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Prince’s Epic ‘Purple Rain’ Tour: An Oral History

By David Browne

David Browne

On July 27th, 1984, Prince and the Revolution were confronted with their first hint of how their lives were about to change when they attended the Hollywood premiere of Prince ‘s first movie, Purple Rain . “That night at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre was insane,” recalls keyboardist Lisa Coleman. “We thought were just making what would be kind of a cult film. I’d stood in line at that theater to see Alien the first day it came out. And now there I was, arriving in a limo. Limousine, red carpet – none of us had ever done anything like that before. We felt more like rebels, and suddenly we’re all fancy, like movie stars.”

That night would only be the start of one of the most momentous years in Prince’s life. The film was an immediate cultural touchstone, grossing $7.7 million in its opening weekend (a commanding figure at the time) and eventually grossing 10 times that amount. Four months later, at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Prince and the Revolution launched the Purple Rain tour. The 98-show trek, which continued through April 1985, was groundbreaking in many ways: It introduced Prince’s most elaborate sets and a new guitarist (Wendy Melvoin), and the crowd hysteria and occasional cameos from the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Madonna confirmed Prince’s place as pop’s most commanding star of the moment.

In the confines of those tightly structured shows, Prince reveled in special effects and over-the-top staging – doing splits or somersaults, playing his famous ejaculating guitar (using Ivory Liquid, of course) or pretending to talk to the Lord during the “Purple Rain” B side “God.” Yet the tour impacted on him in ways he and the Revolution never expected. In time for the upcoming deluxe reissue of the Purple Rain album – with accompanying bonus audio and video material – and the tour’s inclusion on  Rolling Stone ‘s 50 Greatest Concerts of the Last 50 Years list, RS spoke with the Revolution and the band’s unofficial member, lighting director LeRoy Bennett, about those momentous five months and their aftermath.

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I. Preparations

Wendy Melvoin (guitarist): I remember being conscious that the Purple Rain tour was the biggest thing he had ever done [during planning stages]. I kept seeing sketches of plans and Prince would buzz in and out of the rooms. We were all being fitted for clothes that were being made. I was standing on one of those pill boxes, and there are about five people doing the measurements on me. It was like Queen Victoria being dressed for a gathering. At one point, one of them tried to do an inseam on my pant leg, and I felt really oddly like, “Fuck this – I’m not entitled to this. Why is this happening?”

Prince walked in and asked me to come outside so he could talk to me. Apparently he had been watching what was going on and he took me outside and goes, “You have to allow this to happen. You have to allow them to do what it is that they do. That’s why they’re here. And don’t feel bad about it.” At that very moment, I realized, “OK. There’s something else happening here, and I just have to let this happen.” I didn’t want to get in the way of how he was trying to represent himself. And that was a big, big a-ha! moment for me. I sat back and saw this thing unfold.

LeRoy Bennett (lighting director): The theatrics started to become more and more evident. Controversy had a little bit and the 1999 tour had a bit more theatrics in it. But the Purple Rain tour was a major step in technology for us. Once you’ve seen a laser beam for five minutes, you’re done with it. So what we were doing was pushing the lasers and different things through fiber optics. We had dry-ice fog, but we used liquid nitrogen a lot. For “When Doves Cry,” we’d have jets that shot horizontally across the stage. It almost looked like ghosts that flew across, met in the middle of the stage and dissipated. Other [lights] came up from the back like these huge fountains. We wanted the show to be more of an immersive experience. We wanted to portray the emotions of the songs and create interesting environments.

Melvoin : As far as signing a non-disclosure, like “You’re not allowed to do drugs,” I had heard his crew had to do something like that, but we as a band didn’t have to. But he didn’t like it when you drank in public and someone took a picture of it. He would get really buzzed if you had a picture taken with a beer because it’s like, “I don’t want children to think they can be badass only with a beer in their hand!” I understood it. I got it. There was a little bit of a weirdness, but I understood it was a business he was trying to run, and I respected it.

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Matt Fink (keyboardist): Very few bands – pop bands, which I suppose you could say we were at that time – were doing coordinated dance moves while they were on their instruments. Keyboard players like myself, you didn’t really see them doing choreographed moves with the bands. But Prince wanted the whole band moving.

Mark Brown (a.k.a. BrownMark, bassist): I grew up in a time period where I would go see Cameo and the whole band was always moving. I was always asked to help with the choreography [for Prince], and so, when we would build the shows, I was kind of responsible for all of the movement. I had to figure out a way, with this different type of music, to create movement that was simple and where you could still play your instrument effectively. It was a challenge because not everybody was used to dancing and playing.

Lisa Coleman (keyboardist): We would just have to bend our bodies or shake our heads. Sometimes it got kind of rough too because I was wearing high heels and playing keyboards. It ruined my back for the rest of my life.

Fink : We were at Rudolphs Bar-B-Que [in Minneapolis] one late night and I remember Prince saying to me, “Do you think it would be cool if Bobby was standing up playing drums?” And I said, “How does a drummer stand up?” He wanted so badly for Bobby to stand up and play drums. But it worked because we had the drum machine running and Bobby was playing percussion and cymbals against the drum machine.

