What we want from the Prince tour
It’s official: Prince is set to tour Australia — and in only a few weeks’ time.
The Purple One will bring his Welcome 2 Australia tour to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in mid-May, his first Australian tour since 2003 — and only his third-ever visit.
Tickets go on sale Monday, April 16 via Ticketek, and there’s no word yet on whether extra shows will be added to the schedule, so expect these to sell out in a flash.
Most excitingly for an artist whose sheer breadth of material (35 studio albums at last count) means that for every hit there’s a miss, Prince is promising a greatest hits set to reward fans who haven’t seen him play live in almost a decade.
With that in mind, here are the top five things we want to hear at Prince’s Welcome 2 Australia tour:
5. Money Don’t Matter 2 Night
Perhaps his last truly essential single — this one’s just gorgeous.
4. Pop Life
Just ’cos it rocks and never quite seems to get its props amidst his giant back catalogue.
3. A medley of all the tracks he’s penned for ladies he may or may not have been shagging.
Alongside his own material, Prince has written for ladies both talented (Chaka Khan) and, er, not (Carmen Electra, whose 1993 rap album is worth hunting down for a laugh). Along the way he’s been responsible for hits like The Bangles’ Manic Monday, Sheena Easton’s Sugar Walls, Vanity 6’s Nasty Girl and Sheila E’s Glamorous Life. A live mash-up of a few of these would go down a treat.
2. Nothing Compares 2 U
UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT: Sinead O’Connor’s much-loved cover of this song has always felt a bit sterile for our tastes. The truly definitive rendition of the timeless ballad can be found on Prince’s 1993 Greatest Hits, as he and back-up singer Rosie Gaines give the song the soulful rendition it deserves.
1. Purple Rain. The album. All of it.
We don’t care if we have to stay in the arena until sunrise, there ain’t a song on that perfectly-formed album we don’t want to hear live (OK, at a pinch we could lose Computer Blues). Let’s Go Crazy! Baby I’m A Star! I Would Die 4 U! When Doves Cry! The lighters-aloft nine-minute power ballad that is the title track!
Prince – I would die 4 U/ Baby I’m a Star from mark Daley on Vimeo.
info:
Sydney 11 May Allphones Arena
Melbourne 14 May Rod Laver Arena
Brisbane 18 May Entertainment Centre
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