Plug pulled on Prince
I bet Prince was wishing he was back in Vegas. This spring the Rio let Prince get on stage anytime he wanted (which was usually after midnight) every weekend. Then when Prince was done with the official show he was allowed to jam into the wee small hours of Sunday morning in a restaurant the Rio gave him with his personal chef as cook. Vegas knew the value of having Prince in town, and as a result, I think it is safe to say that Prince's Vegas residency remains a high water mark for Vegas entertainment.
But instead of staying in 24/7 Vegas, the restless Prince went home to Minneapolis where he recently attempted a concert at the famed First Avenue club near curfew at 3 AM. In Vegas, we would just go, um, okay. In Minneapolis the police shut the show down. The police involved called Prince "arrogant" for going on 15 minutes before curfew. Maybe so. But they should have let him play anyway. What is the harm? It is a commercial area with few residents. I was a graduate student at University of Minnesota in the 90s where I spent far more time at First Avenue than the library. That club, made out of a former bus terminal, is a monument trying to survive in fast changing neighborhood. I remember one night I was with Grant Hart of Husker Du, and he pointed to a huge concert venue nearby and a big mall. "Do you notice First Avenue is the only two story building left?" Anyway, when someone like Prince arrives at a tiny club: the place packs, the bar gets some money and this allows the legend to continue. Unlike CBGB, First Avenue is still at home and not yet dreaming of an afterlife in Vegas.
Anyway, Vegas will take Prince and he can go on stage whenever he wants.