Nude Tour

The Nude Tour was a greatest-hits concert tour by American recording artist Prince. While the previous tour drew critical praise, the high cost of the concert tour production made it a financial disappointment; thus, Prince eliminated much of the excessiveness of the previous tour to be more financially viable. Like several of his then-recent tours, with the exception of Lovesexy, Prince chose not to tour in the United States. It would not be till 1993's Act I Tour that Prince did a full tour of the U.S.

Nude Tour
World tour by Prince
Associated albumBatman
Start dateJune 2, 1990
End dateSeptember 10, 1990
Legs2
No. of shows51 in Europe
5 in Asia
56 in total (63 scheduled)
Prince concert chronology

History

Unlike the previous year's Lovesexy Tour, the Nude Tour promised a stripped-down, back to basics concert that saw Prince eliminate many of the excessive and expensive set designs that were produced for the Sign ☮' the Times and Lovesexy tours, thus the "Nude" moniker. The setlist was reduced to a limited number of his hits from the 1980s with a few tracks from the Batman and then-forthcoming Graffiti Bridge albums, resulting in all the songs being played in their entirety and much shorter shows. In a move to promote a more youth-friendly image, as well as cut costs, Prince chose to eliminate the veteran horn section from the band.

Opening act

Band

After the stability of the previous two tours with a virtually unchanged band line-up, several departures forced Prince to rearrange his touring band. The departing members were Boni Boyer, Cat Glover, Sheila E. and the horn section of Eric Leeds and Atlanta Bliss. The young Michael Bland was added on drums, Rosie Gaines took over on keyboards, organ and co-vocals, and a trio of dancers known as the Game Boyz rounded out the new band. With the exception of Fink and Miko, this was the make-up of the original New Power Generation line-up.

The addition of The Game Boyz caused much upheaval in the Prince camp. They first came to Prince's attention in 1983 during the filming of Purple Rain; Mosely, Johnson and Dickson can be seen dancing during various performances at the First Avenue club. The trio continued to associate with Prince over the years, dancing as a group in the music videos for "Glam Slam" and with the band Madhouse. Around the time of Graffiti Bridge, Prince recruited the trio for the film and his touring band.

Many questioned Prince's choice to begin courting the hip hop audience through the addition of The Game Boyz and the increased contribution of Mosely's rapping on future Prince tracks despite the belief that Mosely's rapping ability was sub par. Previously, Prince was negative towards rap music, dismissing it as a fad, as noted by the songs "Bob George" and "Dead on It" from The Black Album.

Furthermore, Rosie Gaines complained that she was being mistreated by the dance trio. Tension developed between Gaines and Prince, as instead of disciplining the dancers, he simply removed Gaines from the tour bus and placed her on Mavis Staples' tour bus.[1]

After the tour, the last remaining members from The Revolution, guitarist Miko Weaver and keyboardist Doctor Fink, left the group. Miko's departure was especially dramatic. During pre-tour rehearsals, Prince had a number of conflicts with band members, but particularly with Miko. According to several members of the group, Prince felt threatened by Miko's good looks and popularity with the women. "Prince didn't like the fact that Miko was getting women as much as [Prince] was/On the road, Miko would have five or six women in his room, and some of them would want to go with Miko instead of Prince."[2] The tension boiled over when Prince kept picking on Miko, asking him to turn his guitar down and yelling at him. After back and forth arguing, Prince challenged him "to take this shit outside?" to which Miko retorted, "Yeah like I'm gonna come outside with you and your bodyguards." Miko walked out and briefly quit over the incident, but later rejoined the band at the last minute for the tour.[3]

Other official sources and tour personnel have also said that Prince sacked Miko Weaver because he caught him in bed with a Prince fan who was under the age of consent.

Mavis Staples went on tour as an opening act.

