Utrecht 20 June 1987

 

I used to drive my mother crazy at Christmas. I’m not known for my patience, as a child I would often be loitering near the tree leading up to the event, touching and shaking every gift I could get my hands on. I just couldn’t wait until Christmas day to unwrap my gifts, I wanted to know what they were then and there. Once again I am that child as the countdown to the Sign O The Times super deluxe set is upon us. I want to hear those unreleased tracks now, I want to hear the concert now. As luck would have it we have heard some of those tracks, and we have heard the Utrecht concert before, albeit from an audience recording. And once again, instead of waiting until Christmas, I’m going to shake my gifts now. I have queued up a long-circulating audience recording of the soon to be officially released pristine quality concert, and any second now I’m about to hit play. Merry Christmas Prince fans!

 

20th June 1987, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Prince’s guitar briefly flickers before flaming into the opening of “Sign O’ The Times.” The machine sound of the drums grounds the song in brutal reality, the cold concrete and steel that Prince’s guitar work burns against. Lyrics become secondary in the live performance of the song. It is the angst-ridden guitar that carries the despair and fury of Prince’s world-weary eye, and as the song progresses the lyrics continue to lose ground to the guitar work until they are no more and there is only the electric scar of the music.

Color floods the recording with “Play In The Sunshine” bursting through the clouds with its musical rush and bright horn work. It’s a pall-mall, tumbling performance, the guitar, horns, drums, and singers all jumping over each other sonically to be a the front of the listener. It’s no contest as once again Prince’s guitar continues to be the brightest star, and even Sheila E gives way to its impulse drive.

 

The concert melts as “Little Red Corvette” slides into view. It has moved on from its sexy sports car pop origins and now stands as a tender moment in a concert that is otherwise overwhelmingly fast and funky.

Fast and funky is certainly fitting for “Housequake.” It is refreshing to hear it once again as its fully formed self after listening to a string of concerts from later in his career when the song is little more than a hollowed shell and a chant. A lot of sounds vie for attention, but it is the rhythm section that holds me enthralled, only relinquishing their grip as Eric Leeds sets upon the song with his sax.

“Girls and Boys” was only from the previous year, yet hearing it here is like welcoming an old friend from the past as its familiarity and Eric Leeds horn once again fills the speakers. Prince’s guttural call of “girls and boys” bodes well for the performance that follows, and paired with Eric’s horn it makes for a dense introduction. This is not a bare-boned band performance as the audience joins the chorus to fill out the sound with their own choir. Against this Sheila E’s vocals temporarily sound thin. However with Eric putting his mark over the song the vocals are of little importance. The song is stolen from Prince, in this performance it belongs to Eric and the audience.

Prince provided plenty of lust-driven ballads earlier in his career. “Slow Love” is titled in a similar vein but it is caramelized in love, making for a sweet sticky sound rather than a libido fueled pick up. The horns give the song a curvaceous shape, Prince’s lyrics softened by their timelessness. Like the previous “Girls and Boys” the horns dominate and stamp out a new sound for Prince, again demonstrating the importance of Eric Leeds and Atlanta Bliss to Prince’s ever-evolving sound.

 

The guitar makes a triumphant return for “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man.” It is ushered in by the horns and the all too familiar introduction. The tension builds with each note before Sheilia E unleashes the song behind her powerful drum beat. It becomes a musical celebration with the band falling in behind the groove and Prince taking his rightful place at the center of the stage. The guitar remains deep in the music at first, Prince letting the band build the music into a kaleidoscope of sound balanced carefully atop Sheila E’s drum. It is only with a cry of “turn me up” does he finally release the tension, the guitar searing through the song as the music folds back under its relentless sound, before finally conceding in the breakdown. It is wonderfully paced. Prince picks the quietest moments to pull back the stings and release darts of guitar shards into the night. The guitar burns brighter in the stillness, each riff blazing in the darkness as Prince toys with his instrument. It is undoubtedly a highlight, and as Prince returns the song to the pedestal after pulling it apart the crowd is in raptures.

“Hot Thing” is a complete contrast. The organic and thrilling celebratory sound of “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man,” is replaced with the cold electronic beat built on the back of the modernistic synth riff. With the barest of funk guitar underneath it sees Prince turn his back on the bright lights of rock for the darkened alleys of funk. It is worth the diversion as both Sheila E and Eric Leeds bring their combined forces to bear on the genre, and the next five minutes is a pure study of Prince’s brand of funk. Deceptively simple, there is plenty to pick out of the bones of the song and it stands up to repeated listens.

A Madhouse song is thrown into the mix – “Four.” It’s not unusual, but as they were the opening act one wonders why Prince didn’t run with another song for the instrumental break. A quick check of other concerts reveals he alternated between this and Charlie Parker’s “Now’s The Time,” and both would serve equally well for their place in the setlist through the tour.

As much as I enjoy Sheila E’s drum solo I can’t help but think that I’ve heard it all before. Given how heavily bootlegged Prince was, that is probably the case. It still raises a smile, and the final flourishes bring this Princeless part of the concert to a close.

