As he's done a bunch of times in recent years, Prince announced late Tuesday that he'd be doing some surprise concerts on very short notice — this time the kickoff to a solo piano tour which begins at Oakland's Paramount Theater this Sunday. Alice Radio got the news about this long awaited "Piano & A Microphone Tour", which will begin with two shows on February 28 at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The deets:

The solo shows, which has so far have only been held at Prince’s Paisley Park estate during a residency there and a recent run of Australian theater dates, will feature the iconic songwriter performing an array of hit songs and rarities drawn from his huge catalog of 39 albums along with other surprises.

Tickets go on sale here today at noon. Prices will range from $99 to $275 plus applicable charges.

As the Chronicle reports, via the Australian shows,

The setlist for his recent Australian dates included classics like “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Raspberry Beret,” “Controversy,” “Little Red Corvette” and covers of Sly & the Family Stone’s “Stand” and Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.”

Also, as we reported here last week, he dedicated a recent set in Melbourne to his recently deceased protégé Vanity, a.k.a. Denise Williams, who died in the Bay Area on February 15.

Of Vanity/Denise, Prince said on stage, "Her and I used to love each other deeply. She loved me for the artist I was, I loved her for the artist she was trying to be. She and I would fight. She was very headstrong cos she knew she was the finest woman in the world. She never missed an opportunity to tell you that."

The new tour, while ostensibly to promote his new releases HITnRUN Phase I and HITnRUN Phase II, seems to largely focus on Prince's older catalogue.

Previously: Prince Pays Tribute To Denise 'Vanity' Matthews Following Her Death In Bay Area Hospital