Sign o' the Times Tour

The Sign o' the Times Tour was a European concert tour by American recording artist Prince. It was the first tour after the split with The Revolution. As Prince's record sales were doing better in the European market than at home in the United States, Prince chose not to continue the tour into the United States after the European tour, as he was ready to get back into the studio and start a new project.

Sign o' the Times Tour
Tour by Prince
Associated albumSign o' the Times
Start dateMay 8, 1987
End dateJune 29, 1987
Legs1
No. of shows34
Prince concert chronology
Prince in concert.

The Sign o' the Times Tour marks the debut of Prince's newest band, called the "Lovesexy Band" by most long-time Prince fans.

History

The Sign o' the Times Tour marked a huge transition period in the career of Prince. Gone were the Revolution, in particular long-time band members Bobby Z. (who was there from the start in 1978), Brown Mark, Lisa Coleman, and Wendy Melvoin. The only holdovers from the "Counter-Revolution" line-up were Miko Weaver, Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, and long-time keyboardist Doctor Fink. Sheila E., who Prince had been working with in the studio, took over on drums, while another session player, Levi Seacer, Jr., who had been playing in Sheila E.'s band and was also a member of Prince's jazz-fusion project Madhouse, was added on bass. Boni Boyer was brought on board to play keyboard and organs and the Star Search phenom Cat Glover rounded out the group as choreographer, dancer, and backing vocals.

Warner Bros. and Prince's managers wanted a longer world tour to promote the album in United States and Japan, however Prince felt a need to tour Europe only, where his past three albums, along with this one, performed better than in the United States, and by the time he was finished with his European concert dates, was ready to move on from Sign o' the Times and record new material.[1] He later compromised by filming some of the shows for a concert film release. However, the film quality of the recorded shows was too grainy and Prince was forced to re-shoot most of the concerts in a sound stage at Paisley Park, lip-syncing most of the songs.

Prince was scheduled to perform at Wembley Stadium, London on this tour, but the dates were cancelled.

The band

Typical set list
  1. "Sign "☮" the Times"
  2. "Play in the Sunshine"
  3. "Little Red Corvette"
  4. "Housequake"
  5. "Girls & Boys"
  6. "Slow Love"
  7. "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" (Includes "Rockhard in a Funky Place" horn interpolation)
  8. "Hot Thing"
  9. Drum solo coda: "Now's the Time" (Charlie Parker cover)
  10. "U Got the Look"
  11. "If I Was Your Girlfriend"
  12. "Let's Go Crazy"
  13. "When Doves Cry" (Includes "La, La, La, He, He, Hee" interpolation)
  14. "Purple Rain"
  15. "1999"

Encore 1

  1. "Forever in My Life"
  2. "Kiss"
  3. "The Cross"

Encore 2

  1. "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" (Includes "Take the "A" Train", "Six", "Housequake" and "♥ or $" interpolations)

Also "Mutiny", "Raspberry Beret", "La La La He He Hee", "Dead on It", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Sex of It", were worked into some shows.

Tour dates
Date City Country Venue
Europe
May 8, 1987 Stockholm Sweden Isstadion
May 9, 1987
May 10, 1987
May 12, 1987 Gothenburg Scandinavium
May 14, 1987 West Berlin West Germany Deutschlandhalle
May 15, 1987
May 18, 1987 Zurich Switzerland Hallenstadion
May 19, 1987
May 20, 1987
May 22, 1987 Munich West Germany Olympiahalle
May 23, 1987
May 25, 1987 Frankfurt Festhalle Frankfurt
May 26, 1987
May 29, 1987 Vienna Austria Wiener Stadthalle
May 30, 1987
June 1, 1987 Dortmund West Germany Westfalenhallen
June 2, 1987
June 4, 1987 Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
June 7, 1987 Milan Italy Palatrussardi
June 8, 1987
June 9, 1987
June 11, 1987
June 13, 1987 Paris France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
June 14, 1987
June 15, 1987
June 17, 1987
June 19, 1987 Utrecht Netherlands Stadion Galgenwaard
June 20, 1987
June 21, 1987
June 22, 1987
June 26, 1987 Rotterdam Rotterdam Ahoy Sportpaleis
June 27, 1987
June 28, 1987
June 29, 1987 Antwerp Belgium Sportpaleis

Cancellations

References
  1. Jason Draper (2008). "Prince: Life & Times". Jawbone Press.
  2. http://www.princevault.com/images/a/a4/SignOTheTimesTourAdvert.png
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