Bobby Z. (a.k.a. Robert Rivkin, drummer): No drummers had been required to do choreography. That was just the Prince world. We’d practice in front of a mirror. Looking at yourself was hard. He made us all look graceful, like in a ballet, because you don’t want to be a dork.

Melvoin : We had two weeks of productions rehearsals, I think in St. Paul, right before the tour started. I remember the first day we went in for full-on production, and that was astonishing to see it. That’s when I realized it, “Holy shit, this is massive. We’re in a stadium right now in production rehearsals.” I know it doesn’t sound like much right now, but back then it was like, “Oh, my God.”

Bennett : We spent more time in rehearsal than we had ever done before. It was almost like we did a tour of Minneapolis because we kept changing venues once a week, or once a week and half.

Bobby Z. : It was all about how he entered the stage. At various shows it was, “OK, now you have the gymnasium and the catwalk.” The biggest thing they had were the elevators under the stage for “Let’s Go Crazy.” There was a mannequin for when he would appear and disappear. There were all these cool magic tricks to get Prince on and off stage.

Brown : For the “When Doves Cry” scene, you had this stage prop of the claw-foot tub up on a hydraulic lift behind Bobby that was way up high. The first time they tried using the tub, which was very lightweight and made out of fiberglass, Prince got into it and they had not nailed it down into the platform. That thing went right over backwards once he got in it. He took quite a tumble. He just lay there while they checked him out, and fortunately he just had some good bruising. Things got called that day while they figured out what needed to be changed on that one. That was a scary moment.

Bennett : My heart stopped. He didn’t really fall that far, like four feet. But it shook him up a little bit. He walked off the stage, got in his car – which he always parked next to the stage in the arena – and took off. That was the end of rehearsals for the day. The carpenters changed the lyrics to “this is the sound when tubs fly.”

Melvoin : If Prince was doing any kind of bad behavior – if he was mean or just straight-up wrong about something he said he was straight-up right about – he always said something bad would happen to him. The way I remember that moment is that he had gotten into a fight with his manager. Prince was in a super-cranky mood and he was practicing his move with the bathtub and the bathtub fell. He was so freaked by it that he was super nice and kind [ laughs ]. Very humble.

Fink : The loudest white noise possible.

Bennett : There were times where I couldn’t hear myself talking to the spotlight operators and they were having a hard time hearing me. It was crazy.

Bobby Z : Then Prince would rile them back up. He’d shake his ass or do a costume change or something, and people would go nuts again.

Coleman : The fun part was watching him, because a lot of things didn’t happen unless he gave us visual cues. It was like a game watching him run around the stage, and he would do a slight move of his hand, which would cue a riff or something. You’d have to watch pretty darn closely. Every once in a while, to cue the end of a song, he’d throw a hankie into the air, and when the hankie hit the ground, that’s when we would stop. So you had to be able to see the ground, and if you’re backed up on a riser behind keyboards and cymbals, sometimes it was hard to see, like, “Oh no! The hankie disappeared!”

Bennett : He would do hand signals for certain musical turnarounds, so you would have to watch for all that. He liked to mess around. Every once in a while, he would just do the signal in front of his chest, so the band could see it and I couldn’t. He would just do it to be funny.

Coleman : He’d say “Body Heat.” Bobby would hit the snare drum once and then we’d have to go to “Body Heat.” Then he’d stop that by saying, “‘Rumble’ in E.” So we had all these different things, little modular funky things that we could put together that he could call out like we were his jukebox or drum machine that he could play. It was like a live computer.

“It was literally the Olympics. We were like synchronized swimmers.” –Wendy Melvoin

Bobby Z : The crowd could feel it was tight and spontaneous, but it also had some train wrecks. Ninety-nine percent of the time it was a miracle.

Melvoin : I had boots on, tons of jewelry, and my instrument and I had to sing and do choreography. It was literally the Olympics. We were like synchronized swimmers. If someone screwed up that thing, there’s not even a bronze medal. You’re just off the team. This was high stakes.

Bobby Z.: At our Syracuse show, he called out “sway from side to side,” and the entire Revolution moved like a piston in an engine back and forth.

Coleman : We were wearing all these big … what do you call it? These regal New Romantics clothes? It was hot. I’d go up onstage wearing a cape on top of a dress, and I would just take off stuff during the show. Shed as much as I could. It was hot onstage with all those ruffles.

Melvoin : One of the things that Prince would tell us before going on tour, especially at the beginning of Purple Rain , was, “If you feel yourself rushing and playing too fast, cut your body’s heart rhythm in half and move your body in half-time, and you will play behind the beat.” We were religious about it.

Coleman : Prince wanted always be as good as the film. He didn’t want anyone ever to go, “Oh, that’s the band from the movie? Eww , they’re not as good.” That was one of his worst fears.

Brown : We used to get fined if we made mistakes, and I got to a point where I would stop playing bass notes in certain types of segues and start this rumbling on the bass. Prince loved that crap. And it saved me from a lot of fines.

Coleman : If you missed a cue or played an extra horn punch or something, that was $500. He would withhold your money. It never happened to me. I’m lucky. Actually, I’m good at faking it. He never knew when I made a mistake.

Melvoin : He threatened to take your paycheck away, and a couple times he tried, but we all laughed at him and said, “No, that’s not going to happen.” It was this warning, this threat, and he was really happy to go ahead and make the threat because it would make you get your shit together if you had made a mistake.

“If you missed a cue or played an extra horn punch or something, that was $500. He would withhold your money.” –Lisa Coleman

III. The Intensity

Coleman : When we were at the Superdome in New Orleans, it was, what, 90,000 people? We knew it was big because it sounded big, and then Prince said, “LeRoy, turn on the house lights!” And we turn on the house lights and it was scary. Prince was like, “ Noooo! Turn them off, turn them off!” It was too much. It was an ocean of people.

Melvoin : I loved when we turned the lights on during “Take Me with You” and we could actually see the audience. We would turn on the stadium lights full blast – fluorescent, horrible lighting – and we could see everybody in the audience and we all became one and sang “Take Me With You.” You see every seat filled. You look to your left and you see everybody. You look to your right. It was incredible, and they all sang it. It was really beautiful.

Bennett : It must have been scary to them because they had no idea there were that many people. I’m sure the first time they saw that, they shit themselves [ laughs ].

Brown : We were literally the hardest-working band in show business. I would feel sorry when he would invite people to play with us onstage, because they didn’t understand that type of dedication. When people would sit in with us, they didn’t even know what to do. I don’t care how seasoned a musician they were.

Bobby Z: Everybody came in the band’s room, like Springsteen and Madonna [during a multi-show run at the Forum in Los Angeles in February 1985]. We had an open-door policy and got to meet a lot of fun people. Onstage, they always thought it was exciting. But onstage with Prince it was always a game.

Coleman : It became a take-no-prisoners situation, like, “Yeah, let’s just go out there and conquer the world.” And all the people that were supposed to be the competition were just like saying, “Wow!” to Prince. And again, he wanted to soak that up. He wanted to experience it firsthand, so that was a good way to do it.

Melvoin : Unfortunately he would kind of screw with people, especially big famous artists who would come up. If he sensed they were a little bit lost, he’d try and expose that: grab a guitar and do a blistering solo in their face. There was a certain amount of, like, straight-up competitive humiliation. But he thrived on that, like, “I know I’m great.”

Coleman : With Bruce, I remember Prince being a bit of an imp and trying to throw him off. He was giving us his secret hand signals while Bruce was trying to play a guitar solo. There was a little cat and mouse going on. I never knew if Bruce knew Prince was doing that because there was a bit of giggling, but we knew and were like, “No, don’t do that, it’s so mean!”

Fink : Prince was reveling in it. It was his goal to tower over everybody in a lot of ways. He loved it. With Madonna, they were flirting and playing.

Coleman : I have to admit I’m such a dork. I didn’t know who Madonna was. This girl came onto the stage and I was like, “Who’s that?” I thought he just pulled some girl up on the stage. I didn’t know what was going on until I was in the bathroom after the show.

Melvoin : Madonna came backstage and was in our dressing room, mine and Lisa’s, and wanted to use the bathroom. It was this true girl moment. We were each in our stalls peeing at the same time and she goes, “You guys are such badasses!” That was my first introduction to Madonna.

Coleman : We always had jams [during the encores]. “Baby I’m a Star” was notorious. “Purple Rain” could be 30 minutes long. We could stretch things out.

Bennett : We used to do a running bet with the crew on how long “Purple Rain” was going to be. Every night. I’m not a betting man, so I never got involved, but in the production office, there was a board where people would place their bets on the time. It was usually extended between 20 to 25 minutes. You could win a couple hundred bucks.

Coleman : During that time, Prince was very positive and didn’t want to miss what it meant to the world. He would read every magazine, whatever press. He wanted to see it all, good or bad. And then he wanted to affect it in a positive way, and he started doing more philanthropic things. We started playing at schools or doing food drives.

“We used to do a running bet with the crew on how long ‘Purple Rain’ was going to be.” –LeRoy Bennett

Melvoin : On that tour we’d be onstage for hours and then of course we’d end up doing another show afterwards or we’d do a show during the day somewhere else. It was full on every night until the last show. I remember we went to Gallaudet, the school for the deaf [in Washington, D.C.] and did the entire show in their auditorium, and it was incredible. There were huge monitors on the floor in the audience so the kids could feel the bottom end. I remember at least 25 signers in the audience who were watching us and signing all the words to every song. The kids loved it. And then they broke it down and we went to the stadium and played another show that night.

Fink : By the end of it, we were changing some arrangements. Prince still put us through mental gymnastics every day. He’d make a new transition between certain songs and you had to remember it. It was like a game to him. But Prince cut the tour short. Around the World in a Day was on his mind and backstage we were already looking at album covers for that.

Brown : During soundchecks, we recorded “4 the Tears in Your Eyes.” “The Ladder.” All kinds of stuff.

IV. The Aftermath

Coleman : By the end of the tour, he was done with [ Purple Rain ]. He just burned fast and hard. If you look at the concert footage, he was killing his body. It was really, really hard work and to do it for six months was plenty for him. He was starting to get excited about other things. He was ready to move on.

