Act I and II


Act I was a concert tour by American recording artist Prince and The New Power Generation promoting his Love Symbol Album, released the previous year. This was Prince's first tour of the United States since 1988's Lovesexy Tour. Act II was the second leg of the tour. After Act I's tour of the United States, Act II was Prince's return to Europe.

History

The first half of the concert focused on Love Symbol Album material and sometimes included a few tracks from The New Power Generation's recently released Goldnigga album. The second half was a greatest hits selection, as well as some rarely played B-sides such as "Irresistible Bitch" and "She's Always in My Hair". This was Prince's final tour before he changed his stage name to his unpronounceable symbol.
The shows were usually given in rooms of medium size, mostly with a capacity of 4,000 to 6,000 people. Prince wanted the rooms sold out, and did not want to take risks for his first real US tour in five years.
The show has two parts, exactly as the Lovesexy Tour. In the first part are played the songs from Symbol, with a very elaborate staging. The second part is the one where the main hits are played. The show loosely follows the story found in the video "3 Chains O'Gold", but in a much more theatrical fashion. The decor was themed similar to Arabian Nights, with a curtain of stars featured from the previous Diamonds and Pearls Tour, which was reused on several laps later. The musicians are relegated to the sides of the stage, leaving Prince, Mayte and Game Boyz ample space to dance and express themselves on stage.
Following up on Act I's heavy promotion of the Love Symbol album, Act II minimized the album promotion and instead focused on Prince's greatest hits. The songs which required rap were dropped from the set or handled by Prince alone. The encore section premiered many newly written songs that appeared on future albums like Come and The Gold Experience.
The tour incorporated many elements of the US tour, however was quite different as it was announced as the last tour under the name Prince and the promotional campaign for this tour even indicated that the audience was hearing certain hits live for the last time, such as "Raspberry Beret".
The began with an introduction "2 Whom It May Concern",with a speech by a male voice announcing Prince & The New Power Generation. Prince then announced in a prerecorded message "There are no kings on this Earth, only princes" which started the show, beginning with "My Name Is Prince". During the Act II portion of the tour, a seated platform was brought forward on to the main stage with "Prince" sitting on it, which was actually be Mayte wearing a chain hat and cape. At a certain point towards the end of this performance, the chain hat and cape were removed by Mayte revealing herself to the audience and "Sexy M.F." then began, with Prince making his entrance on stage. This tour was the final tour under Prince's name; after which his symbol became his name and moniker until June 7, 2000.

Set list

Tour dates