Welcome 2 America Tour - Prince 2010/12

2010/12

Concert tour

No concert is ever the same.

Essentially a run of several tours under a main banner, titled Welcome 2 America, it evolved into a near three year world tour, driven by its continuing success.

Welcome 2 America was announced by Prince in person at a press conference held at the Apollo Theatre in New York on 14 October 2010, the tickets going on sale a few days after. Welcome 2 America Tour opened in New Jersey on 15 December, just one month after Prince closed his previous tour of Europe – the band lineup being maintained for this US tour. Welcome 2 America occasioned Prince’s first tour of America in 6 years, since Musicology 2004ever Tour. To celebrate it, Prince approached Fender to create him a unique Stratocaster guitar, custom built and gold leafed by Yuriy Shishkov, to play it during the first leg and auction in benefit of the charity Harlem Children’s Zone – won by F1 driver Lewis Hamilton for $100,000. Also showcased on Welcome 2 America was the Cleo bass, a stylised variation of the Model C Prince commissioned in 1989, making its belated tour debut. Promising that no two concerts will be the same, set lists were varied and incorporated covers of choice songs. The band’s trio of backing singers received a greater roll also.

The support acts varied across the tour’s US run, and featured Maceo Parker, Janelle Monae, Mint Condition, Esperanza Spalding, Questlove, Cassandra Wilson, Cee Lo Green, Chaka Khan, Sinbad, Lalah Hathaway, Sheila E, Carlos Santana and Graham Central Station. Ticket prices ranged from $21.10, to as high at $750 stage side in the VIP ‘Purple Circle’. At that price it meant many celebrities sat near the stage and some were pulled up to dance with Prince during the show. Sales would accrue the opening phase $20 million. Welcome 2 America Tour was an arena show performed in the round, played on the same Prince Love Symbol shaped stage used in Prince’s The Earth Tour of 2007. Later festival appearances were played using the event’s regular staging. A new tourbook was produced for each stage of the tour.

The concert scheduled in Dallas, Texas on 4 February 2011 was to be staged in benefit of the the Goss-Michael Foundation but cancelled just hours to showtime as the event’s organisers were unable to meet the cost of the production (named theEvent) – the band already in town. The 24 March 2011 show in Charlotte, North Carolina was filmed, with sections of this broadcast in the TV special Prince: Behind The Symbol on 17 April that year.

Welcome 2 America introduced augmented the dance lineup The Twinz with the addition of prima ballerina Misty Copeland of the American Ballet Theater, having met Prince in 2009 when cast for the video Crimson And Clover. Prince asked Copeland to guest during the show in Nice on 25 July 2010 for 20TEN Tour, taking the role full time for the US leg of Welcome 2 America. Model and dancer, Demaris Lewis, who Prince met in 2011 and formed a close bond (inspiring the track Black Muse) danced on the Australia dates in 2012.

21 Nite Stand

Midway through the Welcome 2 America Tour during the spring of 2011, Prince announced on the Lopez Tonight show a 21 Nights In London inspired residency would be performed at The Forum in Inglewood, California. This was a run of fifteen nights billed as 21 Nite Stand (the remaining six shows never materialising) staged in support of the venue that was under the threat of closure and put up for sale by its owners. Prince’s 21 Nite Stand residency at The Forum was preceded with a promotional performance on Lopez Tonight broadcast on TBS on 13 April, with the residency commencing from the 14th. Tickets went on sale from the 12th. 21 Nite Stand boasted an array of star studded guest appearances, by Alicia Keys (22 April), Chaka Khan (23 April), Gwen Stefani and Nikka Costa (30 April), Whitney Houston (6 May), Nicole Scherzinger and Adam Lambert (7 May), Janelle Monáe and Stevie Wonder (13 May), Halie Berry and Susan Saranden (14 May), and Mary J. Blige (28 May).

Euro Tour 2011

Following the opening US leg, the tour moved to the European summer festival circuit, under the moniker Welcome 2 America: Euro Tour 2011. This began headlining all three nights of the North Sea Jazz Festival in Netherlands. This part of the tour became particularly noteworthy for Prince’s first and only appearance at a UK festival, The Hop Farm. Having chosen this fairly unknown festival ahead of the expected candidate, Glastonbury, the latter seeded rumours Prince was booked to play its 2003 event under the hope to entice him as its Sunday headlining act. Prince’s choice to play this unknown festival was therefore a snub to Glastonbury, however his appearance was a coup for The Hop Farm and put the event on the map as a serious festival. Knowing the exposure it would give its organisers, Prince’s fee was a reputed $1 million and was hailed as the “million dollar show” which became regarded as one of the best festival performances of all time. Other festivals Prince headlined during Euro Tour 2011 were Heineken Open’er Festival (Poland), North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Sziget Fesztival (Hungary), Way Out West Festival (Sweden), Umbria Jazz and Lucca Summer festivals (Italy), plus two dates at a specially renamed ‘NPG Music and Arts Festival’ near Copenhagen, Denmark (6th and 7th August 2011). The two dates scheduled in Oslo on 23 and 24 July, however, were postponed to August due to terrorist attacks in the city on the 22nd. During the Euro leg of the tour the band welcomed new addition Andy Allo on supporting guitar.

Welcome 2 Canada

Following a short break after Europe’s summer run, the Canada leg was put together and imaginatively named Welcome 2 Canada, seeing the return of the symbol shaped stage. It marked Prince’s first shows in the country since 2004. In promotion of it, Prince released the single Extraloveable two days ahead of the opening show in Toronto 25 November 2011. Welcome 2 Canada was played in every major city along the southern border of the country in what was Prince’s most extensive tour of Canada since his One Nite Alone… Tour of 2002.

