hoo-ey. Prince makes his own schedule, so we’ll just wait for him to say.

There is also finally talk about the release of an NPGQ album, which we hear from a few sources is just around the corner. While he does do production on the album, Prince is NOT in NPGQ. It is sort of an updated version of Madhouse. A instrumental jam session featuring Paisley Park alumni like John Blackwell and Marcus Anderson. Many are already complaining saying that it’s “elevator music” which is ridiculous since they have yet to even hear the release and are basing their assumptions on the brief excerpts they heard during the LiveStream. We know better. Even if it was, it would be the best damn elevator music you had ever heard in your life.

Meanwhile, both albums PLECTRUMELECTRUM and Art Official Age are now available on LP from the AOA store here which is making audiophiles around the world super happy. Although, it would be fantastic if they came up with alternate pricing for those that already bought the album on CD and MP3, because another $23 is a tough pill to swallow after you’ve already forked over so much previously.

Additionally, there’s even talk about an NPG album coming out and we have no idea who is playing, what it will consist of, but NPG releases are normally great songs that are written and composed inside the rooms and halls of Paisley Park and released as a compilation of sorts. That’s typically what it’s been in the past, but again, you just never know.

Meanwhile, we won’t bore you with details of stuff that happened 2+ weeks ago, but for those that maybe missed it somehow, Prince and 3rd Eye Girl graced SNL with host Chris Rock on November 1st. They broke out Clouds, a piece of PLECTRUMELECTRUM, MARZ, and ANOTHERLOVE, You can watch it if you did miss it. Joined by Lianne La Havas and Mrs. Liv Warfield, it was crazy good (apologies to the Pop Tarts marketing team). Anywho, here’s the SNL show.

And in even older news, there was a LiveStream event last month (9/30) that you also may have missed somehow. We created a page to chat about the LiveStream event here along with links to replay it if you missed it! The sad thing is that the Livetream event appears to have been taken down and replaced with various live clips and videos. Booo!

And WHY is there still no word on the release of 30th anniversary edition of Purple Rain? The bummer is that the reissue doesn’t look like it’s going to happen in 2014 to be properly released in the 30th anniversary year and that’s a bummer. There’s nothing saying that it has to be released in 2014, but what’s the point if you don’t? Maybe he’s saving up for a 50th anniversary? Lord, please no.

 

UPCOMING CONCERTS

The calendar used to feature Prince related concerts, but now showcases all things funk. We started focusing on shows just in or near Atlanta, but expanded to include the continental U.S.. This is a full time job with no pay. Can you help?

The funk calendar has been moved here.

 

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl Videos

While you can click here to visit the 3rd Eye Girl video channel, there t’aint no videos any-mo. But you can still find some out there while they last. Cough cough.

PRINCE CONCERTS (and Prince related concerts) THAT YOU MISSED
Not necessarily in the best of order…

Prince, Piano & A Microphone – April 14th – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre – 2 shows

Prince, Piano & A Microphone – April 7h – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre – 2 shows – CANCELED

Prince, Piano & A Microphone – March 25th – Toronto – Sony Centre – 2 shows

Prince, a Piano & a Microphone – March 21 – Montreal – Theater Maisonneuve

Prince, a Piano & a Microphone – March 4, 2016 – Oracle Arena – Oakland, CA

Prince, a Piano & a Microphone – February 28, 2016 – Paramount Theater – Oakland, CA (2 shows)

Prince, a Piano & a Microphone – February 25, 2016 – Perth Arena – Perth (2 shows)
Prince, a Piano & a Microphone – February 24, 2016 – ASB Theater – Auckland (2 shows)

Prince, a Piano & a Microphone – February 25, 2016 – Perth Arena – Perth (2 shows)

Prince, a Piano & a Microphone – February 17, 2016  – Melbourne State Theater (2 shows) – Melbourne

Prince, a Piano & a Microphone – February 20, 2016 – Sydney Opera House (2 shows) – Sydney

Prince, a Piano & a Microphone – February 21, 2016 – Sydney State Theater (2 shows) – Sydney

Prince, a Piano & a Microphone – February 16, 2016 – Melbourne State Theater (2 shows) – Melbourne

