Seven years ago it was a 21-night residency at the 20,000-capacity O2 Arena. For his 2014 return to London on 4 February, Prince started off by playing in a suburban living room before moving to the still-cosy surrounds of north London’s Electric Ballroom (capacity: just over 1,000).
Prince and backing band 3RDEYEGIRL had flown into London in the early hours of Tuesday at the start of a still-evolving string of dates in support of his upcoming album, Plectrum Electrum, which they had played to a small nightclub audience in New York on Sunday night.
After a day in which he had kept fans and the media guessing about the location of the first of a series of promised “guerrilla gigs”, Prince attended a press conference at the east London home of soul singer Lianne La Havas.
Her house in Leyton had been transformed into a venue lit by purple lights. Here, Prince and his band played new songs from Plectrum Electrum, including the new single PretzelBodyLogic.
Speaking to the small group of journalists regarding his future live dates, he explained that he wants to charge “about $10” for each ticket on his forthcoming tour. According to the BBC’s Matt Everitt, who was at the press conference, Prince did not confirm details of dates or tour specifics, but said he was interested in performing at intimate venues in London such as Ronnie Scott’s, the Bag O’Nails Club and the Electric Ballroom – where he ended up performing at later that evening.
When asked about a potential Glastonbury appearance, Prince told Everitt: “Do you want me to play there tomorrow?” before adding that he was “concentrating on these shows in London, I don’t know what’s happening after”. When prompted with the question, “That’s not a no though?”, Prince replied, “No.”
Later that night, Prince turned up at the one-time roller disco in north London to play a set to a few dozen elated journalists and, towards the end of the show, a swarm of even more elated fans.
“Y’all don’t look like press to me,” adeadpan Prince announced at the start of a set largely composed of new material but also including a cover of Play That Funky Music and a version of his song I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man.
If he and the members of the band were jetlagged it didn’t show, as the crowd at the Electric Ballroom enjoyed the up-close performance for around an hour. The doors were opened for the last few songs to fans who had been queuing patiently in the rain after monitoring the Twitter-borne rumours of the gig’s location throughout the day.
“I like you,” shouted one fan to Prince, in between tracks.“You’re not too bad yourself,” replied the singer, clad in a black fur gilet and cradling a guitar behind a microphone stand bearing his signature male-female glyph symbol.
Mark Sinclair, who had jumped on a train from West Hampstead with friend Jake Howden, said: “I just kept keeping an eye out once we heard that he was coming to London and then just decided to hop out of bed and come down here when I saw where he was. It was pretty spectacular to see him up close. I’ll be buying the album but I just wonder if the songs are going to sound this good.”
Finishing the set a few minutes before 1am. “We’ll be back tomorrow, earlier and funkier,” he told fans before departing.
Rumours have been circulating of Prince's next impromptu show, with an online countdown currently ticking for the next revelation.
