The West Coast will receive an unexpected dose of Prince — next week. After wrapping his original slate of Welcome 2 America concerts, the Purple One has confirmed plans to take the series to California for at least two nights, starting almost immediately.
Concerts have been revealed for February 21 and 23 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA. The news came as a surprise when it was announced only yesterday, February 16.
Public ticket sales for the unexpected shows start tomorrow, February 18, at 12 p.m. local time. Ticketmaster.com shows a ticket price range of $49.50 up to $250.
The price range is similar to that of the tour’s initial East Coast concerts. After all changes to his calendar were said and done, Prince performed December 15 and 17 shows at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ, before moving on to Madison Square Garden for more gigs on December 18 and 29, January 18 and February 7.
A variety of musicians, comedians and performance artists made guest appearances during the northeastern leg of Prince’s Welcome 2 America Tour, and he also brought a number of celebrity audience members onstage for unexpected cameos throughout the series.
Among those to make scheduled appearances were Cassandra Wilson, Esperanza Spalding (before her stunning Grammy Award win) and Janelle Monae (who tours with Bruno Mars this spring), while spur-of-the-moment cameos came from the likes of Jimmy Fallon and Kim Kardashian.
Special guests have not been named for the tour’s West Coast incarnation as of yet. It is also unclear whether the increasingly nebulous artist known as Prince has any other concert cards up his sleeve for the near (or distant) future.
