The Purple Rain Tour was a concert tour by American recording artist Prince and the Revolution following up on the success of his sixth studio album Purple Rain and his 1984 film Purple Rain. According to Spin, the tour sold over 1.7 million tickets.
History The tour marked the live debut of the band now named the Revolution as Wendy Melvoin made her appearance as the new guitarist in Prince's band, taking over for the departed Dez Dickerson, completing the iconic line-up of the band.
In addition to Prince and the Revolution, they were joined on tour by Apollonia 6, and Sheila E. and her band. Despite gaining fame from their appearance in the film and releasing a third album, The Time were not invited to tour, as by 1985 the group had been depleted, with many of its remaining key members quitting to embark on personal careers.
Opening acts Sheila E.
Set list The Purple Rain Tour was the first Prince tour to open with brand new material. In this case, it was with the album opener, "Let's Go Crazy". A triple dose from the 1999 album followed: "Delirious", "1999" and "Little Red Corvette". An instrumental interlude of "Yankee Doodle" usually introduced another 1999 song, "Free". The B-side "God" was often played, followed by a usual sequence of "Computer Blue", "Darling Nikki", "The Beautiful Ones" and "When Doves Cry" (featuring a mirror setup onstage to mimic the video of the song). As encores, the remaining Purple Rain songs closed the concert, "I Would Die 4 U", "Baby I'm a Star" and "Purple Rain". The three songs were extended, often taking 30 minutes to perform. "Take Me with U" was often worked in, completing all the album tracks. Other songs sometimes included were "Father's Song", "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?", the new "Temptation", "Let's Pretend We're Married", "Irresistible Bitch" and "Do Me, Baby". On rare occasions, "International Lover", and some tracks from Dirty Mind (1980) and Prince (1979) would pop up. Later in the tour, an instrumental of "Under the Cherry Moon" was sometimes played. The B-side "Irresistible Bitch" was segued into the unreleased "Possessed" at the show in Syracuse.
Setlist of November 11, 1984, at the Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, United StatesPrince Vault - Detroit, MI Set list
"Let's Go Crazy" "Delirious" "1999" (includes Reveille interpolation) "Little Red Corvette" Yankee Doodle (Instrumental Interlude) "Free" "Father's Song" "God" "Computer Blue" "Darling Nikki" "The Beautiful Ones" (includes 'backwards' "The Dance Electric"/wind chime intro) "When Doves Cry" Encore 1 "I Would Die 4 U" "Baby I'm a Star" Encore 2 "Purple Rain"
Setlist of November 22, 1984, at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United StatesPrince Vault - Philadelphia, PA Set list
"Let's Go Crazy" "Delirious" "1999" (includes Reveille interpolation) "Little Red Corvette" Yankee Doodle (Instrumental Interlude) "Free" "Take Me with U" "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" "Temptation" "Let's Pretend We're Married"/"International Lover" "God" "Computer Blue" "Darling Nikki" "The Beautiful Ones" (includes 'backwards' "The Dance Electric"/wind chime intro) "When Doves Cry" Encore 1 "I Would Die 4 U" "Baby I'm a Star" Encore 2 "Purple Rain"
Setlist of December 2, 1984, at the Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaPrince Vault - Toronto, Canada Set list
"Let's Go Crazy" "Delirious" "1999" (includes Reveille interpolation) "Little Red Corvette" Yankee Doodle (Instrumental Interlude) "Under the Cherry Moon" (Instrumental) "Free" "Take Me with U" "Dirty Mind" "Do Me, Baby" "I Wanna Be Your Lover" "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" "Temptation" "Let's Pretend We're Married"/"International Lover" "Father's Song" "God" "Computer Blue" "Darling Nikki" "The Beautiful Ones" (includes 'backwards' "The Dance Electric"/wind chime intro) "When Doves Cry" Encore 1 "I Would Die 4 U" "Baby I'm a Star" Encore 2 "Purple Rain"
Setlist of February 23, 1985, at The Forum, Inglewood, California, United StatesPrince Vault - Inglewood, CA Set list
"Controversy" "Let's Go Crazy" "Delirious" "1999" (Includes Reveille interpolation) "Little Red Corvette" "Take Me with U" (Includes "Controversy" and "In a Spanish Villa (Instrumental)" interpolations) "When You Were Mine" "4 the Tears in Your Eyes" Yankee Doodle (Instrumental Interlude) "A Case of You" "Free" "Raspberry Beret" "Do Me, Baby" (Includes 'purple house' spoken intro) "Irresistible Bitch" "Temptation" "Let's Pretend We're Married" / "International Lover" "God" "Computer Blue" "Darling Nikki" "The Beautiful Ones" (Includes 'backwards' "The Dance Electric" / wind chime intro) "When Doves Cry" Encore 1 "I Would Die 4 U" "Baby I'm a Star" (Includes "We are Young" chant & "Bodyheat" and "Partyup" interpolations) "America" Encore 2 "Purple Rain"
Notes During performances of "I Would Die 4 U"/"Baby I'm a Star", Prince would often invite Apollonia 6 and Sheila E. to jam with him for a 20-to-30-minute rendition of the songs. At the Landover, Maryland concert, the performance of "I Would Die 4 U"/"Baby I'm a Star" were recorded and used as a promo video for the song played on MTV. The Syracuse, New York concert on March 30, 1985 was recorded and released on VHS later in 1985, later receiving a remastered audio and video release in 2022. Singers Bruce Springsteen and Madonna joined Prince on stage during "Baby I'm a Star" at the February 23, 1985 concert at The Forum in Inglewood, California. A little-known fact is that Prince performed his Purple Rain Concert a month before its first scheduled date in Detroit in a concert hall called "Bogarts" on Sept. 23, 1984 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was hinted on the local Urban Contemporary station, WBLZ, but only a few individuals knew that he would actually show up. He played a full set for a crowd of 2,500 as a trial run, and even Morris Day and Sheila E. were present.
