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."
THE REVOLUTION 2018 Tour Itinerary:
June 9 Wichita River Festival Wichita KS
June 24 Arroyo Seco Music & Arts Festival Pasadena, CA
July 6 Basilica Block Party Minneapolis, MN
July 22 The Phillips Backyard Weekender Victoria, BC
August 19 Sigmund Stern Grove Festival San Francisco, CA (Free Show)
August 31 Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR
Aug 31-Sept 2 Bumbershoot Seattle, WA
September 7 Hopscotch Music Festival Raleigh, NC
September 27 Historic Holmes Theatre Detroit Lakes, MN
September 28 The Paramount Center for the Arts St. Cloud, MN
September 29 Sheldon Theatre Red Wing, MN
October 4 Majestic Theatre Detroit, MI
October 5 Park West Chicago, IL
October 5 -7 & 12-14 ACL Festival Austin, TX
October 11/12 Sony Hall New York, NY
October 26 Fillmore Silver Spring Silver Spring, MD
October 27 The Wilbur Theatre Boston, MA
October 28 The Strand Providence, RI
THE REVOLUTION- 2019 EUROPE
February 8 Vega Copenhagen, Denmark
February 10 Paradiso Amsterdam, Netherlands
February 11 Cigale Paris, France
February 13 O2 Shepherds Bush Empire London, UK
