Draft:Lovesexy Tour

Planning the Lovesexy Tour began in April 1988 and was less sporadic compared to his previous two tours, with the Parade Tour being hit and run, and the Sign o' the Times Tour had respective annulled and cancelled all USA and UK tour dates.^[3][4][5] However, Prince did decide one month before the start of the tour to do the Europe leg first, infuriating promoters.^[3]

Rehearsals for the tour were held throughout May to June 1988 at the newly constructed Paisley Park studios. The intermission music was also recorded during this period.^[6]

• [Has info about stage layout]^[6]
• The stage was made up of multiple layers, with parts moving hydraulically. The piano, for instance, could go way up in the air. During Anna Stesia it enhanced the message Prince was trying to convey. But the stage also had a swing and a basketball hoop. Prince entered the stage every night in a (replica of) a Thunderbird. At some time there even was a plan for a fountain, that would pump gallons of water. For security reasons the idea was scrapped.^[3]
• A round stage placed at the center of the venue. This meant every member in the audience had a good view of the stage, but for Prince and the band it was challenging, because they were clearly visible at all times.^[3]
• https://www.housequake.com/leroy-bennett-interview/

• Critical reception was positive, with the NYT saying "The concert touches all of Prince's musical bases, from be-bop and swing tunes played by the horn section to 12-bar blues (with a plunky, T-Bone Walker-style guitar solo) to rock, funk, falsetto ballads and raps; there's some Coplandesque string-orchestra music between sets. Especially in the first half of the concert, it sometimes seems as if Prince wants to play every song he's ever written, as he zooms through barely a verse of each title in quick-cutting, montage-like medleys."^[8]

[Sales]

• Despite being completely sold out of its entire 500,000 allocation of tickets across its 32 date European run, and a further 600,000 tickets in the USA, the massive $2 million production cost of Lovesexy Tour and the 50 trucks and two 747s required to transport it and crew of 90 found the tour barely break even. It would become the driver behind Prince accepting Batman OST as his next project.^[6]
• When Prince got home to Minneapolis, he commenced work on the ‘Batman’ soundtrack, another project about the duality of man.^[9]

[concert film]

• The costs involving the design and building of the stage were approximately $ 2,000,000.-. But now the set had to be transported. It was a very costly venture, costing Prince more than he earned. The tour seemed to end up in the red. By adding a Japanese leg to the tour Prince was able to break even^[3]
• Taped on the last night of the European tour – 9 September 1988, at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany^[9]
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5656122/

• Prince – vocals, guitar, piano
• Atlanta Bliss – trumpet
• Boni Boyer – backing vocals, keyboards^[b]
• Sheila E. – backing vocals, drums, percussion
• Doctor Fink – keyboards^[c]
• Cat Glover – backing vocals, dance
• Eric Leeds – saxophone, flute
• Levi Seacer Jr. – backing vocals, bass guitar
• Miko Weaver – backing vocals, guitar

The band line-up is the same as the previous tour's, however Wally Safford and Greg Brooks, dancers and Prince's bodyguards, had quit in February that year.^[6]