Prince is to continue his run of small London club shows by playing Shepherds Bush Empire tonight (February 9).
The legendary performer will be joined by his 3rd Eye girl group. The show was confirmed on Cerys Matthews’ BBC 6Music show this morning, and was later tweeted by the Official 6Music Twitter account. It read:
*KLAXON*
@prince_live is playing w @3RDEYEGIRL TONIGHT
Door 7pm
Venue SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
Tkts on the Door
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?
— BBC Radio 6 Music (@BBC6Music) February 9, 2014
Prince and 3rd Eye Girl played not one but two shows at London’s Camden Electric Ballroom last week (February 5). Following his “open soundcheck” at the same venue the night before, fans had been waiting outside the venue all day with no details of how or when to buy tickets. In the end, those near enough to the front to get in were admitted for the price of just £10.
Prince and his band 3rd Eye Girl took to the stage for the first set at 8.10pm, exiting an hour later but returning for an encore. The set included an opening ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, which incorporated elements of the Edgar Winter Group’s ‘Frankenstein’. Other tracks played included ‘Funk N Roll’, ‘Guitar’ and ‘She’s Always In My Hair’, during which he changed the lyrics to reference his new afro, saying: “Always in Prince’s little curly hair”.
Meanwhile, Prince has ruled out playing any large venues while in London with his band, after playing his first show at the Electric Ballroom in Camden (February 4), hinting instead at small club gigs. Speaking to BBC 6 Music, Prince revealed that he is interested in playing the Electric Ballroom and venues such as Ronnie Scott’s and the Bag O’ Nails Club in Soho – although these are not yet confirmed.
Either way, he will not be replicating the O2 Arena shows he played in 2007. “That was a different time, this is a different band,” he said. “We’ll work our way up, if people like us, to bigger venues.” Quizzed on how long he plans to stay in London, he said his trip was “open-ended”, explaining, “We’re going to be here until people don’t want to hear us any more.” Tickets for the upcoming shows will also be priced reasonably for fans. “We wanna charge about $10 a ticket. This is a new band, people are getting something new.”
