Prince To Set Out On Solo "Piano & A Microphone" Tour Of Europe

It's a very beautiful day indeed for Prince fans living across the Atlantic. According to multiple reports, the R&B superstar will soon tour the UK and continental Europe in a stripped-down "Piano & A Microphone" format, trading in the high-octane funk rollercoaster of 3RDEYEGIRL for something slightly more...refined.

The tour will be officially labeled "The Prince Spotlight: Piano & A Microphone" and feature UK dates in Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham and London. According to The Line of Best Fit, tour dates will also include an opening night at Konzerthaus in Vienna on November 21, along with evenings at Barcelona's Teatro Liceo (December 13) and Brussels' Royal Circus (December 22). Additional shows in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany are expected to be announced soon.

"The promoters say that this is the first time in 37 years that Prince has toured this way," TLOBF notes.

Confirmation of the tour came from Prince himself during a press conference held at Paisley Park. "Why do this now? For several reasons," he said. "For starters it is a challenge. I do not want to have bad reviews, but not back to what I'm sure I can do because I've done it for 30 years. You have to try new things. With the piano it is more naked, more pure. You can see exactly what you get." A tweet from Prince's account seems to also have confirmed the new touring format.