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Questlove says don't blame him for no symphonic Prince concert in Minneapolis — yet

He's just the curator, not the booker, of the 36-city tour featuring a 27-piece orchestra playing music of the Purple One.

August 13, 2018 at 9:00PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Questlove/ Photo by Amy Harris, Associated Press
Questlove/ Photo by Amy Harris, Associated Press (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Don't blame Questlove. That's what the Prince superfan and Roots drummer says.

He says he was not involved with choosing the cities and venues for the fall tour of "4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince." A total of 36 U.S. cities will hear a 27-piece orchestra perform the music of the Purple One. His hometown of Minneapolis is not one of them.

"I'm just the curator," Questlove said via text. "My part was choosing the songs. Not booking the dates."

Questlove's name was attached to a press release on Friday announcing the tour and its details.

The omission of Minneapolis caused a stir on social media.

"Out of sheer respect for the man whose music they will be playing, you would think Minneapolis would be the first city of their concert tour," said GiseleM on Twitter.

"Not going to MPLS to do that concert is dumb as hell," Aug 12th tweeted.

KFAN radio personality Dan Barreiro simply tweeted: "Seems wrong."

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Questlove added that he thinks a Twin Cities date will be announced "I assume soon?" (the question mark was his). "They prolly wanna test it first."

Thirty-six tests? Is "4U" being saved for Paisley Park's third annual Celebration in April?

Hometown is awaiting an announcement.

The orchestral tour starts Sept. 6 in New Brunswick, N.J. and ends Oct. 21 in Kansas City. The closest performances to the Twin Cities are Milwaukee on Oct. 11 at the Riverside Theatre and Chicago on Sept. 30 at the Chicago Theatre.

about the writer

about the writer

Jon Bream

Critic / Reporter

Jon Bream has been a music critic at the Star Tribune since 1975, making him the longest tenured pop critic at a U.S. daily newspaper. He has attended more than 8,000 concerts and written four books (on Prince, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan). Thus far, he has ignored readers’ suggestions that he take a music-appreciation class.

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