24th February 2007

Prince is Leaving Las Vegas

posted in Las Vegas |

PrinceAt least that is what the local word is. And I think it is true.

March 31, 2007 is Prince’s last scheduled appearance, and from all accounts, it will indeed be his last gig at the Rio.

Few things truly disappoint me, but this news/probably-true-rumor is one of them.

Prince’s show at the Rio is the greatest running show in the history of Las Vegas, IMHO. And yes, this includes the “Rat Pack” days, and possibly Elvis (here comes the hate mail).

If you look at tapes of the Rat Pack with guys mildly crooning while holding martini’s, and compare that to Prince wailing on his telecaster with 2+ hours of hard driving rock/jazz/funk … then you would be hard pressed to disagree. Elvis is a harder case to make, but for our time, Prince is up there.

This is going to be a loss. A big loss. One of the few losses that really kicks me squarely in the balls.

This was hands-down the best show I have ever seen in Las Vegas (review).? And I wanted to see it many more times.

But let’s have a reality check for a second.

Prince is too big for the Rio. Prince has always been too big for the Rio. I have no clue why he came to the Rio in the first place. I was shocked at his arrival. This guy could be selling out Madison Square Garden on a nightly basis.

Honestly, how long did any of us expect him to stay in a 700 person venue?

I was foolishly hoping that it would be at least a year, maybe more, but that really was just wishful thinking.

In the back of my head, I knew the whole time that Prince would come to his senses and say “What the fuck am I doing here?” … well, since he is now a Jehovah’s Witness he would say “What in the heck am I doing here?” … but either way it seems that the realization has occurred.

Rumor has it that after his last show at the Rio, he will embark on a World Tour. Which he probably should have done in the first place. Hell, I would have paid $125 to be in the 20th row of an Arena … standing at the stage high-fiving him is something that few people will ever be able to do again.

This gives me one month to see as many remaining shows as I can. I am going to do my best to see a few more.

Prince, we hardly knew thee …


There are currently 8 responses to “Prince is Leaving Las Vegas”

  1. 1

    On February 25th, 2007, Amanda said:

    I tried to get Prince tix for my trip in April and they told me his contract is done at the end of next month. Yes, he is going on a World Tour in June/July so I’ll catch him then. Prince is the best live performer I’ve ever seen and the only person I can easily spend $100+ for a ticket and not feel buyer’s remorse. He’s that good!

  2. 2

    On February 26th, 2007, VegasRex said:

    Amanda,

    Do yourself a favor and take an early vacation if at all possible

    Even though an arena show would be great, the 3121 show is much better.

    By many magnitudes.

  3. 3

    On March 3rd, 2007, AnthemGuy said:

    That Bellagio show sounds like Chim Chim Cheree but it’s definitely not Mary Poppins, it’s definitely some classical tune. And I am with you, what happened to clapping for the Bellagio Fountain shows?

  4. 4

    On March 3rd, 2007, Webmaster said:

    AnthemGuy,

    We updated the title to Chim Chim Cheree. Thanks for the correction, we couldn’t pin point that song.

  5. 5

    On March 5th, 2007, Katie said:

    I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I decided to purchase tickets for the Marh 30th show when I did. (3 days ago) Whew. I have been a fan for so long, and reading the reviews I have read over the last couple of days, have just made me so totally over joyed. I was concerned about the 125.00 at first, but now….have no doubt that this will be the best show I have ever seen.

  6. 6

    On March 7th, 2007, Martha said:

    I have tickets to see Prince on March 30th and 31st. Looking forward to both shows.
    I have never been to one of his concerts, but recently discovered the last two albums of his. I actually enjoy his new music more than his past music. I hope he plays all the songs off of Musicology and 3121. I also would love to hear the song The Cross. I am happy to hear he does not spend to much time on the oldies. I do have one question, I have never been to a club (definitely older than 21 but was never was into the club scene and from a small town- double jeopardy) and I am not exactly sure what is meant by club wear. Please give me an idea. Thanks for any helpful comments.

