EL PAÍS (22 July 1990)

The American musician Prince, regarded as one of the most innovative artists of the past decade, opens his first Spanish tour tonight at Madrid’s Vicente Calderón stadium. On the 24th he will be at Valencia’s Luis Casanova stadium; on the 25th at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium on Montjuïc; on the 27th at Marbella’s municipal stadium; and on the 29th at the Santa María del Mar sports hall in La Coruña. Ticket prices have been set between 3,000 and 4,000 pesetas. In Madrid a full house is expected, around 65,000 people who, at 4,000 pesetas a ticket, will leave 260 million pesetas at the box office. Prince and his band take the stage at ten; the recital will last about 90 minutes, with 15 to 19 songs.

Ketama (the group of the Carmona brothers and José Soto) opens as a luxury support from nine; their set will last 45 to 50 minutes. The flamenco group, which has just played in New York with Camarón and El Último de la Fila, will present its luxury line-up.

Stadium doors open at five in the afternoon. Because of heavy demand from outside Madrid, the organisers have reserved 10% of the seats, about 6,000, to go on sale today, the day of the show. Box offices open at 10.30.

Miko Weaver (guitar), Levi Seacer Jr. (bass), Michael Bland (drums), Dr. Fink (keyboards), Rosie Gaines (keyboards and vocals) are the musicians who will accompany Prince. Kirk Johnson, Damon Dickson and Tony Mosley are the three dancers, in charge of a spectacular choreography essential to each of his recitals.

Purple Rain, 1999, Nothing Compares 2 U and Little Red Corvette form the spine of the set chosen for each night, a set that admits very few variations. Some of his classics, such as Alphabet Street, Sexy Dancer or I Would Die 4 U, are rarely missing, alternating with lesser-known songs from his later records.

For the five Spanish recitals a special staging is planned: the last song of the night will be a special version of Purple Rain, dressed with a firework castle designed by Valencian specialists.