Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
Studio B - Paisley Park - no pictures allowed inside, but for $10 you get this photo. The tour was amazing and I think would be interesting to non-fans too. There is a good coffee table book you can get for $25 that has good photos of the interior exhibits.
We saw most of the main floor - two studios A and B. His office, his kitchen, the atrium with his ashes in an urn and two doves in cages. His huge room and soundstage for performances and movies/videos. His party room where locals and NPG members could hang-out. There were rooms dedicated to his most famous records, including instruments, costumes, props, etc.
|
The tour was great! I think you've pretty much covered everything, and gave a good summary of the tour. A good chunk of the tour was also dedicated to Prince's name change to that love symbol and his legal battles with Warner Bros.
A couple of things I'll remember from my particular tour:
- The tour guide was clearly passionate about Prince. He was a young-ish fellow in his 20s and he said he was a local musician who grew up listening to Prince. He must have given this tour dozens or maybe hundreds of times but his eyes still began to well up and his voice cracked when talking about Prince's death. His clear love for Prince and his music made the tour all the more profound for me.
- I went on the tour by myself on a Sunday morning (left the wife and kids at the Airbnb as the tour was not recommended for young children). I knew no pictures were allowed inside but I thought it would be ok to take a picture of the building exterior. A big bodyguard came out the door immediately after I pulled out my phone and waved at me to stop. He stood over me and asked me to power off my phone in front of him. He then led me inside where someone locked my phone in a bag. The bodyguard was polite but did not smile. I was pretty intimidated. Fast forward to near the end of the tour -- as it was a Sunday, the NPG Music Club was excluded from the tour because of the brunch + tour package they offered on Sundays. I walked to the entrance of this room and poked my head in to try to take a look inside. I felt a big hand slap my shoulder and it was that huge bodyguard again. The bodyguard called over one of the ladies who was setting up the brunch inside the NPG Music Club and pointed to me and said, "this gentleman needs a drink of water". The lady walked over to me and unhooked the rope that cordoned us off from the room and said "go ahead", and pointed to a water fountain inside the room. I was completely confused. I told her no, that's ok, I don't need any water. The woman cordoned off the room again and when she walked away, the bodyguard threw his hands up in the air in exasperation and said, "I got you in the room, man. Why didn't you go?" Then I realized his intention. We had a really good laugh, mainly at my denseness in not realizing he was trying to get me into the NPG Music Club so I could look around. My last impression of this man is so different from my first impression of him.
