ticket for Prince's 1979 "Prince Tour"
The Prince Tour was Prince's first concert tour 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.
It lasted from November 26, 1979 until May 3, 1980.
Tour Background[]
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 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 and 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 (which was something that Prince avoided).
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.
Tour Schedule[]
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America—Leg 1 | |||
| November 26, 1979 | West Hollywood | United States | The Roxy Theatre |
| November 28, 1979 | Denver | Rainbow Music Hall | |
| November 29, 1979 | Burleson | Western Palace Club | |
| December 1, 1979 | Houston | The Palace | |
| December 2, 1979 | Avondale | Ole Man River | |
| December 2, 1979 | |||
| February 9, 1980 | Minneapolis | Orpheum Theatre | |
| February 11, 1980 | Cincinnati | Bogart's | |
| February 14, 1980 | Cherry Hill | Emerald City | |
| February 15, 1980 | New York City | The Bottom Line | |
| February 15, 1980 | |||
| February 16, 1980 | |||
| February 16, 1980 | |||
| February 17, 1980 | Boston | Paradise Club | |
| North America—Leg 2 (Opening act for Rick James' Fire It Up Tour) | |||
| February 22, 1980 | Fort Worth | United States | Tarrant County Convention Center |
| February 23, 1980 | Shreveport | Hirsch Memorial Coliseum | |
| February 24, 1980 | Houston | Sam Houston Coliseum | |
| February 28, 1980 | Chicago | Uptown Theatre | |
| February 29, 1980 | |||
| March 1, 1980 | Pittsburgh | Stanley Theater | |
| March 2, 1980 | |||
| March 5, 1980 | Greenville | Greenville Memorial Auditorium | |
| March 6, 1980 | Atlanta | The Omni | |
| March 7, 1980 | Jacksonville | Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum | |
| March 8, 1980 | Lakeland | Lakeland Civic Center | |
| March 9, 1980 | Sunrise | Sunrise Musical Theater | |
| March 14, 1980 | Hampton | Hampton Roads Coliseum | |
| March 15, 1980 | Raleigh | Dorton Arena | |
| March 16, 1980 | Columbia | Carolina Coliseum | |
| March 20, 1980 | Rochester | Rochester Community War Memorial | |
| March 21, 1980 | Cleveland | Public Hall | |
| March 22, 1980 | Louisville | Freedom Hall | |
| March 23, 1980 | Detroit | Cobo Arena | |
| March 27, 1980 | Columbus | Columbus Municipal Auditorium | |
| March 28, 1980 | New Orleans | Municipal Auditorium | |
| March 29, 1980 | Jackson | Mississippi Coliseum | |
| March 30, 1980 | Lake Charles | Lake Charles Civic Center | |
| April 2, 1980 | Buffalo | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium | |
| April 3, 1980 | Toledo | Toledo Sports Arena | |
| April 4, 1980 | Saginaw | Saginaw Civic Center | |
| April 5, 1980 | Indianapolis | Market Square Arena | |
| April 6, 1980 | St. Louis | The Checkerdome | |
| April 7, 1980 | Milwaukee | MECCA Arena | |
| April 10, 1980 | Savannah | Savannah Civic Center | |
| April 11, 1980 | Greensboro | Greensboro Coliseum | |
| April 12, 1980 | Baltimore | Baltimore Civic Center | |
| April 13, 1980 | Springfield | Springfield Civic Center | |
| April 17, 1980 | Birmingham | Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center | |
| April 18, 1980 | Memphis | Mid-South Coliseum | |
| April 19, 1980 | Huntsville | Von Braun Civic Center | |
| April 20, 1980 | Dayton | University of Dayton Arena | |
| April 24, 1980 | Richmond | Richmond Coliseum | |
| April 25, 1980 | Charlotte | Charlotte Coliseum | |
| April 26, 1980 | Macon | Macon Coliseum | |
| April 27, 1980 | Nashville | Nashville Municipal Auditorium | |
| May 3, 1980 | Landover | Capital Centre | |