The Controversy Tour was a concert tour by American recording artist Prince in support of his fourth studio album Controversy. The tour included Zapp and Roger and The Time as an opening act.
Background The Controversy Tour marked the debut of Mark Brown, a.k.a. Brown Mark, on bass guitar, replacing the departed André Cymone, and the introduction of Prince's new bodyguard, Chick Huntsberry. At first, Prince contemplated dismissing the huge Huntsberry after only being on tour with him for a few days, as Prince thought he was too big and he scared him. Guitarist Dez Dickerson talked him out of it and he eventually became a confidant to Prince and later appeared in Purple Rain as a bouncer. This tour was also notable for Prince's new side group The Time joining him on tour and the resulting backstage drama and arising tension that developed between the two bands.
Ultimately Prince would kick The Time off the 1999 Tour. The conflict came to a head on the final night of the tour in Cincinnati as during The Time's set, Prince and some of the members in his band began egging them from off stage. Near the end of the set, they grabbed Jerome Benton from the stage and proceeded to "tar and feather" him by pouring honey all over him and dumping trash on him. Things got further escalated after The Time's performance, guitarist Jesse Johnson was handcuffed to a wall-mounted coat rack and further humiliated with Prince throwing Doritos and other food at him. When The Time went to retaliate, they were stopped by the tour manager and told there would be no interruptions during Prince's performance, but as soon as he left the stage, a food fight erupted between the two bands. When the battle continued at the hotel causing damage, Prince made Morris Day pay for all damages, claiming that he had started the whole thing.
Opening acts The Time Zapp featuring Roger
Set list November 20, 1981, at the Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
"The Second Coming" "Sexuality" "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" "Jack U Off" "When You Were Mine" "I Wanna Be Your Lover" "Head" "Annie Christian" "Dirty Mind" "Do Me, Baby" "Let's Work" "Controversy" "Uptown" "Partyup"
January 30, 1982, at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey:
"The Second Coming" "Uptown" "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" "I Wanna Be Your Lover" "Head" "Dirty Mind" "Do Me, Baby" "Controversy" "Let's Work" "Jack U Off"
Tour dates Prior to the tour, in October 1981 Prince played two shows at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as an opening act for The Rolling Stones. On the first date, Prince and his band did not finish their set, as the crowd turned hostile towards him. Dressed in his controversial bikini briefs and trench coat, and singing his sexually androgynous lyrics, he was run off stage after 25 minutes of the crowd booing, throwing shoes and beer bottles at him."Rolling Stones Open 2-Day Stand In LA", Oxnard (CA) Press-Courier, October 10, 1981, p3 Off stage, security escorted Prince to his trailer, they described him as emotionally distraught and crying softly. He was later heard cussing at his band and swearing he would never open for the Rolling Stones again.
After the show, Prince immediately flew back home to Minneapolis. After speaking with Dez Dickerson, manager Steve Fargnoli, and Mick Jagger himself, they convinced him to return for the second concert. Amidst the same hostility, as The Rolling Stones' fans heard about the incident at the first concert and came prepared to dog Prince again, Prince and his band finished their set this time. Backstage, Prince referred to the crowd as, "Tasteless in music and mentally retarded".
+ List of 1981 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets and gross revenue Date City Country Venue Attendance RevenueNovember 20, 1981PittsburghUnited StatesStanley TheaterNovember 21, 1981Washington, D.C.Warner Theatre2,000 / 3,400 (59%)November 25, 1981GreenvilleGreenville Memorial AuditoriumNovember 26, 1981BaltimoreBaltimore Civic CenterNovember 27, 1981CharlotteCharlotte ColiseumNovember 29, 1981NashvilleNashville Municipal AuditoriumDecember 2, 1981New York CityThe PalladiumDecember 4, 1981DetroitJoe Louis ArenaDecember 5, 1981ChicagoArie Crown Theater8,638 / 8,638 (100%)$95,087December 6, 1981St. LouisKiel AuditoriumDecember 9, 1981HoustonThe SummitDecember 10, 1981AtlantaThe OmniDecember 11, 1981Winston-SalemWinston-Salem Memorial ColiseumDecember 12, 1981ColumbiaCarolina ColiseumDecember 13, 1981FayettevilleCumberland County Memorial ArenaDecember ??, 1981SavannahSavannah Civic CenterDecember 17, 1981ColumbusColumbus Municipal AuditoriumDecember 18, 1981Baton RougeRiverside CentroplexDecember 19, 1981DallasDallas Convention CenterDecember 20, 1981HoustonThe Summit14,000 / 14,000 (100%)December 26, 1981MilwaukeeMECCA ArenaDecember 27, 1981DaytonHara ArenaDecember 28, 1981ToledoToledo Sports Arena4,325 / 6,500 (67%)December 29, 1981ColumbusVeterans Memorial AuditoriumDecember 30, 1981LouisvilleLouisville Gardens6,850 / 6,850 (100%)December 31, 1981MaconMacon Coliseum8,400 / 9,252 (91%)
+ List of 1982 concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets and gross revenue Date City Country Venue Attendance RevenueJanuary 2, 1982LakelandUnited StatesLakeland Civic CenterJanuary 3, 1982JacksonvilleJacksonville Memorial ColiseumJanuary 28, 1982RichmondRichmond ColiseumJanuary 29, 1982LandoverCapital CentreJanuary 30, 1982PassaicCapitol TheatreYouTube - Morris Day & The Time @ Capitol Theatre 01/30/82YouTube - Prince @ Capitol Theatre 01/30/82February 1, 1982Ann ArborHill AuditoriumFebruary 4, 1982SaginawSaginaw Civic CenterFebruary 5, 1982ClevelandCleveland Public AuditoriumFebruary 6, 1982NormalISU-Braden AuditoriumFebruary 7, 1982OmahaOmaha Civic AuditoriumFebruary 9, 1982DenverDenver AuditoriumFebruary 11, 1982San DiegoSan Diego Golden HallFebruary 12, 1982Santa MonicaSanta Monica Civic AuditoriumFebruary 13, 1982San BernardinoOrange PavilionFebruary 14, 1982San FranciscoBill Graham Civic AuditoriumFebruary 15, 1982February 18, 1982Kansas CityUptown TheaterFebruary 19, 1982MartinUT-Martin FieldhouseFebruary 20, 1982BirminghamBirmingham–Jefferson Civic CenterFebruary 21, 1982IndianapolisIndiana Convention CenterFebruary 24, 1982MemphisMid-South ColiseumFebruary 25, 1982MonroeMonroe Civic CenterFebruary 26, 1982AugustaAugusta Civic CenterFebruary 27, 1982MontgomeryGarrett ColiseumFebruary 28, 1982New OrleansSaenger TheatreMarch 3, 1982BostonOrpheum TheatreMarch 5, 1982RockfordRockford MetroCentreMarch 6, 1982DavenportPalmer AuditoriumMarch 7, 1982BloomingtonMet CenterMarch 11, 1982HamptonHampton ColiseumMarch 12, 1982RaleighDorton ArenaMarch 13, 1982Upper Darby TownshipTower TheaterMarch 14, 1982CincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum
The band Prince: Lead vocals, Synthesizer and guitar Dez Dickerson: Guitar Brown Mark: Bass Matt Fink: Keyboards Lisa Coleman: Keyboards Bobby Z.: Drums
References
External links Controversy Tour|Prince-Live