Set list
  1. "DAT Intro" (prerecorded samples of various hits)
  2. "The Future"
  3. "1999"
  4. "Housequake" (contains excerpts of "Sexy Dancer")
  5. "Kiss" (contains excerpts of "Let's Jam It")
  6. "Purple Rain"
  7. "Take Me with U"
  8. "Alphabet St." (contains excerpts of "It Takes Two" and "The Latest Fashion")
  9. "The Question of U" (contains excerpts of "Electric Man")
  10. "Controversy"
  11. "Ain't No Way"
  12. "Nothing Compares 2 U"
  13. "Batdance"
  14. "Partyman" (contains excerpts of "What Have You Done for Me Lately")
  15. "Baby I'm a Star" (contains excerpts of "Respect")

In addition, Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done for Me Lately", "Little Red Corvette", "Do Me, Baby", "Bambi", Smokey Wilson's "Don't Make Me Pay for Your Mistakes", Z. Z. Hill's "Down Home Blues", Joni Mitchell covers "Blue Motel" and "A Song for U", "Jerk Out", Fontella Bass' "Rescue Me", "Respect", "Irresistible Bitch", "When Doves Cry", "Thieves in the Temple", "Venus de Milo", "Under The Cherry Moon" and Digital Underground's "The Humpty Dance" were incorporated into the setlist of some concerts.

Tour dates
Date City Country Venue Attendance/Capacity
Europe
June 2, 1990 Rotterdam Netherlands Stadion Feijenoord 80,920/91,200
June 3, 1990
June 5, 1990 Copenhagen Denmark Gentofte Stadion 18,128/18,128
June 6, 1990 Kiel West Germany Ostseehalle 11,500/11,500
June 7, 1990 Hamburg Alsterdorfer Sporthalle 14,000/14,000
June 9, 1990
June 10, 1990 Hanover Niedersachsenstadion 37,000/37,000
June 12, 1990 Berlin Waldbühne 22,560/23,000
June 13, 1990 Dortmund Westfalenhallen 26,109/26,109 [lower-alpha 1]
June 14, 1990 Munich Olympiastadion 52,900/52,900
June 16, 1990 Paris France Parc des Princes 45,677/45,677
June 17, 1990 Lille Escape Foire 27,122/27,122
June 19, 1990 London England Wembley Arena 179,120/179,120[lower-alpha 2]
June 20, 1990
June 22, 1990
June 23, 1990
June 25, 1990
June 26, 1990
June 27, 1990
June 29, 1990 Birmingham NEC 52,000/52,000[lower-alpha 3]
June 30, 1990
July 1, 1990
July 3, 1990 London Wembley Arena [lower-alpha 2]
July 4, 1990
July 7, 1990 Cork Ireland Páirc Uí Chaoimh 56,010/56,010
July 9, 1990 London England Wembley Arena [lower-alpha 2]
July 10, 1990
July 11, 1990
July 13, 1990 Birmingham NEC [lower-alpha 3]
July 15, 1990 Basel Switzerland St. Jakob-Park 51,015/51,015
July 17, 1990 Rome Italy Stadio Flaminio 34,760/34,760
July 18, 1990 Cava de' Tirreni Stadio Simonetta Lamberti 29,980/30,006
July 22, 1990 Madrid Spain Vicente Calderón Stadium 64,912/64,912
July 24, 1990 Valencia Mestalla Stadium 48,127/48,127
July 25, 1990 Barcelona Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc 49,455/49,455
July 27, 1990 Marbella Estadio Municipal de Marbella 29,765/29,765
July 29, 1990 A Coruña Estadio Santa Maria del Mar 25,575/25,575
August 4, 1990 Werchter Belgium Festival Terrein 22,980/22,980
August 5, 1990 Heerenveen Netherlands Thialf 12,090/12,090
August 6, 1990 Dortmund West Germany Westfalenhallen [lower-alpha 1]
August 8, 1990 Mannheim Maimarkthalle 79000/79000
August 10, 1990 Gothenburg Sweden Scandinavium 10,550/10,550
August 11, 1990 Stockholm Globe Arena [[29,000/29,000
August 12, 1990
August 16, 1990 Lausanne Switzerland Stade olympique de la Pontaise 32,080/32,080
August 18, 1990 Nice France Stade Charles-Ehrmann 30,500/30,500
August 20, 1990 London England Wembley Arena [lower-alpha 2]
August 21, 1990 Manchester Maine Road 35,770/35,770
August 22, 1990 London Wembley Arena [lower-alpha 2]
August 23, 1990
August 24, 1990
Asia
August 30, 1990 Tokyo Japan Tokyo Dome 90,550/90,550
August 31, 1990
September 2, 1990 Nishinomiya Koshien Stadium 36,605/36,605
September 6, 1990 Sapporo Makomanai Open Stadium 22,500/22,500
September 10, 1990 Yokohama Yokohama Stadium 41,110/41,110
  1. This box office score data is representative of both shows on June 13 & August 6
  2. This box office score data is representative of all 16 shows at the Wembley Arena on June 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, July 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 & August 20, 22, 23, 24.
  3. This box office score data is representative of all 4 shows at the NEC on June 29, 30, July 1 & 13

