Welcome 2 America

2010/12

No concert is ever the same.

Essentially a run of several tours under the banner Welcome 2 America; despite it’s name the tour evolved into a world tour – likely due to its continuing success. The tour was originally announced by Prince in person at the Apollo Theatre, New York on 14 October 2010. When the Welcome 2 America Tour began that December the event marked Prince’s first American tour in 6 years. This phase of the tour would eventually gross $20 million.

The latter stages of tour expanded to include two ‘residency’ stints in Chicago (three nights billed as Welcome 2 Chicago) and Inglewood (15 nights, although billed as 21 Nite Stand, the remaining shows never materialised). The tour became Welcome 2 Canada and marked Prince’s first shows in Canada for 11 years. It then moved to the European festival circuit (still under the moniker Welcome 2 America) and then to Australia when it was renamed Welcome 2 Australia. These tours were a ‘greatest hits’ format and not in promotion of any album.

This tour is noted for seeing Prince’s first and only appearance at a UK festival, The Hop Farm. He chose this fairly unknown festival ahead of the expected candidate Glastonbury, because the latter used Prince’s name in the past under the hope to book him as its headlining act. His choice for an unknown festival was therefore a snub to Glastonbury, however this then put The Hop Farm on the map as a serious festival. Prince’s fee for it was $1m, and was known as the “million dollar show”. The other festivals he headlined during this tour was Heineken Open’er Festival (Poland), North Sea Jazz Festival (The Netherlands), Sziget Fesztival (Hungary), Way Out West Festival (Sweden), plus two dates at the specially named NPG Music and Arts Festival (Denmark).