Prince (November 5, 1984) – Purple Rain Tour: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan

Nov 5, 1984

6 min read

Prince brought the newly launched Purple Rain Tour to a sold-out Joe Louis Arena on November 5, 1984. The Detroit engagement was subsequently celebrated by Kerrang! in its bold “Rain Dance” cover and photo exclusive, a decision that challenged sections of the magazine’s rock and heavy-metal readership.

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

FEATURE	DETAILS
Artist:	Prince
Tour:	Purple Rain Tour
Concert Date:	November 5, 1984
Venue:	Joe Louis Arena
Location:	Detroit, Michigan, USA
Advertised Start:	8:00 p.m.
Attendance:	18,533 – Sold Out
Ticket Prices:	$17.50 / $15.50 / $12.50
Support:	Sheila E.
Related Publication:	Kerrang!, Issue No. 82
Publication Date:	November 29 – December 12, 1984
Cover Line:	Rain Dance – Prince Live in Detroit Photo Exclusive
Photography Credit:	Robert Ellis
Format:	Concert Chronicle with Magazine Cover and Photo Feature
Principal Theme:	Prince’s sold-out Detroit concert during the opening engagement of the Purple Rain Tour

COVER	PAGE 1
Kerrang! Issue No. 82 cover	“Rain Dance – Prince Live in Detroit” photo page

The photographs are identified by the magazine as having been taken live in Detroit. The supplied pages do not state which individual Joe Louis Arena concert produced the images, so they should be presented as photography from the wider Detroit engagement rather than attributed specifically to November 5.

INTRODUCTION

THE CONCERT

THE DETROIT ENGAGEMENT

On November 5, 1984, Prince performed the second concert of the newly launched Purple Rain Tour at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The performance took place before a sold-out audience of 18,533 and brought together material from Purple Rain with established songs from Prince’s earlier catalogue.

Detroit occupied a particularly prominent place at the beginning of the tour. Tickets for the initially announced November 4 and 5 concerts had gone on sale on September 13, while further Detroit performances followed as demand expanded the engagement. The opening concerts introduced audiences to the full-scale live presentation Prince had developed around the extraordinary success of Purple Rain.

THE PERFORMANCE

THE OPENING SEQUENCE	THE PURPLE RAIN MATERIAL
The opening four songs are not fully confirmed in the supplied record and are assumed from the standard running order used during this stage of the tour. That likely sequence began with “Let’s Go Crazy”, followed by “Delirious”, “1999” and “Little Red Corvette”, establishing the concert with a concentrated run of major Prince recordings.	Much of the remaining programme drew directly from Purple Rain. “Computer Blue”, “Darling Nikki”, “The Beautiful Ones” and “When Doves Cry” formed the principal dramatic sequence, while “I Would Die 4 U”, “Baby I’m A Star” and “Purple Rain” carried the concert towards its closing stages.

THE STAGE SHOW

MUSIC & THEATRE	THE CLOSING SEQUENCE
The concert moved between full-band performances, instrumental passages and more intimate keyboard-led material. An interlude preceded “Do Me, Baby”, while “Father’s Song” and “God” provided a contrasting section before the show returned to the more theatrical sequence of songs from Purple Rain.	“I Would Die 4 U” led into an extended “Baby I’m A Star”, during which additional performers joined the presentation. The concert then reached its conclusion with “Purple Rain”, placing the song at the end of a programme built around the album and film that had transformed Prince’s international profile.

PRINCE & THE BAND

THE CORE BAND	GUEST APPEARANCES
Prince performed vocals, guitar and keyboards. The core band consisted of Bobby Z. on drums, Brown Mark on bass, Wendy Melvoin on guitar, with Lisa Coleman and Dr. Fink on keyboards. This was the principal touring unit responsible for bringing the Purple Rain material to the stage.	The concert information also identifies Apollonia, Susan Moonsie and Brenda Bennett as dancers and tambourine players. Billy Sparks, Jerome Benton and Susannah Melvoin were among the additional guests associated with the performance, contributing to the expanded presentation surrounding “Baby I’m A Star”.

SUPPORT ACT

SHEILA E.	THE SUPPORTING BAND
Sheila E. provided the support performance during the Detroit engagement. Her appearance placed another important member of Prince’s contemporary musical circle before the audience and gave the evening a direct connection to the wider collection of artists surrounding the Purple Rain period.	Sheila E.’s supporting group featured Karl Perazzo on drums, Benny Rietveld on bass, Miko Weaver and Stephan Birnbaum on guitar, Susie Davis on keyboards, Eddie M. on saxophone and keyboards, and Juan Escovedo on percussion. Prince also contributed offstage vocals during the support performance.

