I don’t know what it is in the water in the Netherlands, but to me, it seems the Dutch are the maddest music fans in the world. And I am not just talking Prince here, almost any band or musician I follow, there seems to be a legion of Dutch fans following. They are all very knowledgeable and passionate, and that is further emphasized in the gig that I am listening to today. An after-show at Paradiso, Amsterdam from 1995, this is one show I would have loved to have been at. Sure, I feel that about many shows I listen to, but this one, in particular, strikes a chord with me. The crowd is very much part of the show, and listening to it I get the sense that the audience understands exactly what Prince is about at this time, and supports him all the way. The setlist, crowd, and performance are all excellent, the only item missing from my checklist is that sadly this is an audience recording- I would have loved for this to be a soundboard, but I am grateful that it even exists. As soon as I finish the time machine in the garage this is where I am heading, but until then listening to this recording is as good as it gets.
March 26, 1995, Paradiso Amsterdam
I did warn you the crowd is very much part of this one, and right from the start, we have them singing the “ow we ow” chant. It ends soon enough as the gentle chords of “People Get Ready” begin the show. It’s a smooth seductive sound and the soft “owww owwww” of Prince draws me right in. There is just a touch of organ underneath, and an audience-led handclap for accompaniment. It’s delicate, with the simple chords of the guitar over top, before Prince sings an opening couple of lines. And this is where it all comes to a sudden noisy stop, and the entire band jump in, and everything is turned to 11.
First up we get “The Jam.” I have heard so many of these over the years, and I know exactly what to expect – Prince introducing the band and them each playing a part. Normally I have no feeling for it one way or another, but this one is excellent and has me very enthused. Although the recording is less than perfect, there is a nice squelching sound and some crisp guitar. Prince immediately gets the audience chanting “Prince is dead” and the agenda for the rest of the show is set. Mr. Hayes plays a full-sounding organ solo, predictably I think it’s much too short. Tommy Barbarella gets introduced on the piano and he also plays a nice funky electric break. Prince sounds very happy and confident, you can hear it in his voice. He introduces Mayte, I can’t hear much musically, but there is plenty of crowd noise. And speaking of the crowd, next we have them clapping a slightly more complicated beat than you might expect, but they do add to the fun of the evening. The audience is very passionate and loudly chants “Go Michael” as Michael B plays his break. There is very much a party and family feeling to this one. Last, but not least Prince gets to Sonny T, and his bass solo is even more electric sounding. The band melds together very tightly after this, and already I am ranking them as one of Prince's best bands.
“Get Wild” follows close behind and has some nice chunky piano as it starts. The recording lets us down a little here, Prince’s voice sounds somewhat distant, but the organ and drum still sound strong. Mayte sings her piece, but to be honest I can’t make out what she is saying. There is a large cheer soon after, and I can’t even begin to guess what is happening. Things ease back somewhat after the chorus, and Prince leads the audience in “play that motherfucking bass” Again another chorus, and more cheering from the crowd. They are all over this recording like another band member. Mr. Hayes plays an organ break that swirls but still sounds as strong as could be. The song follows a similar format to the previous number, with each band member being called on to play a break. Prince encourages the audience with “We just come from London, are you as wild as them?” and then there is a brief short guitar shot from the man himself. There is a humorous moment as there is a chant of “Go Mayte, go Mayte” before Prince says “oh, you’ll just gonna run the show huh? I ain’t got nothing to do?” before he calls for Mayte to do her thing. It’s a cool moment and well received. Sonny T then proceeds to get wild himself, playing something that sounds like a whining animal. I promise it would have sounded great on a soundboard recording. The song ends with an “on the one”, before a short reprise with Michael B and the band closing it out.
I find Prince’s choice to cover “Jailhouse Rock” an interesting one. After Elvis was dismissed by Public Enemy a few years earlier with “Elvis was a hero to most, but he didn’t mean shit to me” Prince’s cover seems oddly out of step with the mood of the times. Maybe he was staking a claim for the music and song himself, but it does place him outside the feelings on the street at that time. His cover itself is pretty decent, Prince does a nice rasp in his voice, and the guitars and band swing along behind, giving it a slight rockabilly edge that harkens back to some of his material in the early 80s. It’s not as much of a stretch as a cover as I may have first thought. It is only a couple of minutes long, so I don’t get too long to overthink it before a flurry of guitar leads us into the next song.
“Zannalee” also has a swing to it, and this time the guitars are even louder with a buzz saw sound. I am not sure if the distortion is the guitar or the recording, but it doesn’t affect it too much. Again Prince’s vocal is lost a shade in the music, but the music is so good that that is irrelevant. As you might expect there is plenty of guitar work from Prince, and the band knows how to play with him, all in all, it’s a tight performance.
This band is all about “The Undertaker.” Listening to this I understand what Prince and the NPG are trying to achieve. The song starts, but Prince delivers a speech about gun control, and then we get the song proper. The song begins with a quiet, but heavy sounding groove. The bass is sounding great, and some funky but light guitar brightens it. As Prince sings he has the audience tracking along with a sweet-sounding “Mercy” The song rumbles along in this way for some time, but it's never boring sounding. When Prince returns to sing about the undertaker I wonder which way the song will go, but very quickly it begins a long guitar solo. I can’t describe it here, but it's one I love. It’s not too fast, it’s long, and it’s got an excellent tone. I am caught off guard when the guitar solo ends and then the song a few seconds later. This is a great song that needs to be heard more often.
