Paisley Park to host Celebration concerts on anniversary of Prince's death

After the official Prince tribute concert at Xcel Energy Center in September came together last-minute, Paisley Park's operators and his family members are getting a jump on plans to host a big party on the anniversary of the singer's death next April.

Paisley Park announced details for Celebration 2017, scheduled April 20-23 at his Chanhassen studio complex and featuring performances by the Revolution, Morris Day & the Time, members of the NPG crew and 3rdEyeGirl, singers Shelby J and Liv Warfield and other associates yet to be named. Four-day passes went on sale Monday via OfficialPaisleyPark.com, priced $499 for general admission or $999 for VIP.

In addition to evening concerts, the event will feature tours, panel discussions, autograph sessions and other daytime activities. It's not yet clear who's performing which nights, or whether tickets will be available separately for each night's show. Fortunately, there are still another five months for details to be finalized.

While there has been no shortage of Prince tribute concerts since his death on April 21, this is the first major show scheduled at Paisley Park, and the first to feature his "Purple Rain"-era band the Revolution alongside his other close musical cohorts. The Revolution's members staged their own well-received tribute concerts in early September at First Avenue but could not make it to the Xcel Center concert. The Time did perform at the X, but was given less than 15 minutes.

"It's an honor to be a part of it, and we wouldn't want to be anywhere else" that weekend, said the Revolution's drummer, Bobby Z.

After the Chanhassen City Council approved its rezoning to become a public museum, Prince's studio facility will open up for its first in a series of Paisley Park After Dark dance parties and movie nights this Friday and Saturday night, tickets for which cost $60. Those events will utilize the smaller NPG Music Club Space, while the Celebration concerts in April will be staged in the 1,800-capacity sound stage where Prince often performed.

A news release for the April event said it will be modeled after the original Prince: A Celebration festival held at the studio in 2000, which "welcomed fans from around the world into an immersive Prince experience that showcased Paisley Park." Not mentioned in the release: Tickets to that one were only $70 and included a concert by Prince himself.

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658

@ChrisRstrib