Purple Rain Tour

The Purple Rain Tour was a concert tour by American recording artist Prince and The Revolution following up on the success of his sixth studio album Purple Rain and his 1984 film Purple Rain. According to Spin, the tour sold over 1.7 million tickets.

Purple Rain Tour
Tour by Prince and The Revolution
Associated albumPurple Rain
Start dateNovember 4, 1984
End dateApril 7, 1985
Legs2
No. of shows98 (99 scheduled)
Prince and The Revolution concert chronology

History

The tour marked the live debut of the band now named The Revolution as Wendy Melvoin made her appearance as the new guitarist in Prince's band, taking over for the departed Dez Dickerson, completing the iconic line-up of the band.

In addition to Prince and The Revolution, they were joined on tour by Apollonia 6, and Sheila E. and her band. Despite gaining fame from their appearance in the film and releasing a third album, The Time were not invited to tour, as by 1985 the group had been depleted, with many of its remaining key members quitting to embark on personal careers.

Opening acts

Set list

The Purple Rain Tour was the first Prince tour to open with brand new material. In this case, it was with the album opener, "Let's Go Crazy". A triple dose from the 1999 album followed: "Delirious", "1999" and "Little Red Corvette". An instrumental interlude of "Yankee Doodle" usually introduced another 1999 song, "Free". The B-side "God" was often played, followed by a usual sequence of "Computer Blue", "Darling Nikki", "The Beautiful Ones" and "When Doves Cry" (featuring a mirror setup onstage to mimic the video of the song). As encores, the remaining Purple Rain songs closed the concert, "I Would Die 4 U", "Baby I'm a Star" and "Purple Rain". The three songs were extended, often taking 30 minutes to perform. "Take Me with U" was often worked in, completing all the album tracks. Other songs sometimes included were "Father's Song", "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?", the new "Temptation", "Let's Pretend We're Married", "Irresistible Bitch" and "Do Me, Baby". On rare occasions, "International Lover", and some tracks from Dirty Mind (1980) and Prince (1979) would pop up. Later in the tour, an instrumental of "Under the Cherry Moon" was sometimes played. The B-side "Irresistible Bitch" was segued into the unreleased "Possessed" at the show in Syracuse.

Setlist of November 11, 1984, at the Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, United States[1]

  1. "Let's Go Crazy"
  2. "Delirious"
  3. "1999" (includes Reveille interpolation)
  4. "Little Red Corvette"
  1. "Free"
  2. "Father's Song"
  3. "God"
  4. "Computer Blue"
  5. "Darling Nikki"
  6. "The Beautiful Ones" (includes 'backwards' "The Dance Electric"/wind chime intro)
  7. "When Doves Cry"

Encore 1

  1. "I Would Die 4 U"
  2. "Baby I'm a Star"

Encore 2

  1. "Purple Rain"

Setlist of November 22, 1984, at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States[2]

  1. "Let's Go Crazy"
  2. "Delirious"
  3. "1999" (includes Reveille interpolation)
  4. "Little Red Corvette"
  1. "Free"
  2. "Take Me with U"
  3. "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"
  4. "Temptation"
  5. "Let's Pretend We're Married"/"International Lover"
  6. "God"
  7. "Computer Blue"
  8. "Darling Nikki"
  9. "The Beautiful Ones" (includes 'backwards' "The Dance Electric"/wind chime intro)
  10. "When Doves Cry"

Encore 1

  1. "I Would Die 4 U"
  2. "Baby I'm a Star"

Encore 2

  1. "Purple Rain"

Setlist of December 2, 1984, at the Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada[3]

  1. "Let's Go Crazy"
  2. "Delirious"
  3. "1999" (includes Reveille interpolation)
  4. "Little Red Corvette"
  1. "Under the Cherry Moon" (Instrumental)
  2. "Free"
  3. "Take Me with U"
  4. "Dirty Mind"
  5. "Do Me, Baby"
  6. "I Wanna Be Your Lover"
  7. "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"
  8. "Temptation"
  9. "Let's Pretend We're Married"/"International Lover"
  10. "Father's Song"
  11. "God"
  12. "Computer Blue"
  13. "Darling Nikki"
  14. "The Beautiful Ones" (includes 'backwards' "The Dance Electric"/wind chime intro)
  15. "When Doves Cry"