Prince – October 24, 2015 – Paisley Park with Judith Hill

Prince – Sept. 4-6th, 2015 – Paisley Park 

Saturday August 8, 2015 – Paisley Park Dance Party (Paisley Park)

Prince & 3rd Eye Girl – June 14, 2015 – Washington DC – Warner Theater

Prince & 3rd Eye Girl -June 6, 2015 – Paisley Park

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl – May 23, 2015 – Montreal

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl – May 19, 2015 – Toronto, Canada

Prince & 3rd Eye Girl – May 10, 2015 (Mother’s Day) –
Baltimore, MD – Royal Farms Arena

Prince – Paisley Park – Dance 4 Peace show – May 2, 2015

Prince & 3rd Eye Girl- Paisley Park – April 18, 2015

Prince & 3rd Eye Girl- Detroit, MI – April 9, 2015

Prince & 3rd Eye Girl – March 14, 2015 – Louisville, KY

George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic February 12, 2015 – Ziggy’s – Winston-Salem, NC

George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic February 13, 2015 – Ziggy’s – Winston-Salem, NC

Prince – 2/8/2015 – Surprise appearance on the Grammy’s. Presenting

Prince & 3rd Eye Girl – February 4, 2015- Dubai. Invite only

Prince & 3rd Eye Girl – February 2, 2015- Koko in London. Invite only

Prince & 3rd Eye Girl – February 3. 2015 – Dubai. Invite only

Mavis Staples January 10, 2015 Constitution Hall Washington D.C.

Mavis Staples January 16, 2015 Laxson Auditorium Chico, CA

Chaka Khan January 17, 2015 Harrah’s Casino Atlantic City, NJ

Sheila E. December 19, 2014 Genesee Theater Waukegan, IL

Chaka Khan December 27, 2014 Choctaw Event Center Durant, OK

Morris Day and The Time w/ The Isley Brothers, Mint Condition and others. Dec. 31, 2014 Phillip’s Arena Atlanta, GA

Mavis Staples December 16, 2014 Tobin Center San Antonio, TX

Sheila E. December 13, 2014 Sycuan Casino El Cajon, CA

Sheila E. December 12, 2014 Sheila E Birthday concert Los Angeles, CA

Mavis Staples December 12, 2014 Great Hall Cedar Falls, IA

Andy Allo December 8, 2014 Hotel Cafe Los Angeles, CA

Liv Warfield December 8, 2014 Berlin, Germany

Chaka Khan December 9, 2014 Google+ Grammy U – Off the Record ONLINE! 6pm-8pm EST Info here

Liv Warfield w/ Cyndi Lauper and Friends December 6, 2014 Beacon Theater New York, NY

Liv Warfield w/ Tower of Power November 15, 2014 Forum Leverkusen, Germany

Andy Allo October 25, 2014

KING October 23, 2014 The Loft Atlanta, GA

Liv Warfield October 14, 2014 McMenamins Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR

Janelle Monae October 18, 2014 Treasure Island San Francisco, CA

Liv Warfield October 3-6, 2014 Caribbean Sea Festival Aruba

Sheila E. September 27, 2014 Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival Boston, MA

Chaka Khan (with George Benson) September 18, 2014 Los Angeles County Fair Pomona, CA

Morris Day and The Time September 12, 2014 Charlotte Funkfest Charlotte, NC

Morris Day and The Time September 13, 2014 Thunder Valley Casino Lincoln, CA

fDeluxe (formerly The Family) September 7 2014 Dakota Jazz Club Minneapolis, MN

Morris Day and The Time August 30, 2014 Wolf Creek Amphitheater Atlanta, GA

Chaka Khan August 30, 2014 World Trade Center Willemstad, AN

Liv Warfield September 1, 2014 Made In America Fest

Liv Warfield August 23-24, 2014 Afro Punk Fest Brooklyn, NY

Janelle Monàe August 23, 2014 Loreley St. Goarshausen, Germany

Janelle Monàe August 24, 2014 Rock En Seine Festival Paris, France

Liv Warfield August 15-16, 2014 Stockholm Culture Festival Sweden

Janelle Monàe August 22, 2014 Ferrolpolis w/ Seeed Gräfenhainichen, Germany

Chaka Khan August 23, 2014 Hammerstein Ballroom New York, NY

Sheila E. August 7, 2014 Corning Preserve Boat Launch Albany, NY

Janelle Monae August 8, 2014 SUVILAHTI Parrukatu 00540 Helsinki, Finland

Sheila E. August 8, 2014 Flint Jazz Festival Flint, MI

Chaka Khan August 9, 2014 The Chicago Theater Chicago, IL

Morris Day and The Time August 9, 2014 Greek Theater Los Angeles, CA

Sheila E. August 9, 2014 Harry Kinney Civic Plaza Albuquerque, NM

Elisa Fiorillo Dease August 9, 2014 Italian American Club restaurant Las Vegas, NV

