As they promised soon after his death, Prince’s most famous backing band, the Revolution, will reunite to play two nights at First Avenue on Sept. 2 and 3.
Tickets are $65, or $99 for VIP treatment, and go on sale at 11 a.m. Friday through Etix.
The lineup features the musicians who performed with Prince on the 1984 “Purple Rain” soundtrack and film: Wendy Melvoin (guitar, vocals), Lisa Coleman (keyboard, vocals), Brown Mark (bass), Bobby Z (drums) and Matt Fink (keyboards). They’ll be joined by guests Dez Dickerson and Andre Cymone, who both played with Prince at the start of his career.
In a statement, the band said: “With profound loss and apocalyptic grief, we, along with the world, mourned Prince upon the news of his passing. After seeing the response outside of First Avenue and around the rest of the world’s monuments, we … have decided to pay tribute to Prince at home in the city of Minneapolis.”
More than a dozen different musicians backed Prince in his early days, and he started calling them the Revolution after printing the name backwards on the cover of his fifth album, “1999.” The Revolution went on to make “Purple Rain” with Prince and also portrayed his band in the film, much of which was shot on location at First Avenue.
Prince and the Revolution collaborated on two more albums, “Around the World in a Day” and “Parade.” But tensions between Prince and the band led the Revolution to break up after the 1986 tour ended. They have since reunited several times, without Prince, and played a 2003 concert organized by Sheila E. and a 2012 benefit gig at First Avenue.
