• Little genius Prince has put the real value back into music

• Boats beat tubes and taxis as best way home

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We went on Sunday September 9th. Got to the venue which is fantastic.
Doors opened at 18:00, he got on stage at 20:15. Kicking off with Lets Go Crazy. Great, I thought it's gonna be a fantastic show. Sadly I was wrong. He then started singing The Beatles - Come Together / Play That Funky Music White Boy, then moaned his way through 45mins of love songs, I was struggling at this stage. 2nd half was much better with Kiss / I Wanna Be Your Lover / Little Red Corvette / Purple Rain. Then for the encore he sat at his piano twiddling away then ended with a couple of hits. I went to see a legend perform his hits, not karaoke covers. Prince has over 1000 songs to choose from. Great entertainer but needs to concentrate on what the fans want. To sum it up in one sentence - All too little too late.

- Ian, London, UK, 30/09/2007 11:48
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Prince - Friday 24 August 2007: Having seen Prince a few years ago and been blown away by him, this was a very disappointing gig. Great build up, great first couple of numbers... then all momentum seemed to be lost and never really regained sadly. He has a fantastic voice, great musicians, but it just didn't come together that night. My main criticism is he hardly finished any songs in their entirety, just sections of songs and then on to the next.. very frustrating.
A complete contrast to Keane the month before, which was a 100% brilliant gig start to finish, the energy that can be created in that place is amazing, with the right performance, long live the 02! I just hope Prince was better the other nights!

- Mandy, Ramsgate, 06/09/2007 19:46
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24/08/07 concert. A supreme artist who is still at the top of his game. I agree that the concert could have lasted another 20-30 mins, but unlike his other concerts, Prince did not leave the stage for more than a couple of minutes and he did not bore us with long-winded instrumental jams. His set list was fantastic as he played most of the hits and a few more obscure tracks. I find it amusing when I heard people moaning that he didn't play enough of his hits. Being a fan of 25 years, I was over the moon that he played lesser known songs (Pop Life, Controversy, Sometimes it snows…etc) and still managed Purple Rain, Raspberry Beret, Kiss, Sign of the times (fantastic), Lets go Crazy etc. I felt some of the fans weren't really getting into it as they didn't know the songs, and maybe Prince realised that hence just one encore. Some people were even moaning when people stood up in front of them to dance. For God's sake this is possibly the most talented musical artist of all time playing unbelievable music and even engaging in banter with the audience... If that's not enough to make you stand up and dance, then what is. Some people loved it, some thought it was ok, and some even had the nerve not to enjoy it. Whoever you are, and whatever you thought, years from now you can still tell the grandkids that you witnessed a musical legend one night in London, and by this time you may have realised how lucky you were. Party on.

- Andy, Wrexham, N.Wales, 28/08/2007 22:52
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I attended on the 18th seated in block 112 row Q and thought the total experience was mind blowing. Went back tonight 25th and purchased from box office a fantastic seat one row from stage. Not only was I treated to a longer show time of different songs but was so close (C2 Row Q) I just could not believe I'd paid only £31.21. Prince is the supreme showman whose catalogue of hits means that there is constant change with different sets adding to a memorable experience. I will be back.

- Richard, London, 26/08/2007 00:41
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Myself and my partner wento see Prince on the 24th of August. Great build up and entrance from the band members, then Prince arrives as per Paul Daniel's in a black box (how exciting, not a lot). He started around 9:15pm and finished at 10:30pm. The girls in front of us were in shock as one said two weeks ago he came back out and peformed for an extra half an hour, not this time.
As the announcement arrived to tell us that the concert was over and to please make your way out of the arena people began to boo as they left. It was great while it lasted, but easily forgotten.

- Marcia, Bracknell, 25/08/2007 12:24
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Also back from Prince concert on the 18th and have to say 'Oh my God, how amazing.' There were 5 of us all together and we have all had an ultimate experience. After talking to an O2 security guy after the gig it was disappointing to learn that it had been about 45 miutes shorter than the previous ones. I mean come on that's another 6 or 7 songs! So being like an enormous Prince fan and having being a little obsessed with him in my teenage years it did feel a little unfair. However there is no denying the quality and totally mind blowing performance that did take place. I mean I don't know if there was a technical hitch as to why he was late coming on but from beginning to end he totally rocked the joint, with complete audience participation and a truly truly amazing band.
Growing up I had two idols Madonna & Prince and now in my early 30s I have seen them both, so shall die happy. They were both amazing but Madonna cost 4 times as much, she spoke to the audience twice, you didn't get a free album and she does not do encores. So come on guys, give the guy a break -he was absolutley out of this world. We were sat way up and almost at the back so 3 of us are booking to come see him again...hopefully a little closer. This has definitely been an experience of a lifetime.

- Emma, Newport, South Wales, 20/08/2007 22:51
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I went on 18th August and this show was awesome! Not just the man but the band and vocalists too, bearing in mind he is getting on a bit now and is some years Pink's senior! The atmosphere was incredible and it still hasn't sunk in that I have seen him. Like others I would have loved to have had more of some songs but there really are too many great ones! I don't feel cheated by the length of the show at all, it was a bargain. Loved the musical interludes as they added to the 'show' atmosphere and the thrill of seeing an artist that really can play.
We went to the after show party and again experienced an incredible 90 minute treat. I've seen many other performers and shows and this was definitely near the top of the list. I am fed up of paying extortionate prices to see artists in huge venues who quite frankly take themselves too seriously and you end up watching the entire show on a monitor because you are so far away.
This guy is a real performer, musician, showman who loves what he does and it shows. Crowd teaser, crowd pleaser! Tremendous value for money.

- Helen, Swindon, Wilts, 20/08/2007 14:21
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I went to the concert on the 18 with my brother - huge Prince fan! Must agree with many others. Prince was late on stage and left early. Felt sad for my brother as he travelled down from Newcastle to see a man he has admired for so many years and he tells me the highlight of his evening was Maceo Parker! I know Prince is a star, but I think a bit of consideration would have been nice - people had travelled from across the UK and Europe for an intial set lasting around an hour. He started at around 9.30pm and the whole thing - including intermission finished at about 10.40pm. Let’s hope for others that it gets better…last night was just night 9 of 21! Prince was good and enjoyable, but if there was just 3 more songs, a whole lot of people would have been a heck of a lot happier. He was booed as they left the arena, which is something I would never thought I would witness. For the arena, we were in block 101 on level 1 - great seats and great sound.
I went to see Pink at Brixton Academy earlier on in the week. She performed non stop for one hour and a half - with much more energy and I didn’t feel I’d been done out of an night of entertainment.

- Lesley, London, 19/08/2007 22:15
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I went to see Prince on 18th due to holiday commitments and was glad I hadn't cancelled my holiday to go the the first one as I would have done in the past being a big fan of the master and seeing many concerts starting with Parade as I was a little disappointed. He came on late at 9.20 went off stage for 15 min for sax solo and finished at 10.45 the shortest Prince concert I have ever been to. And who was that support act?

- Jenny, Herts, 19/08/2007 18:59
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Just back from the latest concert on the 18th August. Acoustics were perfect. He looked and sounded amazing. He probably skipped through some of my favourites faster than I would have liked, and lingered on a few songs I was less interested in. But Cream, Purple Rain and Let's Go Crazy were all fab. There were more songs he could have done, particularly Gett Off, but it was great.

- J, East Dulwich, 19/08/2007 00:39
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I went to see prince at the opening night, and I thought it was an amazing concert!
Sadly I too was sat at the back with a screen not working, so I didn’t see him, but I heard him and that was good enough for me!
Yeah ok, maybe I did yawn a bit at the part where he played and sang bits I had never even heard of… but this was well made up for the amount of oldies he sang.
The fact he opened with purple rain meant that I had died and gone to heaven....
I have booked tickets for another night now, as I wanted to be a little nearer the stage...
God bless him!

- Alana, Dorset, 14/08/2007 21:15
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The first night was indeed superb. Top drawer stuff. Alas the Aftershow was a bit of a let down.

- Jay, Greenwich, 14/08/2007 20:15
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Prince-official aftershow @ Indigo2 Friday 3rd August

I am just writing to say how disappointed I am after having attended the main Prince concert (which was truly amazing) on Friday 3rd Aug 2007.
I had decided to treat my wife to, what I thought, would be a more intimate affair at the Prince-official aftershow function. I had purchased the tickets from Ticketmaster for £25 each (plus £2.50 admin fee each). The tickets said that the doors were to open at 23.30 so we rushed out of the main arena and queued from 11 until 12 when they finally opened the doors and we were able to get a good position just one body back from the edge of the stage. Prince's guitar was on its stand and one of his roadies fixed his foot pedal unit to the stage floor; all was looking good.
Anyway, we waited and waited. 1.00 am came and the curtains opened to Dr John's band who played until 2.00 a.m when the roadie came and removed all of Princes equipment.
We left very tired and somewhat disillusioned at around 2.15 a.m. I asked a member of the club management where i should apply for my refund as Prince didn't show; I was advised that there was no guarantee that he would and nowhere did it say that this was part of the function.
I was, as you can imagine, not happy and would like to warn others of this fact. Seemingly its a lottery if he shows or not. So I am £55 the poorer and very much wiser. Surely, the sale of such misleading tickets should not be supported by Ticketmaster.
Andy, West Suss