Tour dates +List of 1984 concerts, showing date, city, country, attendance, and gross revenuePrince Tour History – Purple Rain Tour 1984–1985 Date City Country Venue Attendance RevenueNovember 4, 1984DetroitUnited StatesJoe Louis Arena 129,730 / 129,730 $1,967,572November 5, 1984November 7, 1984November 8, 1984November 9, 1984November 11, 1984November 12, 1984November 14, 1984GreensboroGreensboro Coliseum44,029 / 52,629$667,773November 15, 1984November 16, 1984November 18, 1984LandoverCapital Centre133,182 / 133,182$2,019,927November 19, 1984November 20, 1984November 22, 1984PhiladelphiaThe Spectrum55,917 / 55,917$848,075November 23, 1984November 24, 1984November 26, 1984LandoverCapital CentreNovember 28, 1984November 29, 1984 November 30, 1984December 2, 1984TorontoCanadaMaple Leaf Gardens35,000 / 35,000$628,950December 3, 1984December 5, 1984RichfieldUnited StatesRichfield Coliseum36,400 / 36,400$546,000December 6, 1984December 9, 1984RosemontRosemont Horizon90,687 / 90,687$1,375,419December 10, 1984December 11, 1984December 13, 1984December 14, 1984December 15, 1984LexingtonRupp Arena22,347 / 22,347$368,725December 17, 1984BuffaloBuffalo Memorial Auditorium30,021 / 32,328$525,368December 18, 1984December 20, 1984St. LouisSt. Louis Arena40,000 / 40,000$700,000December 21, 1984December 23, 1984Saint PaulSt. Paul Civic Center87,580 / 87,580$1,532,650December 24, 1984December 26, 1984December 27, 1984December 28, 1984December 30, 1984DallasReunion Arena53,274 / 54,828$879,021December 31, 1984
+List of 1985 concerts, showing date, city, country, attendance, and gross revenuePrince Tour History – Purple Rain Tour 1984–1985 Date City Country Venue Attendance RevenueJanuary 1, 1985DallasUnited StatesReunion ArenaJanuary 3, 1985AtlantaThe Omni87,500 / 90,000$1,531,250January 4, 1985January 6, 1985January 7, 1985January 8, 1985January 11, 1985HoustonThe Summit102,564 / 102,564$1,708,690January 12, 1985January 13, 1985January 14, 1985January 16, 1985January 17, 1985January 19, 1985BirminghamBJCC Coliseum35,400 / 35,400 $619,500 January 21, 1985CincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum44,100 / 44,100$771,750January 22, 1985January 23, 1985January 25, 1985MemphisMid-South Coliseum33,600 / 33,600 $588,000 January 26, 1985January 29, 1985AustinFrank Erwin Center32,224 / 32,224$531,696January 30, 1985February 1, 1985New OrleansLouisiana Superdome60,000 / 60,000$1,050,000February 3, 1985BirminghamBJCC ColiseumFebruary 4, 1985MemphisMid-South ColiseumFebruary 14, 1985TacomaTacoma Dome48,900 / 48,900$806,850February 15, 1985February 18, 1985InglewoodThe Forum96,000 / 96,000$1,680,000February 19, 1985February 20, 1985February 22, 1985February 23, 1985February 24, 1985February 27, 1985Daly CityCow Palace78,498 / 78,498$1,373,715February 28, 1985March 1, 1985March 3, 1985March 4, 1985March 5, 1985March 7, 1985Las CrucesPan American Center26,100 / 26,100$456,750March 8, 1985March 10, 1985Long BeachLong Beach Arena40,722 / 40,722$712,635March 11, 1985March 12, 1985March 17, 1985UniondaleNassau Coliseum100,200 / 100,200$1,753,500March 18, 1985March 20, 1985March 22, 1985March 23, 1985March 24, 1985March 26, 1985HartfordHartford Civic CenterMarch 27, 1985WorcesterWorcester Centrum24,146 / 24,146$422,555March 28, 1985March 30, 1985SyracuseCarrier Dome39,875 / 39,875$697,812April 1, 1985IndianapolisMarket Square Arena16,089 / 16,089$281,558April 3, 1985TallahasseeTallahassee–Leon County Civic Center12,541 / 12,541$232,009April 4, 1985LakelandLakeland Civic Center18,752 / 18,752$356,288April 5, 1985April 7, 1985MiamiPurple Bowl Stadium 53,085 / 61,500$982,073
Personnel Prince: Lead vocals, guitar, tambourine, and keyboards Wendy Melvoin: Guitar Brown Mark: Bass Matt Fink: Keyboards Lisa Coleman: Keyboards Bobby Z.: Drums
During this tour, Prince added saxophonists Eric Leeds and Eddie Minnifield to certain parts of the show and often they would join the Revolution on stage for the extended jams of "I Would Die 4 U" and "Baby I'm a Star". A minor conflict arose within the band, as Prince began giving Leeds lengthy solos during other songs, in particular Wendy was upset that her opening guitar solo on the show closing "Purple Rain" was given to Leeds.
Tour photographer was Nancy Bundt.
Notes
References
Further reading