The smoothness of the studio version of “If I Was Girlfriend” is rinsed away in the live setting. What replaces it is a rawness that cuts to the heart of the lyrical content. Prince no longer sings the lyrics, he emotes them, each line a flush of emotion across a barren soundscape. It is music in its purest form. Not an exercise in technical musical prowess, but instead the song is a vehicle for carrying what we all hold in our hearts. The only disappointment in the song is the ending. It is overworked and provides an unsatisfactory close. Sonically it ends with a whimper rather than the anticipated orgasmic release, the song collapsing inwards rather than bursting forth just one last time.

 

The concert accelerates through the Purple Rain section. “Let’s Go Crazy” is an untamed bundle of noise, all hurly-burly and with little direction. “When Dove’s Cry” comes heavily abridged and only the opening riff and a solitary verse-chorus survive the cull. The most satisfying part of the Purple Rain trilogy is the rendition of “Purple Rain” that comes at a faster pace than normal yet retains its regal status. It is the guitar solo that catches the ear most, Prince weaving the opening melancholy into a six-string celebration, the solo spiraling ever upwards as the crowd’s contribution lifts it to the heavens. It is pitched on just the right side of sentimental, plucking at the heartstrings without becoming entangled in the emotion it elicits.

The teflon coated “1999” that follows barely registers in a concert so deeply rooted in the organic feel of the band. Its sleekness is to be admired, yet out of place. It is a throwback from the past, and to my ears doesn’t quite fit. One can see why it is in the setlist and positioned at the end of the main part of the show it does serve the purpose of closing the set with a party atmosphere. However it doesn’t gel with the surrounding material, a point further highlighted by the acoustic “Forever In My Life” that comes as the first encore.

“Forever In My Life” begins with bright and easy acoustic guitar, a deceiving beginning for what follows. The first minutes see the guitar sparkle and fade, the audience falling in line with their rhythmic accompaniment. As Prince works his way through the vocals it becomes apparent that what is heard on the record is merely a sketch, and what we are about to hear is the real deal. Prince increases the pressure, the guitar working its way back and forth, but always increasing in intensity. From the mix Boni Boyer rises up, storming the song with her powerful contribution. It sounds full and soulful, yet is soon banished from memory as Prince continues his guitar assault. It becomes relentless a medieval battering ram on the doors of the technological music Prince has previously produced, this primitive weapon becoming all-powerful in the hands of Prince. Finally, the pressure is released, a keyboard bringing the song back to a current sound, even if it itself plays from another era. Prince dominates the song, yet gives the final minute to Sheila E for both drums and vocals. It neatly brings equilibrium to the concert and we end on a plateau, far above where we started.

After such a song, “Kiss” comes as a jab to the face. It has a sharpness to it and comes quickly through the speakers. Like most of the non-Sign O’ The Times songs in the set it belongs to the crowd more than to Prince, and one can hear them gleefully singing along for most of the song, bringing the music back to the masses.

People often compare Prince concerts to a religious experience, revelations cloaked in heavenly music. With that in mind, it is no surprise that “The Cross” takes center stage as the major set-piece of the production. Like a preacher Prince builds steadily into his work, the opening lines laying out the premise of his song before he begins the slow journey to his final rapture. The ascent is steady, Sheila joining on the drums as the guitar continues its rhythmic build to the final divine affirmation. The final blazing guitar sees Prince carving his belief in stone, the guitar no longer a musical instrument, but instead an instrument of Prince’s spiritual beliefs, a celebration of his God. The concert is awash with religious fervor, Prince willing the venue into a church of his own design.

The ultimate celebration of Prince and his music however comes in the next song. “It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night.” is crammed full of contributions from the band and the party begins here. It skims across multiple genres and era’s as Prince pushes the accelerator to the floor for this final hurrah. Sheila E has been heard throughout this concert on drums, here it is her vocals that take center stage. They are lost in the mix of what I am listening to and this only heightens my desire to hear the officially released recordings. I am like a man reduced to looking through the windows of a house, and I can’t wait for that moment when we can enter through the front door and indulge ourselves in Prince’s aural world. Prince’s vocals become just as rhythmic as any other instrument on stage, and it is Eric Leeds that provides an intricate and wild solo that becomes increasingly dizzy to follow. It is yet another timely reminder of the contribution Eric made to the band. He is massive in this song and throughout the concert.

 

Listening to this concert has not satiated my appetite for the Sign O’ The Times set and this particular concert. In fact, it has done quite the opposite. I am just as hungry as ever to get it in my hands and hear this concert in its full unfettered glory. It is said, “patience is its own reward.” In this case, the reward will be far greater. The release of the Sign O’ The Times deluxe will add another concert to the pantheon of Prince greats, and deservedly so. This might not be one of the great concerts of the tour, but any concert from this tour can be held up to greatness and found to process all the qualities required. With the band released to fully realize the songs Prince created in the studio, we are presented with renditions that come to life and sprawl across the stage in a ragged glory. Unfortunately, it won’t be the general public buying the Sign O’ The Times superdeluxe, priced as it is beyond many casual fans. That is a shame as the concerts from the tour deserve a wider audience. I for one will be playing this one for as many I can. All I have to do is wait just a couple more months…