Bennett : Prior to that tour, we were all very close, but then it started to separate out so that he was very isolated from us towards the end of the tour. I think he anticipated the fame to a certain level, but not what that was. It sounds good in theory until it actually happens. I can’t say it frightened him, but it definitely threw him off. He was just withdrawing. I used to spend a ton of time with him back in Minneapolis over at his house and doing things with him like going to movies. That all started to go away and disappear at a certain degree during that tour. It eventually got to the point where it was us and him. And it started to suck.

Coleman : At first it was just one bus for the whole band. Then the boys had a bus, and Wendy and I had a bus. And Prince had his own bus.

Melvoin : From Purple Rain through Sign ‘O’ the Times were his strongest mental and physical times. He wasn’t beaten down by any of it. It gave him incredible strength. There was a certain sort of naïveté about him during that time where he wasn’t second-guessing himself. He handled it really beautifully and wasn’t a frivolous little boy at all. He knew what his responsibility was, and he felt great about it. I don’t know how strong that feeling was for him in his later years. He handled it great at the time, but I’m sure that ultimately what it did to him is whittle away at a certain kind of deep self-esteem about himself. How could anybody reconcile that kind of power and success without it screwing with you deeply?

Coleman  [on Prince not participating in “We Are the World” near the end of the tour]: It was the night of the Grammys – we’d done so well and everything was so positive. He just messed up big. I didn’t get why he wouldn’t be involved in that. I can’t really speak to that, honestly, because I didn’t really understand his thinking on it then. I think he just saw a whole bunch of pop stars getting together to “do good,” and I think he thought that was kind of bullshit, in a way.

But if you weren’t going to go there, then just don’t be seen. He was out [that night] and his bodyguard punched somebody or something. When the bad press came out it was like, “Don’t talk about it. … Nobody mention that.” So ridiculous! I thought it was most unfortunate. It was totally the opposite of what he preached.

Bennett : That whole period was so magical. You could just feel the energy of his stardom just skyrocketing. He could’ve continued to write major hits like all the songs on Purple Rain . I think it just became too easy. It wasn’t pushing him and challenging himself, because he constantly challenged himself. He did that with all of us, too. He pushed me to be more than I thought I could be. He would see who you are, what he saw you could do, and most of the time beyond what you believed you could do. And he would just push you there.

Brown : The confidence level that Prince created in all of us – you did anything. You did whatever to win the game.

Melvoin : It was thrilling. It was this roller-coaster feeling: “ Woo , God, it’s scary, but I love it!” It felt like the world had opened up and we were going ahead and being allowed to make our dreams come true on that tour.

Singer-songwriter and ‘Voice’ coach Alicia Keys talks about the lessons Prince taught her. Watch here.

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Prince – the revolution will be televised

By Felix Rowe | September 3, 2022

Prince owned the airwaves when his 1985 Purple Rain tour was beamed out to millions around the world and its legendary Syracuse show is now being released on Blu-ray and remastered live album. Classic Pop talks with Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman from his stellar backing band The Revolution to find out more… 

“H ello Syracuse and the world. My name is Prince and I have come to play with you.”

Note the choice of phrase: not play for you, but with you. The audience are his personal playthings, mere pawns in his wicked game. Over the course of the next two hours, Prince plays the 40,000-strong crowd like an instrument, demonstrating – as always – a masterly control.

This was Prince in full splendour at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse , in New York State on 30 March 1985, during his mammoth Purple Rain US tour – and we can now revisit that legendary show once more on the newly-released triple vinyl or 2CD/Blu-ray set Prince And The Revolution: Live .  

Between November 1984 and April 1985, Prince And The Revolution performed just under 100 shows – sometimes twice a day – to a total of 1.7 million people. The tour represents a performer in total command of his artistry, testing the limits of his power.

Picking up where Hendrix left off, Prince’s axe-wielding antics injected Black R&B back into white-dominated rock’n’roll. Like 1999 before it, Purple Rain was instrumental in removing barriers that hitherto segmented audiences.

The wider tour highlighted Prince’s mid-80s power, with guests at various dates including heavyweights Bruce Springsteen and Madonna .

Syracuse is the resounding document of that era. The occasion was beamed live around the world and ultimately immortalised in pop lore, cementing Prince’s status as a live tour de force. The master tapes have now been unearthed from the vaults and digitally restored in all their glory.

Purple Rain (the album) needs no introduction: a self-contained greatest hits and Prince’s magnum opus – though 1999 and Sign O ’ The Times put up a good fight. On 1999 , Prince honed his aesthetic – the music, the look, the stage presence all coalescing to make him an MTV staple.

But with Purple Rain , he went cinematic. Only five days before Syracuse, Prince picked up an Oscar for the Purple Rain soundtrack. Another frontier conquered.

While Prince was undoubtedly the star, the Purple Rain Tour was as much a celebration of the world he had created and reigned over. His band, The Revolution, were no shrinking violets, while the opening acts – his Minneapolis sound protégés, Apollonia 6 and Sheila E – would return to the stage each night for the big all-star encore.