Welcome 2 Australia

Owing to the tour’s continuing success an Australia leg was scheduled. Following a four month break, in May 2011 the tour opened in Australia under the name Welcome 2 Australia and was staged in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane over a run of 8 dates. Allo did not participate in this leg of the tour.

Welcome 2 Chicago

Following another break, the final phase of the wider tour returned to the US, albeit as a three night residency at the United Center, Chicago, on 24, 25 and 26 September 2012, billed as Welcome 2 Chicago. The event was staged in support of the Rebuild The Dream foundation. The band in these shows was accompanied with a full horn section, comprising Sylvester Onyejiaka, BK Jackson, Marcus Anderson, Adrian Crutchfield and Keith Anderson on saxophone; Lynn Grissett​, Steve Reid, Phil Lassiter and Nick Marchione on trumpet; and Roy Agee and Joey Rayfield on trombone. The tour’s closing night was staged at the city’s House Of Blues and saw the introduction of Hannah Ford making a guest appearance in the band on drums in place of John Blackwell. Prince ended the tour to work on his next project, in which Nielsen and Ford would join Prince’s all-female backing trio 3rdEyeGirl. Welcome 2 Chicago was thereby Prince’s final tour backed by the New Power Generation.

Welcome 2 America (album)

Welcome 2 America tour followed a ‘greatest hits’ format and so was not in promotion of an album, although set lists featured several tracks from Prince’s current projects – LotusFlow3r (2009) and 20TEN (2010). A full studio album was originally intended to accompany the tour, a 12-track record named Welcome 2 America Prince produced in early 2010, deciding to release 20TEN in its place. The tour pressed ahead but the album remained unreleased until 30 July 2021, when The Prince Estate issued the original album as Welcome 2 America Deluxe Edition. The release contained a companion Blu-ray disc with footage of the concert performed at The Forum, Inglewood on 28 April 2011 during the 21 Nite Stand. Laminates and merchandise given to those who bought VIP packages for the 2011 shows was reproduced for the deluxe release of the 2021 issue.

Performers

Vocals/Guitar

Prince

Drums

John Blackwell

Keyboards

Morris Hayes

Renato Neto

Cassandra O'Neal

Bass Guitar

Ida Nielsen

Rhythm Guitar

Andy Allo ^{Euro Tour and Welcome 2 Canada}

Percussion/vox

Sheila E ^{Welcome 2 America}

Saxophone

Maceo Parker ^{Euro Tour and Welcome 2 Canada}

Backing vocals

Shelby Johnson

Elisa Dease

Marva King ^{Euro Tour}

Liv Warfield ^{Welcome 2 America/Canada and Euro Tour}

Dance

Misty Copeland ^{Welcome 2 America}

Damaris Lewis ^{Welcome 2 Australia}

Nandy McClean "Twinz" ^{Welcome 2 America/Australia}

Maya McClean "Twinz" ^{Welcome 2 America/Australia}

Sample setlist

Welcome 2 America

1. The Love We Make
2. Take Me With U
3. Guitar
4. Anotherloverholenyohead
5. Shhh
6. The Glamorous Life
7. Controversy
8. Which Way Is Up? [Stargard]
9. A Love Bizarre
10. Say You’ll Go [Janelle Monáe]
11. Nothing Compares 2 U
12. She’s Always In My Hair
13. Dreamer / Welcome 2 America
14. Let’s Go Crazy
15. Delirious
16. 1999
17. Little Red Corvette
18. Mountains
19. Everyday People [Larry Graham]
20. Alphabet St.
21. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) [Larry Graham]
22. The Jam [Larry Graham]
23. Purple Rain
24. Kiss
25. Under The Cherry Moon
26. Do Me, Baby
27. I Wanna Be Your Lover
28. When Doves Cry
29. 777-9311
30. Nasty Girl
31. Alphabet St.
32. Darling Nikki
33. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) [Beyoncé]
34. I Would Die 4 U
35. Sign O’ The Times
36. Forever In My Life
37. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
38. Pop Life
39. Raspberry Beret
40. Cream
41. Cool
42. Let’s Work
43. U Got The Look

Welcome 2 America: Euro Tour

1. We Live (2 Get Funky) [soundcheck]
2. Let’s Go Crazy
3. Delirious
4. 1999
5. Little Red Corvette
6. Nothing Compares 2 U
7. Take Me With U
8. Raspberry Beret
9. Cream
10. Cool / Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough [Jackson 5]
11. Let’s Work
12. U Got The Look
13. Make You Feel My Love [Bob Dylan]
14. Purple Rain
15. Kiss
16. Controversy
17. Play That Funky Music [Wild Cherry]
18. Everyday People [Larry Graham]
19. Come Together [The Beatles]
20. I Want To Take You Higher [Larry Graham]
21. If I Was Your Girlfriend
22. Dance (Disco Heat) [Sylvester]
23. Baby I’m A Star

Welcome 2 Australia

1. Gold
2. Jam Of The Year
3. $ / The Song Of The Heart
4. Let’s Go Crazy
5. Delirious
6. 1999
7. Little Red Corvette
8. Lost & Found [Lianne La Havas]
9. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
10. Take Me With U / Thunderstruck [AC/DC]
11. Raspberry Beret
12. Cream
13. Cool / Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough [Jackson 5]
14. Sometimes It Snows In April
15. Love… Thy Will Be Done
16. Mountains
17. The Dance Electric
18. When Doves Cry
19. Nasty Girl
20. Darling Nikki
21. Pop Life
22. Sign O’ The Times / The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
23. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) [Beyoncé]
24. Dance 4 Me
25. Hot Thing
26. Extraloveable
27. Mr. Goodnight
28. I Would Die 4 U
29. Kiss
30. Purple Rain
31. If I Was Your Girlfriend
32. She’s Always In My Hair
33. Dreamer
34. Peach

Sampler set