THE KERRANG! FEATURE

RAIN DANCE	DETROIT PHOTO EXCLUSIVE
The Detroit performances received prominent coverage in Kerrang! Issue No. 82, dated November 29 to December 12, 1984. Prince appeared on the cover beneath the handwritten-style headline “Rain Dance”, accompanied by the description “Prince Live in Detroit – Photo Exclusive”.	The supplied interior page continues the “Rain Dance” presentation with a large central concert photograph and four smaller colour images. Prince is shown performing at the microphone, playing guitar and working at the keyboards, presenting the live show through a sequence of contrasting stage views.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY

THE COVER IMAGE	THE INTERIOR PAGE
The cover uses a full-length performance photograph credited to Robert Ellis. Prince is pictured at a microphone in a reflective purple coat with decorated shoulders, set against a strong pink and purple background. The seasonal floral treatment of the Kerrang! masthead contrasts sharply with the concert image and yellow handwritten typography.	The interior page is dominated by a large, atmospheric image spread across the central fold, while inset photographs document different parts of the performance. The combination of microphone, guitar and keyboard images presents Prince not merely as the focus of a theatrical production but as an active multi-instrumental performer.

THE COVER CONTROVERSY

A CHALLENGE TO THE READERSHIP	KRUSHER JOULE’S RECOLLECTION
Prince was not an obvious cover choice for every member of Kerrang!’s established rock and heavy-metal readership. The decision to feature him so prominently tested the boundaries of what some readers believed belonged within the magazine, despite the strong rock component in Prince’s music and stage performance.	Art director Krusher Joule later remembered that the cover caused considerable anger and complaint within parts of the rock and metal community. Joule remained unapologetically proud of helping persuade the magazine to run it, maintaining that Prince was performing powerful rock music at the time and fully deserved the recognition.

THE SETLIST

The first four songs are not confirmed in the supplied concert record and have been listed as assumed performances based on the usual set structure.

OPENING & MAIN SET	LATER SET & FINALE
1. Let’s Go Crazy – assumed 2. Delirious – assumed; including “Let’s Go Crazy” instrumental reprise 3. 1999 – assumed; including “Reveille” 4. Little Red Corvette – assumed 5. Interlude 6. Do Me, Baby – with band backing 7. Father’s Song 8. God	9. Computer Blue 10. Darling Nikki 11. The Beautiful Ones – preceded by the “I’m So Confused” introduction over the public-address system 12. When Doves Cry 13. I Would Die 4 U 14. Baby I’m A Star – with additional guests 15. Purple Rain

CONTEXT AND NOTES

HISTORICAL CONTEXT	ARCHIVAL SIGNIFICANCE
The November 5 performance belonged to the opening Detroit engagement of the Purple Rain Tour. Prince entered the tour with the album and film having brought his music to a much broader international audience, and the Joe Louis Arena concerts introduced the large-scale live production that would carry that success into arenas across North America.	The Kerrang! material preserves the visual character of Prince’s Detroit performances, but it should not be assigned to November 5 without further evidence. The magazine describes the pictures only as live in Detroit, and the engagement included several concerts. Keeping that distinction visible protects the accuracy of the archive while still allowing the photographs to accompany this Detroit concert Chronicle.
The concert was sold out, with an attendance of 18,533 and tickets priced at $17.50, $15.50 and $12.50. Sheila E. served as the support act, and several performers associated with the Purple Rain film and Prince’s wider circle appeared during the main show.	The later account of the reaction to Prince’s Kerrang! cover adds another layer to the material. It documents the resistance Prince encountered from some genre-conscious rock readers while also demonstrating that members of the magazine’s own creative team regarded his live work as deserving serious rock coverage.

CONCLUSION

THE CONCERT IN RETROSPECT

THE KERRANG! LEGACY

Prince’s November 5, 1984 concert at the Joe Louis Arena captures the Purple Rain Tour at its very beginning. The sold-out performance combined major earlier recordings with an extensive presentation of the Purple Rain material, supported by the musicians and additional performers who helped define this stage of Prince’s career.

Kerrang!’s “Rain Dance” package turned the Detroit engagement into a striking visual record. The decision to place Prince on the cover challenged restricted ideas about the boundaries of rock coverage, while the live photographs showed precisely why the magazine’s advocates believed he belonged there: the Detroit stage presentation placed musicianship, spectacle and rock performance together in a single production.

SOURCES

Prince Vault concert information for November 5, 1984.Kerrang!, Issue No. 82, November 29 – December 12, 1984. Cover and “Rain Dance” Detroit photo page supplied for this Chronicle. Later recollection by Kerrang! art director Krusher Joule.

All magazine scans, newspaper cuttings, photographs, broadcast images, and original text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non-commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.

Tags: Prince, Purple Rain Tour, Joe Louis Arena, Kerrang! Magazine, 1984