Perth misses out on Prince’s Piano and a Microphone tour of Australia

PERTH has been left off Prince’s Australian tour, after the singer announced he will be performing in Sydney and Melbourne later this month.

(FILES) This file photo taken on June 30, 2011 US singer and musician Prince performing on stage at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris. Prince, who scrapped a hotly anticipated "Piano and Microphone" tour of Europe, has rescheduled his shows -- for Australia and New Zealand. The pop star, known for his love of surprises, posted a flier Thursday on Twitter that read simply: "Piano and a Microphone - Prince - Australia and New Zealand - February 2016." Prince had earlier announced a tour in November and December of Europe that would have been the first in the 57-year-old pop legend's career in which he solely sings and plays piano. / AFP / BERTRAND GUAY

PERTH has been left off Prince’s Australian tour, after the singer announced on Saturday he will be performing in Sydney and Melbourne later this month.

Fans were left waiting 24 hours for the tour dates and cities to be revealed, with the pop singer only revealing he would be coming to Australia later this month in a surprise announcement on Friday.

This is not the first time Prince has left Perth off his Australian tour, with his past tours never scheduling shows on the west coast.

Prince will perform four shows at Melbourne State Theatre on February 16 and 17, two shows at the Sydney Opera House on February 20 and two shows at Sydney State Theatre on February 21.

The last time the singer came to the country was with his 2012 Welcome 2 Australia tour, which only stopped at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Prince will also perform for the first time in New Zealand at Auckland’s ASB Theatre on February 24.

It could be possible that because Prince is already breaking new ground with New Zealand on this tour, he decided not to come to Perth.

“For those blessed enough to attend, everything about these exclusive performances has been carefully considered to deliver special once-in-a-lifetime experiences,” promoters Dainty Group’s tour announcement read.

“The repertoire will be culled from Prince’s vast 39-album catalogue and each performance will have a unique set-list that evolves in real time, song-to-song.

“Fans should expect to witness special interpretations of well-known hits alongside rarely performed B-sides and new, never-before-heard material.”

Prince’s Piano & A Microphone tour commenced on January 21 at his US recording studio, Paisley Park, where he stunned fans who travelled from all over the world to see him perform two very personal shows.

According to reviews of these shows, Prince performed on a stage decorated sparsely with candles and shrouded in smoke.

The show was framed by the story of how he mastered the piano and emerged from the shadow of his father, jazz pianist John L Nelson.

In addition to classic songs from albums including 1999, Purple Rain, and Sign o’ the Times the set-lists have also featured covers by Joni Mitchell, Paul Robeson and Ray Charles; songs Prince has written for other acts including The Time, Sheila E. and Vanity 6; and even a Thelonious Monk-style version of the theme to Batman.

Tickets will go on sale for all Australian shows at noon AEDT on February 9 and for the New Zealand shows at noon NZDT on February 11.

Tickets for all but the Sydney Opera House shows will be available through Ticketmaster.

Tickets for the Opera House shows will be available from Ticketek.

Originally published as Perth misses out on Prince’s Piano and a Microphone tour of Australia