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Prince‘s band The Revolution is paying tribute to his legacy with a new tour, but bass player Brown Mark and keyboard player Dr. Fink say they will never forget the late artist’s historic Purple Rain trek, which saw them play 98 shows across North America in 1984 and 1985.
“The music was loud, but the crowd was louder than the music,” Mark tells ABC Radio. “[It was] my first experience with a real Prince audience, and I looked over at him and he was just as cool. That audience was out of this world.”
The bass player says the roar of the crowd was overwhelming even before the concerts began.
“I could not hear myself talk. It was so loud. I never heard anything like that in my life,” Mark recalls. “The decibels, it was so high and we hit the stage. There was a black curtain and it was closed and then [drummer] Bobby [Z]’s kick drum would go, and this light would flash on the kick drum for ‘Controversy’ and that curtain opened.”
The group rehearsed eight-to-12 hours a day to prepare for the tour, and once they hit the road, the days were filled with long soundchecks, the actual concerts, and then additional performances at after parties.
“Pretty long sound checks. Anywhere from two to two-and-a-half, sometimes three hours,” Dr. Fink remembers. “Then we’d do the show, and this wasn’t in every city. but we did a lot of after-show things. And then we’d be there till 3, 4, 5 in the morning, jamming and playing.”
The Revolution will wrap up the year with three shows in Texas: December 29 in Austin, December 30 in Houston, and New Year’s Eve in Dallas.
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