- Andy, Horsham, West Sussex, 14/08/2007 20:15
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As a long time Prince fan I was really looking forward to this concert. We went on 7th August and frankly we were amazed at how bad the accoustics were. It frequently took us till halfway through the first verse of each song before we could recognise some of his biggest hits. That this was supposed to be at a state of the art brand new venue is amazing. There were delays and echoes bouncing all over the place, the treble was non-existent and the base swirled around forever. Maybe others in different positions in the hall had a better sound, I hope they did, but my ears have just been exposed to the worst sounding concert I have ever been to. That it was to see perhaps one of the greatest musicians of the last 30 years is a great shame.

- Eugene R, Greenwich, 14/08/2007 20:15
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Don't know which concert Angela Page was at but I don't think it can have been Prince's opening night. She states he played less than 5 of his hits, a quick recount by me recalled at least a dozen Prince UK hit singles in the set, that's not even including the likes of I Feel For You which he wrote but was a hit for a different artist.

- Nick Tait, Wolsingham, Co Durham, 14/08/2007 20:15
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I too went to see Prince on 7th August and loved every minute. I thought the sound was amazing. Hats off to such a talented, vivacious performer. Great, tight band and fab backing singers. I felt priviliged to see him perform and it'll be one night that stays with me for a very long time.

- Claire Toy, Basingstoke, England, 14/08/2007 20:15
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This was one concert I've really looked forward to attending - so I was extremely disappointed with the sound - and I don't mean Prince - but the actually sound as I could barely hear the vocals over the band.
I was sat on the top tier on a corner and the sound was tinny and mashed. Sorely disappointed as I know Prince's performances are second to none. He should have a word with his sound engineer!

- Dee W, London, 14/08/2007 20:15
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Totally gutted about the Prince opening night. Was almost in tears - he's obviously been in Vegas too long. With lots of instrumental pieces by his musicians (who were brilliant), he was not - he did less than five of his hits. Hope it improves as I thought it was a waste of money to be honest.

- Angela Page, Berkhamsted, England, 14/08/2007 20:15
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So true what David Smyth said in his review today " talent like this only appears once in a generation" but David you like many others in the audience left too early and as a result you missed out. The house lights came on after an initial encore but 10 minutes later his royal purpleness walked through an estatic crowd surrounded by burly bodyguards, re-appeared on stage with his beloved guitar and did indeed sing Little Red Corvette with a few other old school Prince tracks. I danced from start to finish as did most of the audience and I still have the blisters on the soles of my feet to prove it. The boring people behind me who asked if I could sit down got short shrift. When he opened with Purple Rain I have to confess it was a goose bumpy tear in the eye moment. Covers Freak Out and Come Together were genius and a real treat. There was not a moment when Prince was left out of breath, or sent out a wobbly note, he was as always super slick throughout. It will be an evening I will always treasure. If you haven't got tickets try the ethical web-site as recommended to me today www.scarletmist.com and make the shlep to the O2. Fantastic venue, great sound although still a tad unfinished and shoddily served in places but all worth the effort to see a genius entertainer perhaps for the last time in London. Don't forget to hold out for the encores, worth the crush for the tube if you don't stay you'll never know what you missed.

- Melinda Shelbourne, London, 14/08/2007 20:15
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I agree that he was brilliant - and if you hadn't gone for the early tube, you'd have seen him even more brilliant with 3 acoustic numbers, including Corvette, plus two more with his band.

Alan

- Alan B, London, 14/08/2007 20:15
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Apart from an awesome stage, a great stage show and a great spectacle, the show was but a few high moments in a barrage of mediocrity. Yes he performed the odd hit here and there, but cut those songs short in order to make room for 10 minute overindulgent bland funk songs... and how many sax solos can you deal with in one night? It seemed like he 'introduced' Maceo Parker about 8 times...not to mention a solo rendition of 'Wonderful World' on sax by the great Maceo... but 'I paid to see Prince! A couple of encores and Prince finally waved goodbye to the crowd which prompted a mass exodus... only then was I informed by a friend who hung around that Prince got back up on the stage and performed another 4 songs including 'Little Red Corvette' I can only assume to a half empty arena. Add to this the facts that the sound was awful, the video screen at one end of the arena wasn't working (cue hundreds of disgruntled fans complaining to customer services) and for me it was a waste of a day of my life.

