After toying with the idea for a few months, Prince booked six last-minute shows at the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis this week. With more shows to come Thursday and Friday, Wednesday night (January 16) saw Prince play two shows (8 p.m. and 11 p.m.) billed as a “sound check” audition for new drummer Ronald Bruner.

According to a report from CBS Minnesota, Prince had a ten-member band that surprisingly started right on time and played mostly jazz for about an hour and a half. Prince only played small riffs of his hit songs, and is perhaps saving those for the shows later in the week.

It was stressed at the shows that absolutely no cameras or cell phones would be allowed, so it’s unlikely that fans will see much footage from Prince’s club shows in his hometown.

Tickets, which went on sale Tuesday and instantly sold out, ranged from $70 for the Wednesday night shows to $250 for Friday night. Thursday’s shows are slotted to be a jam session with an after-party vibe, while Friday’s show remains a “surprise.”

Watch the video for Prince’s most recent single from November 2012, “Rock and Roll Love Affair.”

More new music from The Purple One may be on its way. Earlier this month, a mysterious Twitter and YouTube account going by the name 3rd Eye Girl has been posting remixes, rehearsal clips, snippets of “new” songs, and other rarities from Prince. This could very well be a hoax, but Prince has always been incredibly diligent about removing unauthorized uses of his music from the Internet, thus giving some credibility to the 3rd Eye Girl account.

- Adam Greenwald, JACK-FM Minneapolis