  7. 7

    On March 7th, 2007, VegasRex said:

    Congrats on the tickets. You will enjoy the shows.

    “Club Wear” doesn’t mean anything. They just say no jeans for men … but I saw men in jeans. So it really means “Don’t dress in sweats or torn up jeans”.

    If you spend $125-$250 for tickets, they aren’t kicking you out.

    I saw everything from people dressed in jeans and t-shirts to people dressed to the 9’s.

    There are just as many 50 year olds as there are 29 and unders. At least when I was there. This is not a “club” despite what the ticket says. It is a Prince Concert. Prince is a Jehova’s witness … he does not drink, smoke, or use “bad words”. There is a DJ before the show, but it’s just to kill time.

    Few true musicians are into standard “nightclubs” anyway. Those are for posers. I haven’t seen a lot of “club scene” people at any of the shows, and those that do show up are greatly outnumbered by the 40+ year old music fans. So the clubbers are actually the ones that seem out of place.

    Prince is pushing 50 years old and so are many of his fans. Wear whatever is comfortable for you. Do yourself a favor and wear comfortable shoes. You will be on your feet for nearly 4 hours. The high-heeled women were barefoot before the end of the show. So don’t wear them. Something you might wear to say, Applebee’s is sufficient, or something you might wear if you went to a decent restaurant in Vegas. Slacks, a dress, even jeans. It’s your call. Dress up or dress down. There are all types.

    Honestly, the “dress code” is a non-issue. Once the lights go down and the purple man takes the stage, nobody knows what you are wearing.

    I personally wore an untucked white shirt, khaki type pants, and brown tennis shoes to all the shows. No problem.

    Contrary to what you would probably expect, it is a very unpretentious gig. At least that was my experience.

    Wear what you want. Have fun. Please tell us how the show went.

  8. 8

    On April 16th, 2007, Martha said:

    Well I went to Prince on March 30th and 31st. Never saw him in concert before and he opened the show at the back of the club on a small stage about 6 feet from where I was standing. I was taking it all in with the first show. The DJ, the visuals, the twinz and the main musician himself. He did announce that he was going to be at the jazz club towards the end of the concert. I stood in line for that about 30 minutes and then I decided I was about the 300th person in line and didn’t have a chance of getting in so I went to sleep, in a room that looked directly out at the gi-normous billboard of Prince out front. Next day I enjoyed the pool from 10 am to 5pm and then got ready for the second concert. The second concert was so much fun. I danced through the entire concert. Prince was all over the theatre that night as well. I stood in the same place as the night before and he went by me about three times. ( He is one good looking man, I must say) I went down on the floor near the end of the concert. Tamar and the girl with the capes ( wish I could remember her name) and Sheila E were all at the 31st concert. Sheila E. was on the back stage singing a song with Prince ( he was up on the main stage). The twinz also danced on the side stages at the 31st concert. The song selections were different each night so there wasn’t that many repeats that I could tell. Hey, I just remembered that Prince took a cell phone from someone on the floor they were holding it up and he sang into it (lucky person on the line)!!! That was fun. Each night the concert was about 2.5 hours. The next day I enjoyed the pool again. Then on Sunday I went shopping at the mall on the strip and I saw Penn and Teller in the evening. I was in the third row and I was watching them like a hawk and I couldn’t see the slight of hand. They were funny and entertaining. I liked the goldfish trick the best. I had a fabulous weekend in Las Vegas. FIrst time to your city. I hope that Prince comes back. I saw on the 3121.com site through the link he is playing in San Francisco in May. I just might have to go to that concert as well. I met this lady at the airport and she had gotten an excellant picture of prince on her cell phone. I don’t know how she did it because there was alot of really, really large men in black suits. She was going to email it to me, but sadly she must have lost my address. Thanks for the excellant reviews and advice on your site. Followed the advice and I had a great time. You have quite the gift, your site is entertaining and informative. Thanks Martha