Nude Tour

The Nude Tour was a greatest-hits concert tour by 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 wouldn't be till 1993's Act I Tour that Prince did a full tour of the U.S.

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 '80s 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

• Mavis Staples

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.

Typical 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

References