Janelle Monàe Tuesday August 12, 2014 Falconer Salen Fredericksberg, Denmark

Elisa Fiorillo Dease August 12, 2014 Tuscany Hotel and Casino Las Vegas, NV

Liv Warfield August 13-14, 2014 Goteburg Culture Festival Sweden

Liv Warfield July 18, 2014 Pori Jazz Festival Finland

Liv Warfield July 25, 2014 Black Sea Jazz Festival

L.P. Music (featuring St. Paul Peterson and Eric Leeds) July 8, 2014 Icehouse Minneapolis, MN

Janelle Monae July 10, 2014 Taste of Chicago Chicago, IL

Liv Warfield July 12, 2014 Lugano festival Milan

Liv Warfield July 13, 2014 North Sea Jazz Festival Netherlands

Morris Day and The Time July 2, 2014 Chene Park Detroit, MI

Janelle Monae July 4, 2014 Essence Festival New Orleans, LA

KING July 4, 2014 Essence Festival Superlounge New Orleans, LA

Liv Warfield featuring Blackbyrd and the NPG Hornz July 4, 2014 House of Blues New Orleans, LA

Liv Warfield July 5, 2014 Essence Festival New Orleans, LA

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl July 4th New Orleans, LA Essence Music Festival 20th Anniversary
Notes: Of note were also performances from Liv Warfield (Saturday 7/5 at the Superlounge), Janelle Monae (Friday 7/4), KING (Friday 7/4 at the Superlounge), Erykah Badu (Sunday 7/6), Jill Scott (Saturday 7/5), The Roots (Saturday 7/5), Charlie Wilson (Sunday 7/6), and more..

Andy Allo June 17, 2014 Blue Note Tokyo

Andy Allo June 18, 2014 Blue Note Tokyo

Janelle Monae June 20, 2014 Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater Rochester, NY

Andy Allo June 20, 2014 Cesar Chavez Plaza – Free Show Sacramento, CA

Janelle Monae June 22, 2014 Hollywood Bowl Hollywood, CA

KING June 27, 2014 Album Preview party Voila! Gallery Los Angeles, CA

Bobby Z’s 3rd Annual Benefit 2 Celebrate Life
Bobby Z and VIP Host Apollonia June 28, 2014 Minneapolis First Avenue

Liv Warfield Sunday June 29, 2014 BET Experience Los Angeles, CA

Paisley Park After Dark (CONFIRMED) Liv Warfield and the NPG Hornz June 13, 2014 Paisley Park in MN

Andy Allo June 9, 2014 Riverbend Festival Chattanooga, TN

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl June 7, 2014 Vienna Wiener Stadthalle in Austria

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl June 3, 2014 Berlin Tempodrom

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl June 4, 2014 (2 shows) – 5:30 and 8:30 London Roundhouse

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl June 1, 2014 (2 shows) Paris, France Zenith

Sheila E Thursday May 29, 2014 Birchmere Alexandria, VA

Sheila E Friday May 30, 2014 World Cafe Live Wilmington, DE

Sheila E Saturday May 31, 2014 BB King Blues Club New York, NY

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl May 27, 2014 – Belgium – SportPaleis

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl May 22, 2014 – Glasgow, Scotland – Glasgow SSE Hydro

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl May 23, 2014 – Leeds – Leeds First Direct Arena

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl May 25, 2014 – Amsterdam, Holland – Ziggo Dome

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl May 3, 2014 – Minnesota – Paisley Park

Janelle Monàe Wednesday May 7, 2014 Manchester Academy I Manchester, UK

Janelle Monàe Thursday May 8, 2014 – Birmingham Institute – Birmingham, UK

Liv Warfield Friday May 9, 2014 – Limelight – Peoria, IL

Janelle Monàe Friday May 9, 2014 – Briston Academy – London, UK

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl May 15, 2014 – Birmingham United Kingdom – Birmingham LG Arena

