Prince Tour
| Tour by Prince | |
| Location | North America |
|---|---|
| Associated album | Prince |
| Start date | November 26, 1979 |
| End date | May 3, 1980 |
| Legs | 2 |
| Number of shows | 14 club dates 42 as opening act 56 in total |
| Prince concert chronology | |
The Prince Tour was the first concert tour by American recording artist Prince, and supported his second album Prince. The tour started as a headlining club act and played 13 dates before joining Rick James' Fire It Up Tour as a supporting act for 38 more dates in the United States. The tour lasted from late November 1979 [1] through April 1980.[2]
History
The tour focused on material from Prince's first two albums. As a support act, the set usually contained 7-8 songs, but most extended out so the concert would last about 40 minutes. Towards the end of the tour, Prince sometimes incorporated a newly written song, "Head" into the act. The lewd number conflicted with keyboardist Gayle Chapman's religious beliefs, as she was a member of The Way[clarification needed] and caused her to leave the band. She was later replaced by Lisa Coleman, who provided additional vocals for the song in the studio and in concert and later became a close collaborator with Prince.
The Prince Tour stayed within the United States, but prior to Prince's next tour, he would venture to Europe for the first time for three club dates.
Matt Fink started in this tour wearing a jailbird, black and white striped outfit. It would not be until the next tour for Dirty Mind that he would adopt the Doctor Fink persona.
When Prince joined Rick James' Fire It Up Tour, within the industry it was billed as the Battle of Funk. However it quickly became evident that Prince was winning over the crowd with his short, lively set which he stole from Rick James and eventually brought more energy than the two hour set by the headliner. Animosity between the two groups developed as they tended not to socialize after the show, plus Rick James and his crew were heavy into drinking and doing drugs, something Prince avoided.
Band
- Prince: Lead vocals and guitar
- Dez Dickerson: Guitar
- André Cymone: Bass
- Matt Fink: Keyboards
- Gayle Chapman: Keyboards
- Bobby Z.: Drums
Typical set list
- "Soft and Wet"
- "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?"
- "Still Waiting"
- "I Feel for You"
- "Sexy Dancer"
- "Just as Long as We're Together"
- "I Wanna Be Your Lover"
Additionally, "Head" was debuted on this tour and worked into this some shows.
"Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" was the second song played in these concerts, and would be the same for the next two concert tours. For some reason after that, it would never be played again except at a few one-off shows over the following years.