Guitarist Wendy Melvoin and keyboard player Lisa Coleman were key members of The Revolution, before embarking on their own successful career as a duo.

Having known each other since they were children, back when their fathers were members of the legendary LA session musician assemblage The Wrecking Crew , they are now in-demand TV score composers, having recently celebrated 40 years of collaboration.

They even complete each other’s sentences. Classic Pop tracked them down, keen to discover if they realised they were making history that evening in Syracuse.

“I don’t know if that particular night was any different from all the others on the Purple Rain tour,” says Wendy. “The whole tour seemed to be touching on some other level of excitement… every night I felt it.”

“Prince was the kind of guy who wanted to make history at every minute of the day!” laughs Lisa, sporting a resplendent shade of purple. “So that gig in particular was just another night that had to be better than the last one.”

Though it’s not every night you’re being beamed out to millions worldwide by satellite…

• Read more: The Revolution interview
• Read more: Top 10 Prince songs

“In terms of the technical aspect, we were all praying that nothing would go wrong,” explains Wendy. “We knew the stakes were even higher for that night and could feel Prince really wanting to have everybody go beyond the call.”

The Revolution were completed by Dr Fink on keyboards, bassist BrownMark, Eric Leeds on saxophone and drummer Bobby Z – previous guitarist, Dez Dickerson, having left after 1999 .

Of Syracuse, BrownMark has said: “We sound like a freight train just coming out of nowhere. That was powerful. I’ve been to a lot of concerts, and I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“We felt powerful, like such a tight unit,” agrees Lisa, with pride. “I mean, we were! Looking back on it, it’s incredible! We really were quite a great band.”

From opener Let’s Go Crazy! onwards, it’s a powerhouse performance in every sense – at once energising and exhausting. Syracuse encapsulates the contradiction at the heart of Prince: that clash between an ultra-tight ensemble, rubbing against his characteristic looseness.

It’s well-rehearsed yet spontaneous. As he flits across the stage leaving behind a trail of endorphins and dry ice, there’s a feeling of ‘what the hell is going to happen next?’ The band are totally on the pulse, instinctively knowing when to charge forwards, when to hold back.

“We just knew Prince’s body language,” explains Lisa. “You had to keep your eyes on him the whole time, it was like musical parkour. It’s like running along rooftops and jumping all over the place. You don’t know what the terrain is at first, but as you’re running and jumping and doing everything…”

Wendy: “You get a flow. And that unpredictability is part of the fun of working with Prince.”

“You expect that it’s going to be new territory at all times,” adds Wendy, “The band always used to have these little looks to each other, like, ‘Don’t take your eye off of him!’, because if you do you’re going to miss a real subtle cue and be left behind. You’re gonna make a mistake, and that was just the worst thing you could do for him. Our job was to be perfect for him.”

They didn’t let him down. Of the Syracuse show, Prince himself said: “There’s nothing I would change.”  

Come the start of recording Purple Rain , The Revolution were a well-established force in Prince’s creative circle. Rehearsals, recording sessions and live performances were inseparably entwined in one near-continuous, fluid outpouring of creativity.

• Read more: Making Prince’s 1999
• Read more: Making Prince’s Sign O’ The Times

“A lot of the tapes on the Purple Rain album were live performances that we did overdubs to,” explains Wendy. “We performed those songs and recorded them live at First Avenue, and then did overdubs later. Those were the songs that you’re hearing in the film and on the record.”

“A lot of times,” adds Lisa, “we’d work on songs and record them, then go play live and come up with these other sections, and Prince would get really excited. Then we’d record a new 12″ version with those new sections. It was just great coming up with different ways to play the song.”

Once that tap had been opened, it was a particularly prolific time, even by Prince’s standards.

“There was a four-and-a-half to five-year period where massive amounts of product were happening and tours at the same time,” says Wendy.

“In the daytime we’d be rehearsing for a tour, and at night we’d be recording a record. It would be up to Prince’s mood whether he’d want to be isolated and finishing or starting a record by himself, or whether he wanted the collaboration…

“I think mostly because he had so much on his plate at the time, creating this film, and he was doing The Time, Apollonia 6 and Vanity 6 and all these other projects, The Family, Sheila E, that he needed some collaborative help. So that’s where we came in.”

So, when it came to taking Purple Rain on the road, the band were by now a well-oiled machine, in tune with Prince’s creative whims.

“The tour felt like a book,” says Wendy, “every chapter was so fun to play. I loved playing The Beautiful Ones with him, he was just remarkable to watch during that. And then, at the very end of the tour, we’d always do this big huge revue of Baby I’m A Star and I Would Die 4 U , which was always lovely to watch and be a part of.

“I really loved playing Darling Nikki live, too. I loved watching Prince because his moods changed depending on where we were, the performance he would give would be different.”

Indeed, the lyrics to said song were so filthy that the ‘parental advisory’ sticker was invented in their honour.

But, quite frankly, Prince could recite one’s tax returns and make them sound deliciously scandalous. As Syracuse highlights, it’s Prince’s inimitable delivery that takes the heat to another level – extended jams, impromptu detours and hysterical spoken-word musings eking out every last drop of emotion from the music.