Encore 1

  1. "I Would Die 4 U"
  2. "Baby I'm a Star"

Encore 2

  1. "Purple Rain"

Setlist of February 23, 1985, at The Forum, Inglewood, California, United States[4]

  1. "Controversy"
  2. "Let's Go Crazy"
  3. "Delirious"
  4. "1999" (Includes Reveille interpolation)
  5. "Little Red Corvette"
  6. "Take Me with U" (Includes "Controversy" and "In a Spanish Villa (Instrumental)" interpolations)
  7. "When You Were Mine"
  8. "4 the Tears in Your Eyes"
  1. "A Case of You"
  2. "Free"
  3. "Raspberry Beret"
  4. "Do Me, Baby" (Includes 'purple house' spoken intro)
  5. "Irresistible Bitch"
  6. "Temptation"
  7. "Let's Pretend We're Married" / "International Lover"
  8. "God"
  9. "Computer Blue"
  10. "Darling Nikki"
  11. "The Beautiful Ones" (Includes 'backwards' "The Dance Electric" / wind chime intro)
  12. "When Doves Cry"

Encore 1

  1. "I Would Die 4 U"
  2. "Baby I'm a Star" (Includes "We are Young" chant & "Bodyheat" and "Partyup" interpolations)
  3. "America"

Encore 2

  1. "Purple Rain"

Notes

  • During performances of "I Would Die 4 U"/"Baby I'm a Star", Prince would often invite Apollonia 6 and Sheila E. to jam with him for a 20-to-30-minute rendition of the songs.
  • At the Landover, Maryland concert, the performance of "I Would Die 4 U"/"Baby I'm a Star" were recorded and used as a promo video for the song played on MTV.
  • The Syracuse, New York concert on March 30, 1985 was recorded and released on VHS later in 1985.
  • Singers Bruce Springsteen and Madonna joined Prince on stage during "Baby I'm a Star" at the February 23, 1985 concert at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
  • A little-known fact is that Prince performed his Purple Rain Concert a month before its first scheduled date in Detroit in a concert hall called "Bogarts" on Sept. 23, 1984 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was hinted on the local Urban Contemporary station, WBLZ, but only a few individuals knew that he would actually show up. He played a full set for a crowd of 2,500 as a trial run, and even Morris Day and Sheila E. were present.

