ontheone

Report on the Roundhouse show 2 is on its way!  In the meantime..... The aim of this post is to be an uncharacteristically quick description of events last night... Heard about the private show happening (for those attending the UK premier of the movie Belle) at the Hippodrome, Leicester Square.  Site of one of my all time favourite aftershows by the way.... Went down there, thinking - meet up with friends, have a drink, probably no chance of getting in - but would be good to talk outside of zooming around to fan invented aftershow party venues / home after the Roundhouse gig. Found a small gathering of purple people outside Hippodrome, hoping to somehow get in or see what was happening. Went for a meal - completely chilled about what was / wasn't going to happen. The Hippodrome is now a casino.  Like all casinos, security is extremely tight because of the money going around etc.  As me and Rob walked around the place after our meal - I felt sure tha...

Imagine you are walking past the back door of your favourite local grimy dive where THE best up and coming bands play.  The door has been left ajar and you hear the crashes of drums, strains of hard rocking guitars loosely colliding building an electric tension.  You don't know who is about to hit the stage, but there is a palpable tension in the air created just by the sound of this band slinging a guitar strap over their shoulders, stretching their fingers and warming up the drums.  This is what the beginning of the album "Suites" by the Donna Grantis Electric Band sounds like. You run around to get into the venue and as they hit the stage and the band launches into a hard rocking instrumental, reminiscent of some of the greatest moments of Led Zeppelin.  A driving rhythm section and wailing guitar that at times soars away, taking your mind with it.  This track sounds very familiar to you - is it Prince? You may have heard this track in a short vi...

Here's an insight into what went down in the run up to the Cafe de Paris gig.  Thanks to Rob Staples for this report. Café De Paris – 20 th May 2014 Seeing as Marcus has so expertly captured the gig itself, let me share a bit of my experience about the run up to Tuesday night.... it was just as exciting as the twitterstorm of Hit & Run I and had a clutch of hardened Prince fans on edge for a whole week!! I first heard the remote rumour of a secret gig about a week before on Wednesday 14th May - a link to a website had been circulated briefly and then disappeared. The public website was www.autismrocks.com and had a simple info flash: Any Prince fan worth their salt sees the words ‘Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’ and immediately makes a connection with Prince, with him receiving this legendary title back in 2004. Fans in the know also understand that Prince’s agent, Kiran Sharma, is a leading light within the British Asian community and that she is hi...

I was dreaming when I wrote this, forgive me if it goes astray.... Last night Prince & 3rdEyeGirl performed a benefit gig at the intimate Cafe de Paris in London for a new charity called Autism Rocks, established by Sanjay Shah this year.  Some of you may be familiar with this venue as Prince played a gig here back in 1998 with Chaka Khan, which was broadcast on UK television. DJ Trevor Nelson was warming up the crowd with some slamming tunes as a small number of fans partied in the standing section on the floor and celebrities partied in the discreet balcony area. Everyone was dressed to impress and in party spirits, as Prince and 3rdEyeGirl took the stage.  The venue was so small that there was not enough room on stage for the whole band!  Prince, Donna, Hanna and Ida took the stage on the floor and the keys were setup above them in the balcony for Joshua and Cassie. Prince came out wearing shades and kicked off with Let's Go Crazy and the crowd really d...

As we approach what appears to be the end of the Hit and Run part II tour of the UK, reports from fans who are seeing Prince for the first time on this tour are still raving that these are the best shows they have ever seen.  Reports from fans that have been to multiple gigs at this point are pointing out what was better on this, that or the other date - maybe too much of a good thing for some maybe? Here is a fan report from last night's gig. It was an unusual move for Prince to have a support act.  I don't remember him ever having an opening act in the UK, unless they were one of his side projects (like the NPG during the act II tour).  Laura Mvula seemed to be fairly unknown to most fans, but she soon one the audience over with her incredible voice and smile.  She had a compliment of strings with her including 2 harps, violin, cello.  Her material is very original went down really well.  A lot of people were surprised by her.  Prince came ou...

By all accounts the shows are heating up, from the first gig in Birmingham which featured a rare performance of Electric Intercourse to the latest two shows in Manchester, which have the whole arena rocking. Here's fan report from Rob, who has been to every show to date.... Here's my thoughts and hopefully this will inspire those of u umming & aaahing to GET A TICKET!! Basically, These 3EG gigs are getting better and BETTER....!! I was front row BHM, and it was amazing but I'll be honest and tell you there were parts of that gig that weren't flowing and I could see directly that Prince wasn't happy at certain points. It felt like the guys were just settling in to the arena experience and the crowd were feeling that. The place woke up properly for 1999 tho...! Ok, next I was seated on Friday night and I got a real good sense of the whole arena.... Right off the bat, everyone was FUNKY IN MANCHESTER! Sorry BHM but it's true! Whole venue, partying wh...

Following rave reviews of a string of small and last-minute gigs. Prince returns to the UK with 3rdEyeGirl to play to a wider audience at some of the UK's biggest arenas. Here we have a fan's report of his experience of the first night in Birmingham. Not sure how much has been written about yesterday's gig so will just post my little description/review. I traveled from Essex and so did not get to Birmingham until after 2pm, at which point I had to go and check into my hotel before I could head to the arena. Got to the arena at roughly 3.15pm. My friend and I were numbers 86 and 87 in the queue. Within about an hour of arriving, security told everyone already in the queue they would be given their wristbands early and be allowed into the arena early to use the toilet, get food/drink, buy merch, etc, then be allowed priority access to the actual auditorium in the order they queued up. Literally. They got everybody in, in the exact order they arrived in (save for the ...

It started 4 days ago with a simple message on Prince's official twitter account @3rdeyegirl "Prince Now in London" Why would anyone think that a twitter account with this name would have any knowledge of the whereabouts of this notoriously secretive and prolific artist? Just hours earlier there were reports online about a listening party held in New York to promote the new single from Prince called Pretzelbodylogic.  Riding a crest of exposure following a well-received appearance, as himself, in a special Super Bowl edition of US comedy show "New Girl", Prince seemed ready to step back into mainstream consciousness again. One might expect a number of US TV appearances on popular entertainment shows to promote this new single and forthcoming album and tell the rest of the world about what he has been busy doing over the last couple of years.  However, being one to always do his own thing, Prince appeared to have flitted away to London in a mysterious ...

Prince & 3rdEyeGirl Live at Koko,  Camden, London, UK more coming soon