Beautiful Nights and
Purple Funk (Australia) have teamed up to throw the ultimate Prince
party.
W2AUS: The Prince
Anniversary Party will take place 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. May 31 at The
Hi-Fi, 125 Swanston St., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Marcus
Scott, of Beautiful Nights in Chicago, will be the host. DJ Phil K and special
guest DJ Philvester will be featured on the turntables all night
long. Tickets are $25, plus a booking fee (AUD) and this is an 18 and
over event.
The night's theme will
celebrate the one-year anniversary of Prince's Welcome 2 Australia
Tour stop in Melbourne. Highlights will include, songs, concert footage and
music videos from Prince and related artists; special cocktails; a
“Sexy MF” contest (with three categories including “purple,”
“Princely” and “sexy”), with prizes donated by Seattle Artist
Troy Gua and a special performance by Scott.
“This is a purple night
that you are never going to forget,” said Party Organizer Sofie
Hendrickse, who has been a Prince fan since 1981. “So 'let's get
crazy! Let's get nuts!”
The event was the
brainchild of Hendrickse and Karen Parrish, both of Melbourne. The two met last year in Parrish's
“Princepirations” Facebook Group which she started in May 2012
after seeing Prince on the Welcome 2 Australia Tour. This will be the
first Prince party hosted in Melbourne, according to the pair.
 |
| Sofie Hendrickse |
Hendrickse said the idea was formulated when she made a comment on the page that she thought
someone in Melbourne should throw a Prince party, as a way for local
fans to “cope” with only seeing him in concert intermittently. She added that he
has only been to Australia three times in the last 20 years: The
Diamonds and Pearls Tour (1992); World Tour (2003) and Welcome 2
Australia Tour (2012).
She said Parrish, who has been a Prince fan
for 33 years, joined in the online conversation and assured her that
they could make it happen. The two had never met in person, but, not
long after that exchange, they were on the telephone brainstorming
and discussing ideas. They launched Purple Funk (Australia) as a
business venture and “the rest is history.”
Hendrickse added that his
last stint in Oz left many fans with what she called “P.P.D.,” or
“Post Prince Depression,” especially since he started touring the
United States earlier this year.
“Australia
just can't get enough of Prince and...I was, and still am, on a 'purple high'”
Parrish said. “I felt the best way to bring back the Prince magic
was to gather our purple family together for one special night...”
“Melbourne
went into a frenzy” when Prince had his
afterparty at the Hi-Fi last year. More than 5,000 people lined up to
get inside, but, only 900, including Hendrickse, got in.
While he did not perform that night, he did DJ for a bit (with DJ
Rashida) and she got the chance to meet Cassandra O'Neal, who was
then a keyboard player in Prince's band. When the ladies approached
the club with the idea for a Prince party, the booker was very
interested, Hendrickse said.
They have promoted the
event through the W2AUS Facebook event page, Twitter, the Purple Funk (Australia) Web site (purplefunk.org) and press releases
to radio and print media. There has also been strong word of mouth in
their local Prince community.
In addition, there has also been a whirlwind of planning including
hiring DJs and a photographer, selecting music videos, concert footage and
music for the party, arranging accommodations for Scott and much more,said Hendrickse, who has past experience as an event manager.
Parrish
said it has been “months
of hard work, late nights (and) networking,” but, that the response
has been “fantastic.”
 |
| Karen Parrish |
As of this writing more
than 580 people have
responded to their event page to say they will attend the party and
that although that figure does not represent everyone who has already purchased tickets, sales have been moving “very nicely,”
Hendrickse said.
"The
fun part has been interacting with Prince fans on our event page,
witnessing their excitement and feeling appreciated,” she said.
“It's exciting to know that we are bringing everyone so much 'purple
pleasure.'”
The ladies met Scott
online when he joined the Princepirations page, around the time he
was planning the very first Beautiful Nights Prince party in Chicago,
hosted by Maya and Nandy McClean, better known as The Twinz, who
originally hail from Australia. The three began talking and they
asked him if would be interested in hosting their Prince party in Australia. He
readily agreed, Hendrickse said.
Scott
said he is grateful and honored that he was asked to host this party. He arrived on May 23 and will spend two weeks in Melbourne. He is looking forward to meeting a lots of new Prince fans at the party and
sharing music and stories with them. He will perform a couple of
times during the course of the night, but, that it will be “nothing
extravagant.” He will focus on answering questions and taking
pictures for anyone who is interested. His goal is to be a
“respectful American representing Chicago.”
He also said he's not going to the party to “be
Prince” and that he hopes people don't expect to see him in ruffled
shirts, high-waisted pants and a purple jacket. In fact, he has
another role model in mind for the night's party --James Bond-- and
said that watching a 007 movie recently inspired him to likely
wear a tuxedo to the event.
“I
want to be a smooth operator,” he said.
 |
| Marcus Scott |
To
add to the festivities, Scott will be celebrating his 36th
birthday May 25 and the ladies arranged a gathering for him at the Blue Diamond to celebrate.
He
said that he is thrilled to spreading the Beautiful Nights
message across the globe, but, he wants to let his stateside fans know
that he hasn't forgotten them.
“Since
we had the first (Beautiful Nights party last November), I've been in
high demand,” he said. “I'm going constantly going to all these
different parties. I tell people they will just have to wait (for another Beautiful Nights party). There's
only one me, (but), I haven't forgotten about the Chi.”
He
added that he hopes this bash will lead to more Prince parties in
Melbourne.
Parrish, on her part, hopes that this event will have even far more reaching
effects.
“This
party will be so loud and so funky it will wake (Prince) in his boots
wherever he may be,” she said. “We hope he hears us and returns
to Oz. We are waiting!”
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Lead photo courtesy of Purple Funk (Australia). Design by Troy Gua.
Tickets are still available at thehifi.com.au.
Visit the W2AUS: The Prince Anniversary Party event page at www.facebook.com/W2AUS.
Stay beautiful, Kristi
Stay beautiful, Kristi
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Lead photo courtesy of Purple Funk (Australia). Design by Troy Gua.
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