Tour dates
List of concerts, showing date, city, country, attendance, and gross revenue[5]
Date City Country Venue Attendance Revenue
November 4, 1984 Detroit United States Joe Louis Arena 129,730 / 129,730 $1,967,572
November 5, 1984
November 7, 1984
November 8, 1984
November 9, 1984
November 11, 1984
November 12, 1984
November 14, 1984 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum 44,029 / 52,629 $667,773
November 15, 1984
November 16, 1984
November 18, 1984 Landover Capital Centre 133,182 / 133,182[lower-alpha 1] $2,019,927[lower-alpha 1]
November 19, 1984
November 20, 1984
November 22, 1984 Philadelphia The Spectrum 55,917 / 55,917 $848,075
November 23, 1984
November 24, 1984
November 26, 1984 Landover Capital Centre [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 1]
November 28, 1984
November 29, 1984
November 30, 1984
December 2, 1984 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens 35,000 / 35,000 $628,950
December 3, 1984
December 5, 1984 Richfield United States Richfield Coliseum 36,400 / 36,400 $546,000
December 6, 1984
December 9, 1984 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon 90,687 / 90,687 $1,375,419
December 10, 1984
December 11, 1984
December 13, 1984
December 14, 1984
December 15, 1984 Lexington Rupp Arena 22,347 / 22,347 $368,725
December 17, 1984 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 30,021 / 32,328 $525,368
December 18, 1984
December 20, 1984 St. Louis St. Louis Arena 40,000 / 40,000 $700,000
December 21, 1984
December 23, 1984 Saint Paul St. Paul Civic Center 87,580 / 87,580 $1,532,650
December 24, 1984
December 26, 1984
December 27, 1984
December 28, 1984
December 30, 1984 Dallas Reunion Arena 53,274 / 54,828 $879,021
December 31, 1984
January 1, 1985
January 3, 1985 Atlanta The Omni 87,500 / 90,000 $1,531,250
January 4, 1985
January 6, 1985
January 7, 1985
January 8, 1985
January 11, 1985 Houston The Summit 102,564 / 102,564 $1,708,690
January 12, 1985
January 13, 1985
January 14, 1985
January 16, 1985
January 17, 1985
January 19, 1985 Birmingham BJCC Coliseum 35,400 / 35,400 [lower-alpha 2] $619,500 [lower-alpha 2]
January 21, 1985 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum 44,100 / 44,100 $771,750
January 22, 1985
January 23, 1985
January 25, 1985 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum 33,600 / 33,600 [lower-alpha 3] $588,000 [lower-alpha 3]
January 26, 1985
January 29, 1985 Austin Frank Erwin Center 32,224 / 32,224 $531,696
January 30, 1985
February 1, 1985 New Orleans Louisiana Superdome 60,000 / 60,000 $1,050,000
February 3, 1985 Birmingham BJCC Coliseum [lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 2]
February 4, 1985 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 3]
February 14, 1985 Tacoma Tacoma Dome 48,900 / 48,900 $806,850
February 15, 1985
February 18, 1985 Inglewood The Forum 96,000 / 96,000 $1,680,000
February 19, 1985
February 20, 1985
February 22, 1985
February 23, 1985
February 24, 1985
February 27, 1985 Daly City Cow Palace 78,498 / 78,498 $1,373,715
February 28, 1985
March 1, 1985
March 3, 1985
March 4, 1985
March 5, 1985
March 7, 1985 Las Cruces Pan American Center 26,100 / 26,100 $456,750
March 8, 1985
March 10, 1985 Long Beach Long Beach Arena 40,722 / 40,722 $712,635
March 11, 1985
March 12, 1985
March 17, 1985 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum 100,200 / 100,200 $1,753,500
March 18, 1985
March 20, 1985
March 22, 1985
March 23, 1985
March 24, 1985
March 26, 1985 Hartford Hartford Civic Center — —
March 27, 1985 Worcester Worcester Centrum 24,146 / 24,146 $422,555
March 28, 1985
March 30, 1985 Syracuse Carrier Dome 39,875 / 39,875 $697,812
April 1, 1985 Indianapolis Market Square Arena 16,089 / 16,089 $281,558
April 3, 1985 Tallahassee Tallahassee–Leon County Civic Center 12,541 / 12,541 $232,009
April 4, 1985 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center 18,752 / 18,752 $356,288
April 5, 1985
April 7, 1985 Miami Purple Bowl Stadium 53,085 / 61,500 $982,073

Personnel

During this tour, Prince added saxophonists Eric Leeds and Eddie Minnifield to certain parts of the show and often they would join The Revolution on stage for the extended jams of "I Would Die 4 U" and "Baby I'm a Star". A minor conflict arose within the band, as Prince began giving Leeds lengthy solos during other songs, in particular Wendy was upset that her opening guitar solo on the show closing "Purple Rain" was given to Leeds.[6]

Tour photographer was Nancy Bundt.

Notes
  1. This box office score data is representative of all 7 shows at the Capital Centre on November 18, 19 & 20 and 26, 28, 29 & 30 respectively.
  2. This box office score data is representative of both shows at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center on January 19 and February 3 respectively.
  3. This box office score data is representative of both shows at the Mid-South Coliseum on January 25 and February 4 respectively.

References
  1. Prince Vault - Detroit, MI Set list
  2. Prince Vault - Philadelphia, PA Set list
  3. Prince Vault - Toronto, Canada Set list
  4. Prince Vault - Inglewood, CA Set list
  5. Prince Tour History – Purple Rain Tour 1984–1985
  6. Alex Hahn (2003). "Possessed: The Rise And Fall Of Prince". Billboard Books.
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