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl May 16, 2014 – Manchester – Manchester Phones 4u Arena

Liv Warfield and the NPG Hornz Sunday April 6th, 2014 – BB King’s Blues Club New York, NY

Paisley Park After Dark March 28th and 29th

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl Two shows – March 19, 2014 – 7:30 and 11pm Fillmore San Francisco, CA

Tipping Point Benefit concert Chaka Khan Thursday March 13, 2014 – Belly Up Aspen – Aspen, CO Tickets here

Liv Warfield w/ the NPG Hornz Friday March 14, 2014 – 1 Oak – Los Angeles, CA

Andy Allo Saturday March 15, 2014 – Living Room Session @ Stage It – Los Angeles, CA

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl March 15, 2014 – Oakland. CA – Fox Theater

Prince Prince and 3rd Eye Girl Saturday March 8, 2014 – Hollywood Palladium See Docs coverage here along with the super long set list

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl Monday February 21, 2014 7:00pm – Manchester Academy – Manchester, England

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl February 22, 2014 – Manchester, England

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl Monday February 17, 2014 – Ronnie Scott’s in London

Morris Day & The Time (opening for Johnny Gill) Saturday February 15, 2014 – Garrett Coliseum – Montgomery, AL

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl February 16, 2014 – KOKO’s in London THREE Shows – First beginning at 6pm

Prince February 14, 2014 KinGs Landing in London

Prince February 9, 2014 (7pm London time) Shepherds Bush (EMPIRE) Setlist here Ticket pricing is 70 pounds. London No ticket info available

Prince February 5, 2014 (7pm London time) The Electric Ballroom Camden Street, London No ticket info available yet

Prince February 4, 2014 (changed from the 3rd) Home of nu-soul singer Lianne La Havas.

Morris Day & The Time Friday January 17, 2014 (8pm show) BB Kings Blues Club New York, NY

Morris Day & The Time Friday January 17, 2014 (10:30pm show) BB Kings Blues Club New York, NY

Morris Day & The Time Saturday January 18, 2014 Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, NJ

Janelle Monàe Saturday January 11, 2014 Marquee Theater Tempe, AZ

Janelle Monàe Monday January 13, 2014 House of Blues San Diego, CA

Janelle Monàe Tuesday January 14, 2014 House of Blues Anaheim, CA

Sheila E Tuesday December 31, 2013 (7pm – New Years Eve) Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles, CA

Sheila E Tuesday December 31, 2013 (10:30pm – New Years Eve) Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles, CA

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl Friday December 27, 2013 Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl Saturday December 28, 2013 Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl with Special guest Janelle Monae See the set lists and highlights below! Sunday December 29, 2013 Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT 10-19-2013

3rd Eye Girl Pajama Dance Party Paisley Park Chanhassen, MN Doors open at 2am (yes, you read that right) Party ’til the sun comes up $50 Donation (typically cash only)

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl Saturday 10/5/2013 Paisley Park Studios $50 donation at the door No alcohol, cameras, or cell phones Minneapolis, MN

KING (a Prince managed band. No Prince appearance scheduled) Chicago, IL September 13, 2013 Martyr’s

KING (a Prince managed band. No Prince appearance scheduled) San Francisco, CA September 15, 2013 Yoshi’s Lounge

KING (a Prince managed band. No Prince appearance scheduled) Los Angeles, CA September 17, 2013 El Rey

KING (a Prince managed band. No Prince appearance scheduled) Brooklyn, NY September 4, 2013 Music Hall of Williamsburg

KING (a Prince managed band. No Prince appearance scheduled) New York, NY September 5, 2013 Le Poisson Rouge

KING (a Prince managed band. No Prince appearance scheduled) Toronto, Canada September 7, 2013 Mod Club

KING (a Prince managed band. No Prince appearance scheduled) Philadelphia, PA September 9, 2013 World Cafe’ Live

Prince Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival August 31 General Info Tickets here

Prince presents Shelby J and Liv Warfield Here’s a taste of what you missed. August, 21 through August 25, 2013 City Winery, 155 Varick Street, New York, NY

and of course tons more.