Houston 11 August 1997(am)

 

Last week I listened to an aftershow from 1997 released by Sabotage records. This was part of a two-disc set that presented me with some problems. The first disc has the Denver show, while the second disc covers the Roxy show, and two extra tracks. These two extra tracks caused me to scratch my head, the databank listed them as from an unknown concert, while Prince vault had the listed as part of the Denver aftershow. I chose to run with the good folks at prince vault and listened to these two tracks as part of the first disc.

The show covered on the second disc also presents some unknowns. This concert is also heavy on cover versions, there are only four Prince songs – two of them unreleased, which leads us into unfamiliar territory and offers a unique listen. With Marva King and Doug E. Fresh taking on the bulk of the vocal duties, Prince's main contribution is his playing, meaning I have to at times listen carefully to hear his input – especially given that it is an audience recording.

11th August 1997(am) Roxy, Houston, Texas

Marva King sings the first three songs starting with the Prince penned, and unreleased, “Playtime.” It has a firmness to it, a solid warmth, that despite the audience recording still manages to sound weighty and carries an inner intensity. The band dwells on the song as an opener and, as long as it is, I still feel like I could listen to it longer. It is a good introduction to the quality of the recording, the audience is vocal, but the bass is well rounded and without distortion.

The audience is heard more on the following “Sweet Thing.” Marva King does a commendable job of the vocals, although the song is well known and the audience adds their own vocal flourishes. A bootleg snob would be disappointed at this point, but as a fan, I simply wallow in the live feeling of it all.

 

“Lovin’ You” is so short that by the time I realized it has started, it is already half over. It’s too quiet, and the recording does it no favors at all, it disappears into the crowd and general background noise. It is disappointing to me because when I do listen carefully I can hear that Marva is singing beautifully.

Databank wrote disparagingly of Doug E. Fresh, and in the first minutes of “Flash Light” I can perhaps understand why as he engages the audience in chanting. I do find myself warming to it, however, and Doug E. Fresh comes across as a perfectly likable bloke – before I know it I am chanting along with him here at home. What sounds best on the recording though, and what I dig most, is the bassline. It has a life of its own as it bounces and runs up and down the funky stairs, I find myself moving to it and temporarily forgetting Mr. Fresh and his enthusiastic calls to get things moving.

Prince can be heard playing some lead guitar as the song morphs into “Jam Of The Year’ and for the first time in the recording I can safely assert “yes, that is Prince.” The song is an instrumental jam, barely distinguishable from “Flash Light” that preceded it, and as Prince chants “Turn This Mother Out” it becomes apparent that this is just a long medley of funk tunes and chants. The bass stays with its hypnotic loop, but with Prince on the microphone, there is much more to pay attention to as Prince shifts and shapes the music into different forms.

 

The recording suffers somewhat as Prince carves into “Johnny.” The mix is murky and Prince isn’t as prominent as one might expect. However, the rest of the band is sounding excellent, in particular Kat Dyson who delivers a weeping solo that stretches across the latter part of the song. Doug E. Fresh and his “Do It On Film” can’t match her, and the contrast between his overworked rap and Kat’s light guitar break is like night and day.

Morris Hayes opens “Cissy Strut” with plenty of power, but it is the Mike Scott guitar break that grabs all the headlines here. The rest of the band becomes yesterday's news as Mike weeps and wails, dips and dives, writing an array of emotions with his fingertips. It is only short, but it is a fitting digest of all he does well.

“Hotel Blues” is another unreleased song written by Prince and sung by Marva King. As its only live appearance, it should command attention. However, it doesn’t initially grab me, there is no rush of intensity and it is a laid-back jam that offers no deep groove or fiery statement of intent. It isn’t unpleasant on the ear though, and I do find Prince’s piano playing worthy of a closer listen – if only the mix was slightly better and more balanced.

 

There are no surprises with “Kiss,” it could have been lifted from any show in the 1990s. The performance is mostly positive, but there are a couple of negatives. There is rather too much shouting and chanting for my liking, and in the moments in between when the song is playing the audience is again very vocal on the recording. They aren’t negatives, indeed they are a big part of the live experience, so I can’t complain about them being on the bootleg. These shows are after all for those in the room at the time, not us listening on a bootleg years later. The concert ends in this way, with Doug E. Fresh chanting and singing with the crowd, entirely representative of the show in general.

A very short concert and I can understand why Sabotage chose to pair it with the Denver gig. Of the two shows, the first disc easily outshines this one. This recording is of poorer quality, Prince is largely absent from vocal duties, and while I greatly enjoy Marva King, I can’ say the same about Doug E. Fresh. If it wasn’t part of a two-concert set I wouldn’t listen to this at all, but as a completest, I am pleased it exists, especially for the performance of the two unreleased songs. A curiosity, but far from a good listen.