Yesterday, living musical legend Prince took to the stage at Melbourne‘s State Theatre, to play not one but two gigs during the first leg of his much-hyped (a very exxy) surprise Australian tour.
Sadly, within hours of his first performance, news broke that 80s singer and Prince’s former protege Denise Matthews – better known by her stage name Vanity – had passed away at the age of 57 from kidney failure.
Ever the showman, a visibly affected Prince carried on regardless, and his first gig (which started at 6:30pm) is getting rave reviews across the board; he spoke to the crowd about Vanity, and dedicated a medley of Little Red Corvette and Dirty Mind to her.
There are reports coming in that his second show, however, was cut short by up to 40 minutes. After performing his classic hit Purple Rain, Prince suddenly exited the stage, and the audience who eagerly expected an encore were sadly disappointed.
Former Channel V presenter / Host of YouTube Hits Marty Smiley, who attended the second gig, told PEDESTRIAN.TV that the crowd were clapping for a solid 10–15 minutes waiting for Prince to return, until security guards literally had to direct them out.
“You [could] hear people yelling ‘you said it would go for two hoooooours. I want my money back!!’ ‘BULLLSHIIIIT’ – I felt so embarrassed as an Australian. The show started at 10pm so people were tanked,” he said.
Smiley called it a “total example of a putrid, shitty crowd”, who were wasted, talking throughout the show, and behaved “like they were at the football”.
Crowd at Prince’s Melbourne Show, February 16 2016 from PEDESTRIAN.TV on Vimeo.
Prince’s earlier show – which started at 6:30pm – did include an encore during which Prince played another four songs.
It might have been short, but if you’re going tonight, Smiley still said the show was nothing short of “magical”.