Purple Rain , for example, is stretched out into 18 minutes of glory. Even Yankee Doodle is boldly reimagined into his universe.

Though very different artists, there’s a parallel to be drawn with David Bowie – a singular talent with a clear vision, who was nevertheless willing to give his band the freedom to bring something to the table.

“A band leader should be able to come in with a vision, and pick the right kind of ingredients of people that have certain abilities to make it that much better,” says Wendy. “And Prince was phenomenal at that. Any great band leader will be that.”

“When you have all that confidence, there’s no threat of egos in asking other people for input,” agrees Lisa, “because you’ve already laid out the…”

Wendy: “…the seed.”

Lisa: “Right, it’s already been planted. So everything you’re going to harvest from it is something that you motivated. Prince felt like anything that we would offer to him he was totally entitled to, and also had the ability to say, ‘No, what else you got?’”

“Prince was showing signs of getting, not bored… but it was starting to feel too confined for him to do this tour,” says Wendy. “We were supposed to go to Europe and all these other territories, but he wanted to get busy on the next project.

“So that’s why there’s this Syracuse performance being beamed around the world, to enable Prince to return to Minneapolis so that we could get working on other albums.

“As soon as that tour was finished, we were already almost done with Around The World In A Day , starting Parade and having glimmers of Sign O’ The Times , so it was all happening very fast.”

It really begs the question: were they aware then that they were dealing with a polymath?  

“Oh definitely, I had so much faith in him. Prince was a restless soul and he just needed to eat the world!” laughs Lisa. “And so being around him, you got all kinds of snacks. We were all in our twenties and had so much energy – we were out to conquer the world.”  

All photos ©PRN-MusicCorp Nancy Bundt

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We don’t practice. We rehearse. Practice is what you do at home.

Ever wondered when Prince toured, what he performed and the venues he played. And how his experiences on one tour moulded the next, and who played in his bands? Prince left nothing to chance, in addition to meticulously rehearsing his bands, he methodically sound checked each venue by sitting in every seat section himself to ensure the sound and the experience was perfect.

Explore the entire list of the thirty identifiable tours Prince staged throughout his forty year career. Starting with his debut tour and going right through to his last. Discover the trivia, background, typical set list and encores Prince performed, and the touring schedules, including every aftershow.

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A history of Prince’s performances at First Avenue

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by Sylvia Jennings

April 03, 2020

Today marks the 50th anniversary of beloved Minneapolis nightclub, First Avenue. Of course, one of the reasons this club has become as iconic as it is, is due to the legacy left by hometown hero, Prince. Throughout the '80s, Prince made a name for First Avenue while simultaneously, First Avenue made a name for Prince. Whether it was due to the club's appearance in the movie Purple Rain , or because so many Minnesotans associate their memories of Prince with First Avenue, the combination of this artist and this venue is dynamic. In celebrating 50 years of First Avenue, it feels important to pay tribute to Prince and talk about his various performances at the venue throughout the years.

March 9, 1981

Prince's first performance at First Avenue, back when it was still called Sam's, was in 1981 for a sold-out room. Prince was still a budding solo artist nationally, but in Minneapolis, he had a lot of buzz behind his name. It was rare for Prince to perform a hometown show; when he did, it was a big deal. The crowd at this show knew that Prince was about to blow up.

Do It All Night

Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?

Gotta Broken Heart Again

When You Were Mine

Sexy Dancer

I Wanna Be Your Lover

Still Waiting

Gotta Stop (Messin' About)

Everybody Dance

October 5, 1981

This gig was essentially a warm-up for Prince's Controversy Tour. It wasn't very heavily promoted; in fact, Prince and his band were listed as "Controversy" on the bill. The show ended up selling out simply by word of mouth. It also was the debut of bassist Mark Brown, often known as BrownMark.

Annie Christian

Let's Work

Controversy

Music History Spotlight: Prince’s First Avenue debut on March 9, 1981

March 8, 1982

This was a late night show that followed a performance from jazz fusion band Defunkt. In fact, Defunkt were asked to end their show early so that Prince could perform.

All The Critics Love U In New York

Still Waiting w/ Sue Ann Carwell

Dance To The Beat

August 3, 1983

Two years after Prince's sold-out show at the venue formerly known as Sam's, Prince returned to First Avenue, now officially rebranded to the be the venue we know and love today. This was the show at which recordings of songs including "Purple Rain" and  "Let's Go Crazy" were used on the  Purple Rain soundtrack. The show was also quite a successful fundraiser for Minnesota Dance Theatre, raising $23,000.

