Prince Rave Un2 the Year 2000 Concert on PBS June 1, 2019
(May 30, 2019) PBS stations across the United States will air Prince Rogers Nelson’s 1999 concert, Rave Un2 the Year 2000 this weekend on Saturday, June 1. Originally recorded on December 17th and 18th, 1999 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, the concert film was first broadcast via iN Demand Pay-Per-View on New Year’s Eve, 1999 and later released on home video. The 23-song performance with a runtime of 113 minutes includes guest appearances by Lenny Kravitz, Morris Day & The Time, the Excelsior Choir, Rosie Gaines, Maceo Parker and members of The Family Stone including bass player Larry Graham. George Clinton also appears briefly during a lengthy medley of his songs during the concert.
The set list includes Prince’s hits, from “Purple Rain” to “Kiss,” as well as “Jungle Love” and “The Bird” from Morris Day and The Time, and “American Woman” and “Fly Away” by Lenny Kravitz. The concert film is notable for “retiring” Prince’s classic hit, “1999”, as the concert’s finale, although the song would be reintroduced to Prince’s performances in later years.
During the original broadcast, Prince still performed under the name 
(Love Symbol #2) when many referred to him as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince”. The home video was released under the name as well, although in May of 2000 Prince had already stopped using the Love Symbol as his name after his publishing contract with Warner/Chappell music expired. In 2006, the home video was re-released using his name of Prince on the cover.
The Rave Un2 the Year 2000 concert film was an effort to promote Prince’s twenty-third studio album album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic which was distributed on November 2, 1999 by NPG Records and Arista Records. The album peaked at number eighteen on the Billboard charts in the United States and number five in Canada, becoming Prince’s most successful album in over three years. By the end of 1999, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album’s first and only single, “The Greatest Romance Ever Sold”, peaked at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100and became the album’s only song to chart. “The Greatest Romance Ever Sold” and “Baby Knows” are the only songs from the album included in the concert film Rave Un2 the Year 2000.
A 3-disc bundle of the artist’s pivotal new millennium pop party dance music, Ultimate Rave was released by Prince Estate and Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment on April 26th, 2019. This brings together CDs of 1999’s Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic and its 2001 remix Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic alongside a DVD containing the full-length performance version of Prince In Concert: Rave Un2 the Year 2000. CLICK HERE for additional information about this bundle release.
Check your local listings to find out when Rave Un2 the Year 2000 airs on your PBS station on June 1st, 2019.
Rave Un2 the Year 2000 setlist:
- “Let’s Go Crazy”
- “She’s Always in My Hair”
- “U Got the Look”
- “Kiss”
- “Jungle Love” (Morris Day and the Time)
- “The Bird” (Morris Day and the Time)
- “American Woman” (Lenny Kravitz)
- “Fly Away” (Lenny Kravitz)
- “Gett Off”
- Medley (Rosie Gaines, Mike Scott, Maceo Parker)
- “It’s Alright”
- “Everyday People” (Cynthia Robinson, Jerry Martini)
- “Higher”
- “Purple Rain”
- “The Christ” (retitled version of “The Cross”)
- Blues Medley (Maceo Parker, Johnny Blackshire)
- “Nothing Compares 2 U”
- “Take Me with U”/”Raspberry Beret”(with Mr. Happy instrumental coda)
- “The Greatest Romance Ever Sold”
- “Baby Knows”
- “1999” sample intro
- “Baby I’m a Star”
- “1999”
