Glam Slam 10 June 1994 (am)

 The shows throughout 1994 are an extraordinary record of Prince burrowing further into this new persona and sound he has created, and looking across the year we can see the full scope and vision of Prince as he carves out this new territory. Today I will be taking a look at the final concert from Glam Slam Miami, the third from a three-day period in June that captures Prince in the very middle of this transitional year. Each night is different, and this final concert neatly captures the spirit of the previous two in a pleasing one-hour performance (on the bootleg at least) that touches on the best of the earlier performances. It is a smoking hot show, and of these three nights, it stands head and shoulders above the other two in my opinion. 

1994-06-10 (am) Glam Slam, Miami Beach, Florida 

There is plenty of musical colors that introduce the show as the instruments power up and create the expectation that something magical is about to it occur. It does, and Prince erupts with a volcanic rendition of his beloved “Santana medley,” a rendition that in this case turns the concert from a live show to an almost religious experience. There is a tremendous rush as Prince draws all the oxygen out of the room with his opening stanza, a breathtaking thirty seconds that suggests that Prince is truly on a higher plane than any other musician on the stage, or indeed on the planet. Thankfully the music moves through shades and echoes, allowing us to catch up with the previously stratospheric Prince, and Tommy Barbarella does well to maintain the flighty sound of the music without steeping into Prince's fiery path. It is the second half of the song where Prince demonstrates that the previous minutes were merely a teaser, standing lost in his dreams and furies, his a guitar a portal that brings his visions to life, giving them earthly forms, before firing them deep into the dark of the concert where they lay burning and flickering in our memory forever more. There are no words, the boundaries and limitations of the concert evaporate leaving only music in its barest form. 

 

It is the crunch of the guitar that batters us in “319,” the spoken intro and Prince’s vocals barely making an impression as his guitar again holds court at the center of the stage. The album version of this song is all sheen and shine, this live performance a far more wild ride, a bare back bronco that kicks and twists us through the air, leaving only the heavy intoxication of Prince’s grimy guitar work. 

 

The previous night Prince took to reading handwritten lyrics on stage, and he is at it again for “Hide The Bone.” Perhaps Mayte is too much of a distraction, she is certainly at her booty-shaking best here, but what is most striking is how fresh the music is, and how invested Prince is in the performance and presenting it to his fans. The song is innately funky, and nowhere more so than later in the piece as Prince scratches deeper below the surface to reveal the dark pulsation heart of the song. With the drum providing the raw funk sound, the keyboards do just enough to lift it from the swamp and into the light. It is Prince who provides the finishing touches, his one-eyed bass adding some rubbery bottom to a song that is already buried deep in the funk of the last thirty years. The bootleg reveals some of Prince’s most exciting music, but also provides a rare opportunity to see him playing bass – something he did regularly but rarely caught on a bootleg such as this one. 

 

Hearing “Ripopgodazippa” in this context only saddens me that it didn’t make the final cut of The Gold Experience. With its sultry and sexy sound, it is perfectly in tune with the concert, and could well be the poster boy of the whole night. With this sweaty performance marking its first live appearance, it is all the more disappointing to find that its final live performance was only two weeks after this. The hot Miami night infuses the music with an extra warmth that is hardly needed as Prince and Mayte generate their own heat onstage in a performance that is intoxicating to watch as Mayte channels the music through her equally alluring dance. It is almost a relief to hear the song finishing, the humidity of the performance almost suffocating the bootleg in its thick sex-funk sound. 

 

The bass is again in the hands of Prince for “Get Wild,” a song that Prince himself introduces as their new theme song. The snap and pull of the bass is the tension that sits at the center of the song, pulling the sound in before popping it back into life, all beneath the calm fingers of Prince. Watching it is almost like watching a magic trick, one watches as close as possible to see how his hands could bring such a mystical tone into the world without some sort of incantation involved. As wild as Prince encourages the band to be, it is he that remains at the center of all that is happening, and no one is as wild as he stomps and storms his new funk into life on the stage. 

 

The video bootleg ends with “Johnny,” although several good audience recordings are circulating that contains the remainder of the show.  Bathed in red light, the concert returns to a communal experience, and as good as the music is emanating from the stage, it is the moments where the crowd and Prince come together singing that are the most satisfying. With the loping sound of the bass embracing the audience and holding it tight, there is no need for any part of the song to be hurried, and it isn’t and Prince tugs at the edges, pulling the song out longer and longer, and seemingly further away from the lyrics of the first verse until we reach an epiphany with the “NPG in the motherfunking house” chant. It is as close to nirvana as you can get at a Prince concert, and although the concert doesn’t end here, it is a fitting end to the video bootleg. 

 

I cannot stress enough how important these concerts are to understanding Prince of the 90s, nor can I find the words to tell you just how essential these bootlegs are to your collecting. Exciting music, presented in small venues to an appreciative audience who understands what Prince is doing and wants to join him on his journey, the barrier between performer and audience at this time has never been so slim, the possibilities so endlessly exciting. Watching a bootleg video is a mere facsimile of the experience, yet 25 years on it’s the best we’ve got. A great video that reminds us of these heady nights when Prince was shedding his skin, and reinventing himself right before our eyes. Pure magic.