Opening Night | Prince Kicks Off Hit & Run Tour II

Prince kicked off his first U.K. arena tour since 1995 last night with a show at the LG Arena in Birmingham, UK. The Purple One and his band (guitarist Donna Grantis, bassist Ida Nielsen, drummer Hannah Ford-Welton with additional musicians keyboardists Joshua Welton and Cassandra O’Neal) treated fans to a marathon performance that included at least portions of 34 different songs with a focus on material from Purple Rain.

Prince mixed material from throughout his career including plenty of hits such as “Controversy,” “1999,” “Diamonds and Pearls” and “Little Red Corvette” with newer songs for his first show in Birmingham in 19 years. The singer/guitarist took the stage holding a handful of purple and cream balloons he released into the crowd as the band launched into “FUNKNROLL.” After two-and-a-half hours the rocker and his band brought the show to a close with a second encore cover of “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry. The tour continues tonight in Manchester.

Check out the setlist from last night:

Watch a snippet of “Let’s Go Crazy” before Prince has it pulled off YouTube: