Chicago 10 April 1983

After dancing through several 1999 concerts earlier in the year, today I have bitten the bullet and am heading straight for the good stuff -the tour finale in Chicago which well and truly lives up to its billing. The 1999 shows are generally short, punchy affairs that distill the sprawling genius of the 1999 album into a more palatable one-hour set. This concert isn’t much longer than that, but it does give us more than we would normally expect, including a couple of crowd-pleasing treats. With the 1999 tour coming to a close, Prince has paved the way and built an expectation for his next project, the world-conquering Purple Rain. This concert in many ways is a farewell to Prince and his formative years, everything that follows will be scrutinized under the hash spotlight of publicity and fame, and the youthfulness we hear on the recording is replaced with a self-awareness that steals this last vestige of innocence.

 10th April 1983, UIC Pavilion, Chicago

The opening spoken introduction quickly reveals the quality of the recording – an audience recording that, although contains all we might want on the musical front, also includes a large portion of crowd noise. As far as audience recordings go, it’s not too bad, but as always leaves me wishing for something just a little cleaner.

Loud and upfront, “Controversy” storms to the front of the stage, the music so muscular and powerful that it practically drags the band in its wake. The noise and loudness are all in its favor and Prince and the band remain pressed against the wall in the background while the song itself stomps the concert into life. The previous sheen of the 1999 concerts gives way to a real rawness that harks back to the Controversy tour and its almost punk rock energy. Prince may be riding the pop wave to the top with his current chart successes, but this performance roots him back to his unfiltered punk/funk sound that had propelled him thus far. The quality of the recording is temporarily forgotten as Prince and his band stirs up a storm of sound that washes over the audience.

 

I would normally expect “Let’s Work” to bring some sense of decorum to the concert, and bring the dance floor back to the fore. However, with the levels pushed high it continues to ride on the coattails of the previous punky explosion, the groove is present, but so too is a vocal delivery that is unconnected to any measured delivery, instead coming as Prince sees fit with shrieks of delight as the words themselves are lost to the sound of the recording, leaving just the intent of the singer and the band impressed upon the bootleg.

I can finally catch my breath as the tempo slows for “Do Me, Baby,” although it is only a temporary reprieve as Prince’s delivery leaves me breathless with wonder and delight. And it’s not just me, the audience reaction matched my feelings at home as they trace the song with their own outline of screams and squeals. The intricacies of the vocals are lost in the smear of the recording, but the intent is clear from the sultry and all-enveloping music. As I listen, cocooned in the sound of the band, Prince continues his seductive patter that remains undecipherable to me. Whatever he is spinning seems to have the desired effect, and the final cheer of the crowd suggests that this battle has well and truly been won. If only we could bottle such sexual energy.

The first 1999 song to make an appearance is Prince’s shorthand manifesto – “D.M.S.R.”  For the first time Prince’s vocals emerge from the sonic mist, the sharpness of the beat leaving room for him to emote the song’s central theme. Unfortunately not all the instruments are served so well by the recording, the bass is murky at best and the guitar is almost non-existent, leaving Prince and the synths to carry most of the funk and the groove. The cold, clinical sound of the 1999 album laid down a strong template for many of these songs, and this particular night the live settling isn’t the best match for “D.M.S.R.”

 

I am enraptured by Lisa’s solo, as it brings a cleaner sound to the concert, and reveals new sounds and influences swirling around Prince at the time. As it ebbs and flows, waves and washes, it cleanses the palate for the next treat that Prince will bestow upon us.

The instrumental “With You’ sets the tone for the piano set, and although it is desperately short, some would say criminally so, it does whet the appetite for what will surely follow. What does follow is a sublime rendition of “Free.” It may not be to everyone's taste with its somewhat naive lyrics, but there is no doubting the message of the song, and at barely a minute Prince pulls the rug from under it before its shaky premise is revealed.

Keeping things moving is the name of the game, and with that in mind Prince presents an equally quickfire “Something In The Water You Drink (Does Not Compute)” There is no time to scratch beneath the surface and reveal the true depths of the song, Prince’s lyrically delivery is perfunctory at best and only hints at the true emotion of the song. I do enjoy it for its appearance, but there are far deeper(and darker) renditions circulating that I would prefer to listen to.

“Still Waiting” brings a lengthy performance from Prince, the song dripping off the tip of his tongue as the piano lilts beneath his fingers. The song has a motion to it, the music non-linear, swaying easily under Prince’s command. One could easily fall between the cracks of the uneasy structure, yet it remains an easy ride, the song sliding to the most natural of finishes that it seems not to emanate from Prince himself, but rather it rises from the piano and into the universe.

 

Familiarity breeds contempt, and “How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore” can’t overcome the staleness of my ears.  There is no doubting that Prince is fully invested in this performance, one can hear it in his screams and the subsequent audience reactions, but I can’t escape the feeling that I have heard it all before. Time catches up with us all, and this is one song that I know just too well from years of listening, stealing the freshness and youthful yearning I used to know so well.

There is a jolt with the arrival of “Lady Cab Driver” and the concert is jump-started into life again. As with so many of these songs, the clean groove is lost in the excitement and noise of the show, very little of the song stands proud above this fog of noise. I have high hopes for the guitar as the song nears its end, and this certainly delivers as its wailing sound cuts through the din, finally giving a focus to the uncertainty of the rest of the song.

The emotive swells that wash “Little Red Corvette” ashore are undone by the persistent crowd sound and a drum machine beat that seems intent on dominating proceedings. The song settles on neither pop, nor raw emotion, and considering it is the current hit of the time is perhaps the most disappointing part of the show. It’s hard to accurately gauge if this is due to the quality of the recording, or the performance itself, it’s certainly hard to imagine that Prince hadn’t polished this song to the brightest point by this stage of the tour, and overall I feel that it is the recording that is letting him down.

There is another great rush of energy as “Dirty Mind” arrives unannounced and slightly unhinged. At almost seven minutes this is one of the pillars of the concert as Prince buries my previous disappointments in a youthful avalanche of pure lust and longing, something the teenage me could easily identify with, and even now I can feel that teenager inside me emerge as Prince calls him forth with his impulsive and furious sound. The raw-boned guitar break midsong says far more than words ever could, and all that Prince needs to say is in that electric howl and scream released from the strings.

 

The most disappointing aspect of “Sexuality” is that it is short. After hearing some excellent full-blooded renditions, what we have here is a quick facsimile that is as unsatisfying as it is disappointing. It is a song that lacks a heart or a clear direction, and the full version we are accustomed to is neutered in its brevity.

I am pleased to hear “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” in its entirety, the unevenness of the previous few songs forgotten as Prince sights the finish line of the concert and delivers a triumvirate of triumphant songs.  “Let’s Pretend We’re Married’ obits around the synth hook, never quite striking out on its own as Prince keeps it moving to his own whim. The synths stretch and pull, but they never break and the song continues in its own galaxy of sound and colors. The song climaxes naturally with the crowd chanting for Prince and the final encores.

Prince responds with a climax of his own as he swoops and dips into his seductive side for a dripping rendition of “International Lover” The vocals may be syrupy, but the music does just enough to keep the concert moving forward, even if Prince lulls and lingers over some of his lyrics. The finale is almost silly in its audaciousness, but Prince delivers it with such earnestly that one can’t help but buy into whatever he is selling. Even as I grown man I can’t help but feel a weakness and he pleads and rolls his way through his final lines with all the maturity of a drunken teen. Silly, but completely essential.

The 1999 album, the 1999 tour, and finally, the “1999” song. As a finale to the concert, and indeed the tour, it can’t be faulted. The song serves as a rallying call to all those who have embraced Prince, and those about to take the next step with him to a world with a purple hue. The mood is celebratory, and although the sound isn’t as good as I hoped, the song stands strong at the center of the recording, Prince's vocals and the all too familiar synth refrain pulling us through a purple black hole and directly into the heart of Prince’s world. I can’t think of a better way to end the tour, and although the show has at times been uneven, Prince is right here ending it on a high.

 

This is not a bad way to finish the 1999 tour. There are better recordings of the tour circulating, but none of them lay claim to being the finale such as this one, and as one of the longest this recording again stands apart from most of the crowd. I could bemoan the quality of the recording, but for me, the performance remains paramount, and Prince and the Revolution are firing on all cylinders as they close out the tour. An interesting boot, this is one that shouldn’t be overlooked when considering the 1999 tour, and although I have enjoyed other concerts of the era more, I still find this one a worthy listen.