The enigmatic singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur is on track to wrap up his extended L. And he had enough energy left over to sandwich in three Northern California arena dates last week. It is the Faithful Central Bible Church. The long engagement has ramped up excitement about Prince at a time when he has no new album to sell, gets little to no radio airplay except on oldies and classic-rock radio stations and no movie, TV show or book to plug.
Details on the final round of shows still had not been announced as of early Wednesday afternoon. But Prince has kept fans buzzing online and elsewhere in recent weeks with a parade of guest artists and drastically revamped set lists from night to night, factors that have rewarded those who have taken in multiple shows. There have been reports of a high percentage of empty seats at some shows.
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One concert industry veteran not affiliated with the Forum shows said attendance has been as low as 6, some nights, 10, for others, but estimated that probably at least half of the potential , tickets have been sold. Prince declined to be interviewed for this story, as did Live Nation officials.
A key part of his strategy for sustaining public interest during the last seven weeks has been a parade of musical guests such as Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Celebrity attendees, many of whom have popped on the Forum stage to dance or simply to glad-hand the star, have included Halle Berry, Cuba Gooding Jr.
The engagement also has a philanthropic component: Prince has said he will donate some of the proceeds to the Faith Central Baptist Church, which bought the arena in and has been struggling to get out from under millions of dollars in debt from years of unprofitable operations. Church officials are hopeful that a pending sale of the Forum to Madison Square Garden Entertainment will help ease or eliminate their financial burden.
