The Revolution
"I've got the baddest band in the universe" - Prince 1986
(Minneapolis,
MN - May 15, 2018) Prince played with
many talented musicians over the course of his 40-year career, but his most
celebrated and iconic allies will always be Bobby Z, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Matt Fink & Brownmark; The
Revolution. They resume their U.S.
tour on June 9th at the Wichita River Festival in Kansas and will hit several
major U.S. Festivals this summer and fall including: Arroyo Seco, Bumbershoot
and ACL, before heading over to Europe, in early 2019, for their first tour in
33 years! Full itinerary is below.
"We can't wait to perform for our fans in the cities we missed on The
Revolution reunion tour last year and we're also looking forward to returning
to some of the towns where we've already performed," said
Matt Fink. "We've been enjoying
reconnecting with everyone so much!"
The Revolution were the group that backed Prince during his rise
to fame on his greatest work, including 1984's world-conquering film and
soundtrack Purple Rain as well as
appearing on 1999, Around The World In A Day, Parade and Sign O'The Times.
In
April of 2017, the band decided it was time to return to the stage to perform
the music that they helped create with Prince. To much critical and fan praise,
the quintet set out on the road, hitting much of the U.S. throughout last summer, ending the tour with a
final sold out show in Los Angeles on Labor Day. While taking a quick break, it
became obvious that there were many parts of the country who still wanted to
see the reunited band perform.
Additionally, after more than thirty years since their only full
European shows with Prince (The Parade 'Hit And Run' tour of August 1986) the
band have decided to return there in February 2019 for four very special shows
in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris and London.
Amsterdam, Paris and London hold very special places in the hearts of Prince
fans as they were the first cities that he played outside of the USA in June
1981 with a band that featured Bobby Z,
Lisa Coleman & Matt Fink. Bassist Brownmark
joined just after those European dates with guitarist Wendy Melvoin completing the line-up in 1983.
When speaking about their
long awaited return to Europe, Bobby Z commented, "We're incredibly excited to be coming back
to Europe, coming over for the first time in 1981 it was both thrilling and a
bit intimidating. Prince had travelled ahead of us and he told us how exciting
the music scene was in London with the likes of Adam & The Ants and the New
Romantics, he loved it and you can see that some of his look was influenced by
that. It was such a big moment for us as we saw it as our first stop on the
road to global domination, we knew we were a force to be reckoned with."
Continuing, "When we came back in '86 those shows were
the best we ever played as a band; they were magical. In that gap of five years
it seemed that we were totally in sync with the audience, the desire for us to
deliver and the desire of them to receive was equal. We can't wait to come back
and play those songs again and keep his music alive."
After
Prince's passing in April 2016, The
Revolution immediately re-connected but stayed out of the public eye until
a series of three triumphant, emotional shows at the historic First Avenue club
in September of that year. Fans flew in from around the world to witness the
band at the site where the concert scenes in Purple Rain were filmed. When they were approached to perform at
Paisley Park as part of the celebration of Prince's life on the first
anniversary of his passing, they decided it was time to take The Revolution show back on the road.
Though
Prince first teased the band's name on the 1999
album cover, The Revolution was
given the full spotlight on Purple Rain,
which went on to sell more than 20 million copies, spend 24 weeks at Number One
on the album charts, and win two Grammys and an Oscar. The project marked the
very first time that an artist had a Number One album, single, and film
simultaneously.
In
the intervening years, all the members continued to have successful musical
careers. Melvoin and Coleman never stopped working together,
initially as recording artists and then as in-demand, Emmy-winning composers of
movie and television scores. Bobby Z
and Dr. Fink remain staples of the
Minneapolis music scene, working with local, national, and international talent
out of their own studios; Bobby also hosts a popular weekly radio show. Brownmark founded and led the band Mazarati and currently produces several projects
with his production company BrownmarkNation.
"I
think everybody in The Revolution is
singular, not like anybody else," says Melvoin. "So while we still have a shot at getting
that same feeling, let's do it with as much grace and integrity as we can.
We're still a band, still vital human beings, so let's play this stuff before
we can't anymore."
"Prince
said that music is medicine," says Bobby
Z. "People need it, and we need it. In honor of him, we'll give it
everything we've got."
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