Buenos Aires 21 January 1991

 

Anyone who regularly follows this blog will know that I like things to have symmetry, and I am a completest. So with that in mind, this week I will take a listen to this festival performance from 1991. I have previously covered the Rio concert a few days previous, and Sabotage has paired that concert with this show from the Rock & Pop Festival, Buenos Aires, Argentina. This concert is for the most part the same run-through of material, the only difference being that this show is fifteen minutes shorter and is missing a couple of songs from the setlist. I feel that this works in its favor as Prince and the band rushes headlong through a setlist that I would otherwise find uninspiring.

21 January 1991. Buenos Aires, Argentina

I would like to hear a lot more of “Something Funky (This House Comes).”  It’s fun, funky, and is an energizing opening for the concert. It is also a good chance for the band to be introduced to the audience as each of their talents is highlighted. Prince often used long jams to introduce his bands, especially in later after-shows, and here it is most refreshing to see him use one of his own, upbeat and short songs to achieve the same thing. It doesn’t matter that he is hardly on the mic, Tony M and Rosie Gaines sound strong and enthused, even if the recording is less than pristine.

 

It is entirely predictable to hear “Let’s Go Crazy” next. It is one of his most well-known hits, and not only does it bring the crowd on board, but it also maintains the momentum created by the previous “Something Funky (This House Comes). That momentum is temporarily lost for the breakdown, and the show derails for a moment with this misstep. However “Kiss” restores the balance,  Prince and the band to the fore as the funk of “Kiss” puts the stamp of authority on the concert, this is now beginning to sound a lot more like a Prince show.

One of the problems I have with shows from this period is the pacing and unevenness of the setlists. “Kiss” was everything you could want from a Prince concert, but again the show hits a brick wall with the “Pink Panther” interlude and Tony M sucking all the energy out of the recording. I like Prince in that he challenges me and my expectations, but sometimes he seems to shoot himself in the foot with these oddities thrown in, and in this case, the show almost loses me during these couple of minutes

“Purple Rain” moves this further from a festival show and closer to a Prince concert with its appearance. With the audience joining from the beginning, it has the classic slow build, before Prince cuts through the emotion and music hanging in the air with some highly focused and powerful lead guitar. It stops the song from wallowing in self-indulgence and adds purpose and direction to the opening minutes that threaten to meander. It is his guitar wail that closes out the song, this time coming in an unbridled frenzy that contrasts with the highly structured show, the highlight for me being when the notes come so fast and furious that they bleed into each other, creating a torrent of noise and raw passion.

 

“Take Me With U” is a nostalgic opening to what will become a medley of Prince’s upbeat, crowd-pleasing songs. The sound isn’t great, to be honest, but the song can be heard driving along in the background, still doing what it always does. “Alphabet St.” sounds better on the recording, perhaps because it is sparser, with just Michael B and his drum and Prince’s guitar propelling the song forward. With less clutter, the song is better captured by the recording, however that can’t be said for the rest of the medley. Prince’s rap is fun, but it becomes hard to catch his words as the music speeds up. Likewise, Rosie sounds good, but who knows exactly what words she is singing as she burns through “It Takes 2.” The chanting can be heard fine, but that isn’t why I listen to bootlegs.  What saves the moment for me is some very sharp guitar work midsong. It's not intense, or loud, but a fast and intricate sound that highlights the guitar itself as much as the music that is playing.

There is a thinness to “Shake” that is the complete opposite of how I expect it to sound. On record it is full and plumb, here it is malnourished and only a shadow of its former self. I presume the performance itself isn’t to blame and it is the recording that is to blame.  Prince himself sounds enthusiastic as he encourages the crowd, and one can only assume that the crowd is fully engaged with the performance.

The concert again slows as Rosie sings “Dr. Feelgood” and it's hard not to fall in love with her a small bit as she sings. Like a flower in bloom, she opens up as the song progresses, becoming more radiant by the minute. Prince adds some spiciness to the performance with his guitar, but the moment belongs to Rosie as she seizes the microphone and the spotlight. This is the song where I temporarily forget the sound quality as I lose myself in Rosie’s voice.

 

The piano medley is brief, and again the thinness of the recording is to the fore as the piano sounds tinny and distant. This should be one of the best moments on the bootleg as Prince plays “Venus De Milo,” “Condition Of The Heart,” and “The Question Of U,” but instead it falls in step with what has been previously been heard at the concert.

The fullness returns for “Nothing Compares 2 U,” and the next few minutes are glorious as Prince delivers an inspiring performance. He draws me in with his heartfelt lyrics before the punch of the band hits me at the end of every stanza, making for a memorable rendition that delivers lingers for some minutes afterward.

There is doubt that the end of the concert is near as “Baby I’m A Star,” struts into view, pimped out and arrogant from the start. Beneath the veneer of cockiness, the song has a youthful and naive energy that makes it the perfect song for this portion of the show. The song does spiral away from the original as the Gamboyz take center stage and the original song slips further to the fringes as Rosie sings “Respect.” As good as it is, it isn’t quite what I signed up for, and I wait for something familiar from the Prince canon to cling onto.

The music slips easily into a laid-back version of “We Can Funk” that is so low-key it practically disappears into the carpet as it sinks lower and lower in the mix. “Thieves In The Temple” stays with the funk, but rises out of the floor as Prince delivers a hard-hitting and incisive version that drives the show for the next few minutes, giving an added impetus that will carry us through to the end of the concert.

 

The show ends with “Jughead,” and “Rock The House,” but it isn’t the anti-climatic finish that it sounds like. The band is in fine form as it becomes an easy jam that carries the crowd for some time. I am no great fan of either song, but there is no denying their energy, and they do serve the purpose of ending the concert with the crowd on their feet and dancing. It may not be the greatest bootleg moment, but it is a good record of what Prince and the band were doing at the time.

This is not one of the great bootlegs. The only reason I took the time to give it a listen is because of its pairing with the Rio recording, making for a nice “South American Festivals” package. The concert has no great faults, but it never once reaches any great heights. The recording is average but not bad, the setlist is OK, the performance fine, and each part of the release dong just enough to keep me listening to the end. As a completest, I am extremely happy to have this, but as a music fan, I could happily pass on it. This is Prince treading water, and the average bootleg does nothing to help that feeling. It's listenable, but there’s not a lot of fun to be found here.