Rescheduled/Cancelled
Date City Country Venue Rescheduled Date/Cancelled Reason
May 6, 1990 Gothenburg Sweden Scandinavium Rescheduled to 10 August 1990 benefit concert at the St. Paul Civic Center Arena
May 8, 1990 Helsinki Finland Helsinki Ice Hall Cancelled unknown
May 9, 1990
May 12, 1990 Stockholm Sweden Ericsson Globe Arena Rescheduled to 11 August 1990
May 13, 1990 Rescheduled to 12 August 1990
May 15, 1990 Copenhagen Denmark Gentofte Stadion Rescheduled to 5 June 1990
Oslo Norway Oslo Spektrum Cancelled originally rescheduled for Copenhagen date, then cancelled
May 16, 1990 Kiel Germany Ostseehalle Rescheduled to 6 June 1990 unknown
May 17, 1990 Cancelled Was originally rescheduled on 7 June 1990 then moved to Hamburg
May 19, 1990 Hanover Niedersachstadion Rescheduled to 10 June 1990 Unknown
May 20, 1990 Berlin Waldbühne Rescheduled to 12 June 1990
May 22, 1990 Lyon France Stade de Gerland Cancelled, maybe scheduled at Palais des Sports de Gerland
May 23, 1990 Strasbourg Stade de la Meinau Cancelled
May 24, 1990 Würzburg Germany Talavera Wiesen Cancelled originally rescheduled to 28 July 1990, then cancelled
May 25, 1990 Vienna Austria Wiener Stadthalle Cancelled unknown
May 27, 1990 Basel Switzerland St. Jakob-Park Rescheduled to 15 July 1990 unknown
May 30, 1990 Lausanne Stade de la Pontaise Rescheduled to 16 July 1990 Moved for concert in Rotterdam
Rotterdam Netherlands Ahoy Rotterdam Cancelled International Press Preview Concert, however cancelled
May 31, 1990 Oldenburg Germany Weser-Ems Halle Cancelled Rescheduled to 14 August 1990, then cancelled
June 5, 1990 Dortmund Westfalenhallen Rescheduled to 6 August 1990 Copenhagen show
June 9, 1990 Cologne Müngersdorfer Stadion Cancelled originally rescheduled to the Westfalenhalle on 7 August, then cancelled
June 10, 1990 Mannheim Maimarkthalle Rescheduled to 8 August 1990 unknown
June 12, 1990 Brussels Belgium Forest Nationaal Cancelled Moved to Werchter on 4 August 1990
June 16, 1990 Versailles France Palace of Versailles Cancelled Moved to Paris
June 17, 1990 Moved to Paris, then cancelled, rescheduled to Lille
July 6, 1990 Cork Ireland Pairc Ui Chaoimh Rescheduled to 7 July 1990 Ticketholders were admitted to 7 July
July 15, 1990 Nice France Stade de L'Quest Rescheduled to 19 August 1990, then to 18 August 1990 unknown
July 17, 1990 Turin Italy Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino Cancelled Rescheduled to 20 July 1990, then cancelled
July 19, 1990 Rome Stadio Flaminio Rescheduled to 17 July 1990 Unknown
July 22, 1990 Marbella Spain Estadio Municipal de Marbella Rescheduled to 27 July 1990 Unknown
July 24, 1990 Madrid Estadio Vicente Calderón Rescheduled to 22 July 1990 Unknown
July 26, 1990 Barcelona Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc Rescheduled to 25 July 1990 Unknown
July 30, 1990 Udine Italy Stadio Friuli Cancelled Unknown
August 2, 1990 Manchester England Maine Road Football Stadium Rescheduled to 21 August 1990 Unknown
August 8, 1990 Heerenveen Netherlands Thialf Rescheduled to 5 August 1990 Unknown
August 18, 1990 Nimes France Arena di Nimes Cancelled Unknown

References

    http://www.princevault.com/index.php?title=Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries

    1. Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince, Alex Hahn,
    2. Alex Hahn (2003). "Possessed: The Rise And Fall Of Prince". Billboard Books.
    3. Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince, Alex Hahn
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