One Nite Alone… Tour - Prince 2002

2002

Concert tour

For those of you who expected to get your Purple Rain on, you’re in the wrong house.

One Nite Alone… Tour was a series of jazz inspired shows named after Prince’s One Nite Alone… piano album. The concerts proved a surprise success considering the muted sales of both One Nite Alone... and The Rainbow Children albums the tour was promoting and Prince’s recent stall in popularity. The tour was thereby modestly staged in theatres, tickets quickly sold out in result.

Not only just enjoying ticket pre-sales, Prince also allowed members of NPG Music Club to attend the show’s sound checks, occupy the front rows, and even the opportunity to ask him questions directly and meet the band. Nightly, one member from the audience (typically a club member due to their proximity) was invited onstage to watch the performance while sat on a beanbag – it created a relaxed environment, particularly with large lavender incense burners either side of the stage. Blackwell’s TAMA drumkit was stage rear and behind a plexiglass baffle. Neto’s keyboards were put one side, with Prince’s Fender Rhodes the other. There was even a water feature. To thwart ticket exchanging, club members were required to collect their tickets using an ID and from the venue itself. Once wrist-banded, they were also able to attend the aftershow for free. All these benefits saw One Nite Alone… Tour fondly remembered as a fan favourite because of its intimacy, stripped down nature, and the sheer creative diversity of the set lists that not dwelt on playing the usual hits. Not only was the staging simple, Prince was suited, and the retrospective set lists saw the return of Prince playing his 70s Hohner Madcat guitar. He also toured with a modified Fender Stratocaster which would become his mainstay guitar in his shows up to 2007.

One Nite Alone… Tour was a celebration of music of its purest form and is widely jointly deemed as Prince’s benchmark shows, accompanied with his best touring band. Prince played songs he rarely performed previously, the hidden gems. So relaxed was it, the tour also introduced the monologue, worked into his piano set played on the Fender Rhodes, cased in clear plexiglass, Prince recounting his favourite story of answering sales calls to the studio phone. For these reasons soundboard recordings of One Nite Alone… Tour was subsequently released as Prince’s first ever live album, One Nite Alone… Live. The soundchecks often lasted an hour themselves, and the length of the main show varied, many pushing 3 hours. Because so many fans attended multiple shows, set lists varied considerably.

The band, still under the moniker NPG, underwent major change. joining John Blackwell, Rhonda Smith and Najee were new arrivals Renato Neto on keyboards and Greg Boyer on trombone. Also joining for the first time in Prince’s touring band, on saxophone was Candy Dulfer, she had first met Prince in Europe opening for him on the Dutch leg of Lovesexy Tour in 1988. The horn section was further expanded with the star signing of James Brown’s sideman Maceo Parker on saxophone, a slot he shared with Najee on selected dates in rotation. Boyer was enlisted on Parker’s recommendation. Eric Leeds rejoined Prince’s touring lineup having to take Maceo’s place due to him leaving to perform his own tour midway through the Europe leg. Also returning to Prince’s band for the first time since Lovesexy Tour, Sheila E guested on drums and percussion on select nights on the Europe and America legs. Like Rhonda in 1996, Renato Neto was another introduction via Sheila’s band E-Train.

Which was likely envisaged as a winding down turn, perhaps farewell tour, the unanticipated success of the One Nite Alone… Tour instead not only reinvigorated Prince personally but renewed his momentum as an international act. The US tour began as a modest run of nine shows, but demand was such the tour was extended and once more venues were booked more shows reconvened after a twenty day pause, completing 26 US shows. The Canada leg followed on 28 May playing nine dates up to 18 June. Here One Nite Alone… Tour took a break for Prince to stage his third annual series of concerts at Paisley Park Studios, titled Xenophobia Celebration fans paid $250 to be attend its shows throughout the week of 21 to 28 June 2002. The Europe leg commenced on 3 October, it too a resounding success it staged 20 shows, and a Japan leg was hastily arranged, playing nine shows from 15 November. After Japan, a special date was played in Las Vegas on 15 December 2002 to close One Nite Alone… Tour. Filmed, the footage of this show was issued on DVD as Prince: Live At The Aladdin Las Vegas.