The Purple One is hitting the road.
Prince recently announced the first date of his new “Hit and Run” tour, May 14 in Louisville, Kentucky, where he will be backed by his all-female band 3rdEyeGirl. The venue for the first performance has yet to be announced, and tickets go on sale Monday morning, just five days before the show.
The Louisville date is part of a U.S. trek that will see Prince perform, well, wherever it is that he wants to perform. Last year, the artist did the same thing in the UK, where he ended up crashing venues and performing concerts with little or no advance notice to fans, according to Rolling Stone.
Prince is, as always, coming off a strong year; he released two studio albums in 2014, one on his own (Art Official Age) and one with 3rdEyeGirl (Plectrumelectrum). He performed an instant classic set on Saturday Night Live in November, and presented the award for Album of the Year at this year’s Grammy Awards (garnering more enthusiasm than many of the night’s performers in the process.)
However, there is one slight problem with the mechanics of Prince’s “spontaneous tour;” for the shows in the UK, Prince was able to announce last-minute concert information via Twitter. In November, His Purple Highness quit all social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Still, there’s little reason to worry. If Prince wants you to know where he’s playing, you’ll know.