The funk goes up several notches next when Prince hits us with “Funky Design.” This is one of Prince's heavy funk periods, and this song just oozes it. Prince does rap, but it’s not terrible. The bass and the keys create a great funk sound and it's this that I enjoy most. I get the feeling that this recording doesn’t do the song justice. The recording is average at best, but the song still manages to sound great. There is a great false end midsong, just as I was thinking it was over Prince comes back with an enthusiastic and passionate response. There is even a sizzling guitar break which never quite boils over but always hints at more. All in all, there is a lot of noise and fury, but sadly the sound is all mixed up on the recording, and I can’t quite hear all the pieces as clearly as I would like. The organ sounds strong as does the guitar, but Prince's vocals are a little distorted.
The next song starts innocuously enough with the drumbeat and the crowd clapping along while chanting “Go Mayte” before Prince gets on the microphone with an “ooooowww pussy control” It's more laid back than on record and the intro is drawn out with some nice organ and rubbery sounding bass. Prince then stops to tell the crowd that the song is too nasty, before once again beginning the song again. As he raps his way through the verses he stays with the laid-back vibe, he is quite casual in his delivery. Even the chorus fails to raise any pulses. And this is in no way a criticism of the song, despite the recording limitations of the recording it’s still very enjoyable. The fun levels increase as the song goes along, and near the end of the song there is some great instrumentation and the crowd comes onboard with plenty of claps and singing. There is plenty of room for the organ to play a piece before Prince pulls it back with a call of “kick drum” and we get an excellent rhythm guitar break- just the sort of thing that I lap up.
The kick drum comes at us again and Prince drives us into a brief instrumental, lead by the chant of “can’t get enough, of that funky stuff”. The action is once again up-tempo and funky as hell for this one. The piano comes to the fore with some great runs. I thought it was going to race through at this pace, but after a minute the band stops to give the crowd and few moments of chanting “can’t get enough of that funky stuff”. They come back to the song, this time with the guitar getting minute to play. It has a similar sound and style to the piano's break, and I am impressed with the band and its tightness. The instrumental runs for another couple of minutes, it’s fast-paced and has great playing.
I hadn’t heard “Johnny” for a long time when I pulled out this recording. It’s better than I remember, the band plays slow but still has a nice swing to their sound. Once again there is no keeping the audience out of this one and there is a chant at the beginning of “N…P….G in the mother-fing house.” I love Prince's vocals, he sounds cheeky as he sings this, and it adds to the overall feeling of fun. There is a lot of personality throughout this show, and as I said before it gives me a good sense of what it would have been like to be there. The song takes in a nice organ break, followed by a mellow smoky guitar break before we return for some more keyboards. Nothing is hurried and the band sounds like they could play for days. Prince’s guitar playing is soulful and has just as much character as his singing in this song. The song ends with another keyboard solo, but it feels like it could have grooved along for hours like this.
There is a pause in the music next as Prince takes his time to talk to the audience. He reminds them the new album Exodus is coming-out next week, then tells them Prince is dead, and the only ones who think he is alive are the record company. This leads to a very funny moment when the crowd breaks into a loud chant of “Fuck Warner bros”. It’s made even funnier to me by the fact that they chant it like this, rather than ‘Warner brothers’. Prince seems to take great delight in it too and asks the crowd if he could bring the president of Warner Bros next time so they can do that for him.
“Endorphin Machine” begins with a rush, and there is no denying the energy of the guitar playing as Prince launches into it. The band plays behind with plenty of power and passion, and for the first time in the recording, I forget the quality of sound and lose myself completely in the song. I don’t often think of this band as being a rock outfit, but rock they certainly do here. After Tommy Barbarella's solo, we get a short guitar break from Prince, before the song drops a notch for his spoken break. The guitar and band are right on the money when they come back in and its intensity level carries us through the last minute of the song. An excellent performance of a keystone song of that period.
There is plenty of guitar sound and noodling next before the Prince says “I’m hungry, is there any peaches in the house?’ There is another minute or so of talking as Prince brings a couple of audience members up on stage to dance. There is plenty of anticipation before the roar of Peach finally begins. As is expected this one is all Prince and his guitar. The opening verse is quickly dealt with and the guitar takes over. It sounds like a lot of fun, but again I am frustrated by the quality of the recording. Normally audience recordings don’t bother me too much, but this gig sounds so good I would love to hear it in better quality. The playing is fast and furious, but still, the crowd gets a moment to sing along. It’s not the funkiest of songs, but it does spectacularly close the show. The show ends, naturally enough, with the crowd chanting “ow we ow”
As far as recordings go, this one isn’t the greatest. But if ever there was an after-show I wanted to be at, it would be this one. You can keep your Small Clubs and Le New Mornings, this is the one show from the last 30 years that I’d most want to be at. The setlist and playing are everything I could ask for, and I do get the sense that everyone in the building was on the same wavelength as Prince. Like I said at the start, as soon as my time machine is finished, this is where I’m heading.
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