Let's Go Crazy

A Case of You (Joni Mitchell cover)

Computer Blue

Electric Intercourse

I Would Die 4 U

Baby I'm a Star

Little Red Corvette

Purple Rain

On this Day in 1983, Prince played “Purple Rain” for the first time

June 7, 1984

After the  Purple Rain  tour, Prince returned to First Avenue in June of 1984 to perform a surprise birthday party. Setlist: 17 Days Our Destiny Roadhouse Garden All Day, All Night Free Noon Rendezvous Erotic City Something in the Water (Does Not Compute) When Doves Cry Encore: Happy Birthday to You Irresistible Bitch Possessed

August 14, 1984

It wasn't uncommon for Prince's shows to be scheduled last-minute and only advertised by word of mouth. This show was no different, in that sense. Of course, despite the lack of advertising, the club was packed, so much so that police had to manage the crowd. The show took place on a Tuesday night, which meant that members got into the club for free with a +3. Prince actually played for free this night, along with opening act Curtiss A. Setlist Controversy (instrumental jam) Let's Go Crazy Delirious 1999 Little Red Corvette Computer Blue Darling Nikki The Beautiful Ones When Doves Cry Baby I'm A Star Purple Rain

March 3, 1986

This performance was essentially a public rehearsal before Prince and the Revolution headed out on their Parade Tour with a revamped lineup. The lineup featured Wendy Melvoin and Miko Weaver on guitars, Brown Mark on bass, Dr. Fink and Lisa Coleman on keyboards, Eric Leeds on saxophone and flute, Atlanta Bliss on trumpet, Bobby Z. on drums, and Jerome Benton, Greg Brooks, and Wally Safford dancing and singing backing vocals. Prince reminded the audience that they had only been rehearsing for about a week before this performance, and essentially used it to show off the talent of his new band members. This was one of Prince's more low-key shows. It presented Prince as a bandleader, was more stripped-down and a bit less extravagant than, for example, his Purple Rain Tour. Setlist: Around the World in a Day Christopher Tracy's Parade New Position I Wonder U Paisley Park Alexa de Paris Raspberry Beret (with "Alexa De Paris" reprise) Controversy Mutiny Soft and Wet I Wanna Be Your Lover Head Under the Cherry Moon Pop Life Girls & Boys Life Can Be So Nice Encore: Purple Rain Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (Big Maybelle cover) Anotherloverholenyohead Mountains Encore 2: A Love Bizarre America Kiss

March 21, 1987

Approximately one year after his previous performance at First Avenue, Prince performed another set with a similar purpose. This time he performed at a sort of public rehearsal ahead of his Sign o' the Times Tour, which was sold out. At this time, construction on Paisley Park was beginning, and this show actually turned out to be his last performance at First Avenue until 2007. Setlist: Housequake Girls & Boys Slow Love Hot Thing Now's the Time (Charlie Parker’s Re‐Boppers cover) Strange Relationship Forever in My Life Kiss Encore: It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night

July 7, 2007

After 20 years without performing at First Avenue, Prince returned for a late-night show on July 7, 2007 that was only announced two days prior. He had always been intrigued with the number seven, and Minnesotans were all curious how he would commemorate this date, which was officially declared Prince Rogers Nelson Day by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Prince played three sets in Minneapolis that day, in celebration of the debut of his perfume, 3121. He played at a launch party at Macy's, then played Target Center, and wanted to cap off the night with his first performance at First Avenue in two decades. However, his schedule for the other two performances was delayed, and he only went on at First Ave at about 2:45 a.m., obviously past bar close. While it lasted, this show was one of his rowdiest, since the room was absolutely packed and extremely hyped. However, he was only able to play for about an hour before his show was shut down by the police. This inspired First Avenue to negotiate a "Prince permit" with city officials, which would allow for Prince to play a set at the club at any hour of the night. Unfortunately, this permit was never used during the rest of Prince's lifetime, as this was his last performance at First Avenue. Setlist: 3121 Girls & Boys I Feel for You Controversy Satisfied Beggin' Woman Blues Gotta Broken Heart Again Love Is a Losing Game (Amy Winehouse cover) Love Changes (Mother’s Finest cover) Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Sly & the Family Stone cover) Hair (Chaka Khan cover) Sing a Simple Song (Sly & the Family Stone cover) Everyday People (Sly & the Family Stone cover) Alphabet St. Remembering when Prince stormed Minneapolis with three 7/7/07 gigs and played First Avenue for the final time

Prince's legendary 1985 concert in Syracuse is now on DVD

• Updated: Jun. 23, 2017, 6:20 p.m. |
• Published: Jun. 23, 2017, 5:20 p.m.
• Geoff Herbert | [email protected]

Prince Syracuse concert

Prince and The Revolution performed at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse on March 30, 1985.

(File photo by Bob Mahoney)

Princ e's legendary concert in Syracuse, New York, is finally on DVD.

NPG Records and Warner Bros. Records released the epic show " Prince and the Revolution Live! " on Friday as part of a reissue of the late musician's 1984 album "Purple Rain." The performance was recorded at the Carrier Dome on March 30, 1985, and aired on live TV to more than 12 million viewers in Europe through Eurovision, but has long been only available as a bootleg in VHS/broadcast quality.

"Hello Syracuse and the World," he said in the opening. "My name is Prince, and I'm here to play with you."

The "Purple Rain" reissue includes remastered versions of the Grammy-winning soundtrack for the Oscar-winning film, featuring the title track, "When Doves Cry," "Let's Go Crazy" and "Darling Nikki." Prince had reportedly been working on remastering the songs himself at Paisley Park before his death.

A two-CD set includes 11 songs from Prince's vault, including the rare "Electric Intercourse" and several tracks never before heard.

