Tickets to the “official after show” have been priced at £75 and £25
Prince fans are being warned he and his band may not appear at the “after show” events promoted as part of his UK tour.
Parties at the Indigo2 venue follow his concerts at London’s O2 arena, but fans say sometimes he fails to go to these, or has played for only a few minutes.
Prince’s website now says that when there are arena gigs on consecutive days, “the band usually opts to rest” instead of appearing at Indigo2.
A spokeswoman for Prince said it was “never guaranteed” he would appear.
“What’s always been up on the official website was that Prince’s band would play most nights, and on any given night the Purple One could come.
The arena’s stage is the symbol to which Prince changed his name (photo by Andrew Buchan)
“But every night was going to be different and special,” she told the BBC News website.
“For instance, the other night, his opening act Beverley Knight took to the stage for a long, late-night jam session with Prince on the guitar, which was a very special surprise for the crowd.”
Many fans who booked tickets to the concerts in the main arena received promotional e-mails from agency Ticketmaster, highlighting the addition of the “after show” events to the tour schedule.
The agency’s website promoted the “after show” as “the white hot place to hang for those still in need of some serious grooves”.
Tickets were priced at £75 and £25, whereas the main arena show was £31.21 per seat, the figure being a reference to recent Prince album 3121.
Prince’s spokeswoman said Knight’s set was “a very special surprise”
Ticketmaster also stated: “Please be aware that Prince and the band are not guaranteed to perform, but as we all know with these cats - expect the unexpected.”
“Artists have to stay in the public mind and they have to stay hip. For an artist to be associated with a slick new service is a good idea. He probably wouldn’t have done the Super Bowl in his heyday. He’s a mainstream artist that needs to keep his name out there”