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Prince Announces New Tour At Apollo—And Doesn't Sing!
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 15, 2010
Modified Oct 15, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 15, 2010
Modified Oct 15, 2010
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When you hear that Prince will be giving a press conference at the Apollo Theatre, it makes sense to expect that the Purple One might do something flashy, perhaps even perform a song, right? Especially when a gold-plated electric guitar is on stage? But yesterday, The Artist Formerly Known As TAFKAP simply announced a new tour—Welcome 2 America—featuring different artists like Maceo Parker and Janelle Monae. Prince will the emcee for the concerts and will perform with the New Power Generation, telling the press, "Bring your friends, bring your children, and bring foot spray, because it's going to be funky." But he didn't answer any questions, nor did he give any information on where the concerts would be, when they would be (aside from starting on a "purple day in December") or how much tickets would cost.
Video by Gregory Stefano
Other tidbits: Prince introduced Geoffrey Canada, the Harlem's Children Zone educator to the stage, and encouraged people to see the education reform documentary Waiting For Superman. After Prince left, BET president Stephen Hill explained the gold guitar would be auctioned off, with proceeds benefiting the Harlem Empowerment Zone, and the Star-Ledger's Tris McCall wrote that the audience clapped at that news: "The crowd of journalists and Prince fans who crowded into the landmark theater wouldn't have minded applauding for a song or two, too.... Prince, one of the great pop musicians of the past fifty years, is a reliably thrilling concert performer. He does, however, have a reputation for inscrutability that this press conference did nothing to dispel."
Tagged
apollo theater
foot spray
funky
prince
welcome 2 america
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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