The live concert is only included in an "expanded edition" of the set, along with an additional disc of single edits and B-sides from "Purple Rain." The DVD features audio and video restored from the original production master tape, making it a must-have for Prince fans.

The nearly two-hour show kicked off with "Let's Go Crazy" and concluded with an epic 20-minute version of "Purple Rain," featuring a face-melting 10-minute guitar solo from the Purple One. Other set list highlights included "Little Red Corvette," "1999," "When Doves Cry," "Baby I'm a Star" (with Apollonia 6 and Sheila E.) and the unreleased "Possessed," dedicated to James Brown.

"I remember Prince being super-excited about that show -- that it was being filmed and televised. We did some extra-crazy arrangements of a few things," Revolution keyboardist Lisa Coleman told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune .

"When I watched it a couple of months ago, I was impressed with the musicianship and what a good band we were. When you're in it, you have no idea. You're too busy experiencing the thing to really know what it is."

"At our Syracuse show, he called out 'sway from side to side,' and the entire Revolution moved like a piston in an engine back and forth," drummer Bobby Z. (Robert Rivkin) recalled in an oral history for Rolling Stone .

For more information, and to order the "Purple Rain" reissue with the live concert DVD, click here .

Set list for Prince And The Revolution, Live at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY, March 30, 1985:

1. Let's Go Crazy

2. Delirious

4. Little Red Corvette

5. Take Me With U

6.  Do Me, Baby

7.  Irresistible Bitch

8.  Possessed

9.  How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?

10. Let's Pretend We're Married

11. International Lover

13. Computer Blue

14. Darling Nikki

15. The Beautiful Ones

16. When Doves Cry

17. I Would Die 4 U

18. Baby I'm A Star

19.  Purple Rain

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November 1984: Prince Launches PURPLE RAIN Tour in Detroit

It was November 4, 1984, when Prince kicked off his massive Purple Rain tour. With both the album and the movie topping the charts for weeks on end, anticipation to see the songs brought to life was through the roof, and well into the stratosphere.

With Detroit, Michigan, being his strongest market outside of Minnesota by far, Prince chose the Motor City to launch the run of shows. Given his next-level popularity at the time, the artist and his band, the Revolution, ended up selling out seven shows at the Joe Louis Arena. With a concert capacity of just over 20,000, the outfit would perform to more than 150,000 screaming fans before heading off to the second city on the tour, Greensboro, NC.

Prince's arrival in Detroit was big news. So much so that local news outlets went down to Joe Louis Arena to capture some of that purple excitement. Tune in and feel the palpable energy below.

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Prince and the Revolution Live / new official box set

Classic syracuse, ny gig remixed & restored.

By Paul Sinclair

Prince and The Revolution’s 30 March 1985 live concert from the Carrier Dome, Syracuse – which was part of his 1985 Purple Rain tour – will be issued as a standalone release in June.

The spectacular two-hour set was beamed into millions of homes via satellite at the time and features a ridiculously great setlist, including classic hits such as ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, ‘1999’, ‘Little Red Corvette’, ‘When Doves Cry’, ‘Purple Rain’, ‘I Would Die 4 U’; superb B-sides like ‘Irresistible Bitch’ and ‘How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore’; and choice album cuts. In fact, Prince plays the whole of Purple Rain , with the concert ending with side two of that 1984 in sequence.

This performance was issued, in full, on DVD as part of Warner Music’s four-disc deluxe edition of Purple Rain in 2017. That previous edition only offered stereo sound and reasonable, but not outstanding, visuals. Sony (who now have the rights) have gone to town on the new editions.

The two formats are 2CD+blu-ray and a 3LP vinyl edition . The audio for both has been entirely remixed from the original two-inch multi-tracks . Obviously, the triple vinyl offers the newly remixed sound just in stereo but the blu-ray additionally delivers both Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound .

For the blu-ray, the picture is said to have been “newly restored” although since this wasn’t shot on film it remains to be seen how good this will actually look.

After the initially extortionate price-tag (in the UK, at least) on the Welcome 2 America box, it’s good to see some sensible pricing with this new release. The 2CD+blu-ray a tad over £20 in the UK and even the 3LP vinyl set a not unreasonable £42 . Not including a blu-ray with the vinyl set is a bit strange though, it has to be said.

Prince and The Revolution: Live  will be available on 3 June 2022, via Sony Music Catalog.

Compare prices and pre-order

Prince and The Revolution

Live 2cd+blu-ray deluxe set.

Live 3LP vinyl box

Tracklisting

Live Prince and the Revolution / 2CD+blu-ray

• Let’s Go Crazy
• Little Red Corvette
• Take Me With U
• Yankee Doodle
• Do Me, Baby
• Irresistible Bitch
• How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore
• Let’s Pretend We’re Married
• International Lover
• Computer Blue
• Darling Nikki
• The Beautiful Ones
• When Doves Cry
• I Would Die 4 U
• Baby, I’m a Star
• Purple Rain
• Let’s Go Crazy
• How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore
• Let’s Pretend We’re Married
• Baby I’m A Star

Live Prince and the Revolution / 3LP

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