The Revolution Plot Prince Tribute Shows at ‘Purple Rain’ Venue
The Revolution, Prince‘s most famous backing band, will reunite for a pair of tribute shows honoring the late music icon. Brown Mark, Bobby Z., Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman and Matt “Doctor” Fink will perform September 2nd and 3rd at Minneapolis venue First Avenue, the iconic nightclub and partial setting of Prince‘s 1984 rock-musical, Purple Rain.
Original Revolution guitarist Dez Dickerson and pre-Revolution bassist André Cymone are listed as “special guests” for the shows. Tickets for both nights of “An Evening With the Revolution” go on sale Friday, July 8th at 11 a.m. CST. General admission tickets ($65) and VIP tickets ($99) will be available.
“With profound loss and apocalyptic grief, we, along with the world, mourned Prince upon the news of his passing,” the band wrote in a statement. “After seeing the response outside of First Avenue and around the rest of the world’s monuments, we, as The Revolution – Wendy, Lisa, Brownmark, Dr. Fink, and Bobby Z – have decided to pay tribute to Prince at home in the city of Minneapolis.”
“When we first spoke to The Revolution, and the conversation turned to a possible reunion, it only seemed natural to bring them to First Avenue – to bring them home,” added First Avenue’s General Manager Nate Kranz.
The Revolution first announced plans for a reunion tribute in April with a video posted on Brown Mark’s Facebook page, days after Prince’s death. “We have decided after spending three or four days together now grieving over the loss of Prince that we would like to come out and do some shows,” Melvoin said in the clip. “We want to let you know that we’ll be there soon, so we want to let you know now.”
While the group served as Prince’s backing band beginning in 1979, they weren’t officially dubbed “the Revolution” until the release of Purple Rain. All five current members were with the band in 1984, with Melvoin having replaced Dickerson on guitar.