You didn't see this at House of Blues early Tuesday morning (Copenhagen, July, 2010 Getty Images)
Bad things always happen in the middle of the night.
And that was the case with Monday's "Purple After Jam" at the House of Blues, the post-big concert gig that has become something of a tradition when Prince comes to Chicago.
Prince never played a song during an hour long set that actually began at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Tiny guitar player Andy Allo, a member of Prince's touring band, did all the heavy lifting. She fronted a band that featured six horn players, drummer, bass, keyboards and two guitars from Prince's band. After fighting sound problems Allo played tunes from her new "Superconductor" record of which Prince is executive producer......
.....Fans paid between $50 and $75 for "Purple After Jam" general admission tickets that do not mention Prince by name. But in years past he has made cameo appearances and more at late night-early morning gigs at House of Blues, Metro and Park West. "Purple After Jams" are also scheduled for later tonight and tomorrow night.
At 3:30 a.m. Tuesday the crowd was thanked for coming out, a gesture that was greeted with boos.
Prince then shimmied out to the front of the stage and said, "The police said we gotta' go. Tomorrow things will be better." But then he prompted the audience and House of Blues personnel, "If they say yes, I'll stay."
It didn't happen.
Many fans chanted "Just one song." Their tired pleas almost sounded sad.
That didn't happen either, from an artist who hours earlier had professed so much love for his fans at the United Center.
Questions for the next couple nights:
Will the after-show start earlier?
Will there be refunds for Monday's show?
As of noon Tuesday, calls to Live Nation and House of Blues have not been returned.
In 2004 Prince played a House of Blues after show that started at 3 a.m. and ended at 5 a.m. What happened this time?
Does this have something to do with our new music loving Rahm n' Roller mayor, whom I saw in the balcony last week at Rodriguez but not last night at House of Blues?
House of Blues fans who had stuck it out for Monday's the U.C. show thought he was messing with them again. When three-quarters of the United Center had emptied out on Monday, Prince returned just before midnight for one last encore to play his hits "1999" and "Little Red Corvette."
Other fans just wanted to see Prince in the intimacy of the House of Blues. Many of them arrived at the 10 p.m. door time, hanging around for four and a half hours before the show began. Dave Crain, the long time owner of Dave's Records in Lincoln Park was one of them. He stood in the balcony after the show thinking a refund was in order.
"I could understand if they didn't get set up right, but he could have come out and played one song," Crain said. "The DJ was great (playing awesome mixes of James Brown, P-Funk and Al Green) and then it was a letdown."
Prince was in the house much of the night. Just before the show started he peeked through the curtain. Around quarter to three (a great Gary "U.S." Bonds it by the way), he actually stood next to me in the opera box where I was sitting, waved at the crowd and looked at his watch.
I guess I should have told him to stop goofing around.
Vincent Fleweellen runs an early childhood center in St. Louis and came to Chicago for the show.
"I'm disappointed, but I don't think I was duped" he said after the short jam. "I'm not so sure he was supposed to appear," and he waved his $50 "Purple After Jam" ticket in the air that did not mention Prince's name. "He was present and I guess that follows basic legal procedures." But basic decency would be a do-over or a refund for the fans who endured Tuesday morning's purple pain.
Dave Hoekstra has been a 
Prince isn't just rude, he's country rude! No respect for his fans, who coughed up as much as $150 to hear a DJ spin records until 3am, then to hear a funk band (not Prince) play for 30 minutes, and then to see Prince poke his head out of the curtains and blame the police for not letting him play. F U Prince, never again.
I was so disappointed. Last night was a complete joke..
My husband and i are traveling through the US, we are here from Australia and only in Chicago for two nights.. I was told when i bought the tickets it was for Prince and I purchased VIP tickets for myself and my husband.. We waited 5.5 hours in extreme discomfort, To have an act come out that not only had technical difficulties with the sound to the point that made them seem amature.. Then to only perform a few songs.. So even for a concert that if was not supposed to have Prince it was not excepatble to charge people $155 each for tickets..
Prince had been there since Midnight.. Management at the House of Blues confirmed this and that they could not make him go on..
For myself this could of been a night that I could of seen what else Chicago had to offer.. Or at least not end up being up til after 4am to have it ruin my last day in Chicago. Everyone in the room was frustrated.. People were all expecting a refund..
I have been a huge Prince fan since I was a little girl so 25 odd years.. I always thought he was a professional when it came to his music and his fans.. What a waste of 25 years.. I will never spend another cent on a Prince album or anything Prince related.
A refund is definitely in order. I got the name and number of the owner to get a refund but something tells me I will never get it because it doesn't say Prince on the ticket. What a joke that during his UC concert he professes his love for Chicago and then doesn't play one song at his after-show.
I don't know. I was there and I feel like the advertisement for the event was misleading. Because you have plenty of sites like this one, http://m.nbcchicago.com/nbcchicago/pm_107717/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=qZdjZWjS , that make it sound like Prince was suppose to play. And if that wasn't the case I feel like they should of had a better description for it on live nation, where you buy the tickets, to let people know that you're not garanteed to see Prince play. I mean I drove 6 hours to a show I thought I was going to see Prince play at and I'm heartbroken I didn't get to see him. And with the crowds reaction, I don't feel like I was the only one mislead. We all waited there for four hours...I think all of us at least deserved one song.
I don't understand how you say the show started at 2:30am when it didn't actually start until almost 3. The "show" lasted maybe 35 minutes tops.
I DO feel duped. Letting your fans stand around for over 3 hours then not even picking up an instrument or singing a note is ridiculous.
I'll never spend another dime on anything to do with Prince. I'll still use my Wednesday tickets just so my wife who waited with me can actually see him perform. But, after that I'm done. I will be seeking a refund for the $177 I spent on 2 tickets along with an additional $177 I spent on a friend and his fiance for this sham.
Hey Prince, don't put out press releases about your appearances at these things if you don't plan on performing. It's disingenuous and using the cops as an excuse is a cop-out. I am one very pissed off fan and I hope you plan on making this right somehow. Some of us have real jobs and had to rearrange our schedules to attend that fiasco.
The whole thing was a hUGE let down and massive disappointment. Deleting all Prince music on my iphone. Gone.
I want my money back!!!
I hate to agree with the negativity but at prices like these, it can't be denied:
Prince ripped off his fans.
I wouldn't expect any refunds but for a long-time Prince fan, some explanation or some acknowledgement would seem to be at least appropriate. He will for sure be bad-mouthed around Chicago and on the internet for a long time to come.
Bobby Womack played the night before for 30 bucks and kicked Prince's as* from here to kingdom come. WTF does this jerk think he is. We're not impressed in Chicago unless you can perform, junior.
I'm so glad I didn't purchase them. I didn't buy them because the headlining artist was Purple After Jam it did not say Prince so I'm thinking for that reason no refunds will be given.
No question everyone deserves a refund! It's one thing to pay $20 and hear a dj but to pay $150 for bait and switch...that isn't right! Mike, was Ryan Shea the contact person at the house of blues that you were given?
The whole night was a bust IMHO. Prince barely picked up his guitar and spent half of the evening talking instead of performing. The horn section overpowered the balance of the musical instruments at the UC to the point that the fans sitting in my section could barely figure out what number was being performed. And to insult his fans by starting the concert an hour and fifteen minutes late and then taking an hour break between encores is just disgraceful. I am done with Prince.
From the bad sound and lame performance at the United Center to the late-night non-show at House Of Blues, Prince’s first night in Chicago showed an utter contempt for his audience. Let’s return the favor. Prince is supposedly in town to support the Rebuild The Dream charity. Please DO NOT DONATE to this cause. If Prince thinks his behavior towards his fans last night was acceptable, then his judgment is clearly suspect about Rebuild The Dream, as well. Welcome2Chicago? Sorry, Prince, but U R no longer welcome here.
Completely ridiculous.
The United Center show SUCKED too!! What we got was backup singers, covers, and an egomaniac.
Unfortunately this is typical Prince behavior, letting people know at the VERY last minute he is not going to play in the end... He is truly a Prince in that way because yeah people have all the time in the world and have nothing to do but wait, and wait, and wait on his purple majesty to hit the stage or... not.
I wonder sometimes what the hell is he thinking ? Does he know some people have job and have to get up early in the morning ? have kids to take care of ? and well just have a life and can't waste time like that just because he is Prince. He speaks about respect all the time but he really has NO respect for his own fans.
I was at his lame ass show at the united center. Came on an hour late, than made everyone wait an hour for an encore.
If your planning to see this goof tonite dont let him waste your time.
The Sun Times reported "Prince to play 3 afterparty shows at Chicago House of Blues" back on Friday. http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/15287768-421/prince-to-play-3-afterparty-shows-at-chicago-house-of-blues.html
Pretty shoddy journalism if Prince wasn't guarenteed to be there... Someone at the paper really needs to apologize; people paid good money to see this fiasco and won't soon forget who lied to them...
Prince's Tuesday show absolutely rocked. I have never seen a better show at UC. He apologized about the night before and truly had the audience completely enthralled the entire night. The only two other shows that come even close are Pearl Jam and Tina Turner at UC. He is a legend! Thank God, I didn't go Monday. Sounds like a completely different performer.
The show at the United Center was a huge disapointment! The sound sucked! The camera man really sucked! and Lets not talk about the light!! It was pitch black, you could not see where Prince was, and he asked for the lights to be turned on!! And were on, half the time! He talked too much, his backup singers did most of the singing and having played for less than 2 hours was ridiculous!! He came in saying he was going to sing all his hits and took an hours break??? What kind of concert was this??? In some interviews he has talked about how ticketmaster rips people off and thats why he is with livenation, because of the fans!!.. well I paid $168 for each ticket on monday night... He talked to much about love and respect and how much he loved "his fans" is he going to give us a refund?? ??? I doubt it!, much less an apology!! He is just like every other sell out!
THIS IS THE SAME THING THAT HAPPEN IN 2004... I AM DEFINITELY NOT GOING TO THE AFTER SHOW THIS YEAR.. I LEARNED MY LESSON 8 YEARS AGO!
This night is called an after party not an after show. Show means performance. party means eh may or may not perform. The same thing happened to me in 1998 in San Francisco at The DNA Club. Prince was in the balcony peeking out at the crowd put did not play. On the bright side I did get to shake hands with the band has they left the club. No refunds were given.