Prince has announced that he will be embarking on a 16-date U.K. and European tour with nothing but himself and his piano.
The Purple One announced earlier this month that he will be setting of on a tour of the U.K. and Europe with nothing but himself and his piano, kiss the signature purple love symbol guitar goodbye for this one. According to The Fader, the Prince Spotlight: Piano & a Microphone tour does not have any official tour dates or planned venues set in place yet. However, there have been rumored reports of an opening show at Vienna’s Konzerthaus on 21 November, as well as shows at Barcelona’s Teatro Liceo on 13 December and Brussels’ Royal Circus on 22 December, according to The Line of Best Fit. With a couple shows also to be held in Denmark, one stop in Sweden, Norway, and “at least” one in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany. The U.K. shows will include stops in Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham and London.
This will be the first time Prince had done anything like this in 37 years, such a bare show with just him and his piano. The shows are assumed to be very intimate and personal for the High Priest of Pop. He has been playing piano since his high school band and has released a couple big hits in his professional career that showcase his talent with the instrument. These hits include “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore,” where he plays the keyboard, and “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” which he really jams on the piano.
According to The Line of Best Fit, the announcement for the tour came during a press conference/party/show.
Translated from Spanish, Prince had this to say during the conference:
“Why do this now? For several reasons. For starters it is a challenge. I do not want to have bad reviews, but not back to what I’m sure I can do because I’ve done for 30 years. You have to try new things. With the piano it is more naked, more pure. You can see exactly what you get.”
Prince also had this to say on Twitter confirming his announcement:
https://t.co/SL8zLXzwun CORRECT TRANSLATION:" I rarely get bad reviews because this is something that's been perfected 4 over thirty years."
— Prince3EG (@Prince3EG) November 9, 2015
Prince alone with his piano was epic. You could hear a pin drop. Prince alone with his piano was epic.You could hear pic.twitter.com/YfFJEkumps
— Prince3EG (@Prince3EG) November 9, 2015
Prince’s latest album was his Tidal release earlier this year, HITNRUN.
UPDATE:
Prince has postponed the ticket sales for his UK Tour with no explanation. Tickets were due to go on sale at 10am on November 10.