- Seriously Underwhelmed, Birmingham, 14/08/2007 20:15
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I went last night to see him, and the show was amazing. I would urge sceptics and fans alike to see this show, because you will see one of the most talented entertainers on the planet give an incredible performance. Performers like this really do only crop up once in a generation, and I admit to being in awe during the concert. I had not been to the O2 before and was pleasantly surprised at the development, with numerous restaurants and bars available although it's clearly not finished yet. It's a good idea to go early and catch dinner before the concert. My seat was way back in row S on the upper floor - whlst you get a good view, I initially felt a little detached from the experience and stage atmosphere as it seems so far away, so go for the best seats you can. Prince started with Purple Rain, perhaps surprisingly and continued on to some of his more recent work which is mainly funk based and incredibly catchy. His dancing, singing, guitar work and audience interaction was truly of breathtaking quality - you really know that this guy has amazing talent. The dancers were cool, as were the band and the music was tight. There were numerous encores, and Prince came on himself just with his guitar towards the end to play sections from songs including Raspberry Beret. I got the impression he was happier playing his more recent work than the classics, and would have liked to hear songs such as Alphabet Street + When Doves Cry, but this was an experience well worth the wait.

- Chris Hughes, London UK, 14/08/2007 20:15
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You left too early. An AMAZING night! After the house lights went up, he appeared in the crowd surrounded by minders, jumped on stage and played a further half an hour including Little Red Corvette. This is how concerts should be - no support, a main act who doesn't keep the audience waiting, has endless enthusiasm for his work and his performance. I saw him in London throughout the 80's and have to say that this topped them all. If you only see one concert this year, make it this one.

- Andrew, Surrey, 14/08/2007 20:15
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When one over-eager woman unwisely attempted to rub herself up against him, he almost lost his cool, but deftly escaped to lead the crowd in one of many choruses of "Oooh, funky London".

I am the lady who was on the stage with Prince, and I was not "over eager" actually I was requested to dance with him and singing on the microphone - and it was not staged.

Being a Prince fan, he does not like "touching", therefore I respected a person's privacy - but hey whichever way you look at it, I was on stage with Prince and that is that

- Antoinette, London, 14/08/2007 20:15
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HUGE RIPOFF, save your money
We went to the prince after show party Saturday night. Queued for an hour after the main gig. Paid £25 to get in, after 20 mins the warm beer ran out. After waiting another hour the support act came on, prince jammed on just one of their songs. To make sure you stay till 4AM and spend loads of money they give the impression The main act will be on any minute. The bodyguards even went to the extent of threatening people with cameras. What the hell were they going to photograph? While we were watching the support ACT we could see a second drum kit, keyboards etc, giving the impression Prince would be on next and as the support act finished they made sure you could see only their kit being packed away. At that point the curtains closed. Then a crap DJ came on for half an hour. Then, the curtains started billowing, was this 'himself', no it was the draught from the stage door, the stage had been emptied and all the gear was being hurried out the back door. People were getting tetchy as they were calling for the main act, others could see under the curtain and were looking at an empty stage. As the call for prince got louder the crap dj made a run for it. By this time it was 3:15, and it became obvious there was going to be no main act.
The 'star' then decided to show, surrounded by bodyguards and lurked by the stagedoor, a handful of people went over to take photographs. most just left.
Only thing worse was the sound in the main arena...awful!

- Andy, Leicester, 14/08/2007 20:15
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Pretty poor show with not enough hits and a muffled sound. A few of us were bored at a number of points as unknown songs went on and on. Come on Prince, you can do far better than this.

- Phil Charlton, London, 14/08/2007 20:15
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Prince is a genius musician and live artist. Even at the age of 49 he's still a far greater live artist than rip of artists like Justin Timberlake can ever dream of being.

- Ben Scarr, London, 14/08/2007 20:15
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Just an addition to your review, he did sing Little Red Corvette, at the 2nd encore, when people had left, he came back on by himself, and a guitar, the remaing audience went mad and rushed to the stage, and the security were fantastic and let the people go where they wanted. It was an amazing end, to a fantastic concert and I have just bought more tickets to see it all over again!

- Ateeqe Bhatti, London, UK, 14/08/2007 20:15
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