Rotterdam 12 August 1998 (am)

 

In retrospect, I was perhaps a little harsh on last week’s show I listened to. It was a perfectly serviceable show from 1998, and it certainly had its merits, even if I didn’t fully appreciate it. Part of the problem of being a Prince fan and listening to these bootlegs is that I am constantly judging him, not against other artists, but his own high standards. Even if I consider a show to be ‘average’, it’s still far beyond what others were doing at the time, especially so with the aftershows. There is no other artist out there playing aftershows and these jams are just for the love of the music such as Prince does. I would take an average Prince aftershow over any other musician show any day. Today’s recording has my heart a flutter already as The War is on the setlist. I still remember the day that the cassette mysterious appeared in the mail, and although I consider the late ’90s to be a bit of a dry spell, “The War” is a definite highlight in my book. I know it appeared at other shows and recordings, but I don’t recall hearing it before, so this will be a good chance to sit back and recapture some of that magic. So I’m all set, let’s give it a spin.

 

12th August 1998 (am) Nighttown, Rotterdam

A whoop, a cheer, the crowd clapping a beat and chanting start this one, and they quickly fade out as the guitar is heard playing a subtle, delicate, and yet funky, riff. It's par for the course that these recordings contain some audience chit-chat, although thankfully in this case it isn’t too intrusive. The riff isn’t too strong, but it is a real earworm of a hook, and I can hear the band and the audience playing around it for some time. It is a slow-burning, slow-building take of “Talkin’ Loud And Sayin’ Nothing,” and the band does play various parts on top of the foundation that has been set, without ever exploding out of the blocks. I wait for things to cut loose and get wild, but that moment never comes, instead, Prince and the band are happy to play as long as it takes with their slow build. The release does finally come with some funk-infused keyboards, and a loud cheer as Prince begins to sing. It's music to dance to as much as listening to, and I wistfully dream I was there as the keyboards battle it out in my headphones. This feeling is made stronger by the chanting and singing as the band, and the party begins to heat up. Things burst into flames as Prince has firstly Mike Scott and then Morris Hayes play solos, both bring an intensity to the performance that has me wanting more. I laugh as Prince admonishes the sound guy with “Was that feedback, who’s adding that to the mix, who thinks that is necessary?”. He has a point, and it’s well delivered.

“Let’s Work” throws me right back to the 1980s, in both its freshness and its clean funk sound. Mr. Hayes adds his warmth to it, but asides from that it’s the bass sound of the original that I cling onto. It bumps and funks along, with plenty of fat swells around the chorus. We don’t get too comfortable with this nostalgic trip, however, the three minutes we get is plenty, and it’s guaranteed to bring a smile to most people’s faces.

 

I am not so enamored by “Delirious,” yet again I can’t deny it’s a nod to his past, as well as being just downright fun to listen to at a show like this. The thing I like most about hearing this tonight is Morris Hayes, his fat sound adds more serious weight to the song, and I do feel for it more as his organ pushes the sound forward. Things take a turn towards the rock sound as a lead guitar appears and we have a coda of Rock N Roll Is Alive. They are strange bedfellows, but as always it works, and I feel much better for hearing this new sharpness added to the sound.

As we move to “That’ll Work” Prince takes a few moments to thank the crowd for attending the concerts, before the music begins to sing, literally, with a wonderful cameo from Marva King. Larry Graham makes an appearance at this stage, as the crowd chants him in, it’s surprisingly funky and enjoyable as the crowd chant over the music for some time like this. Larry has his thumb working overtime, and encouraged by the crowd he serves up a fantastically fat-sounding solo.

The sound of his bass carries us easily to the next song, which is logically enough ”Hair.” The deepness of his bass is amply matched by the deepness of his vocals, and my head moves gently to the sound of it as he sings. I can’t tell you who is doing what on stage, but I do know that some fine keyboard sounds are matching Larry, and the addition of Jerry Martini on the saxophone changes the sound of the band again. There is time for everyone to play, and it’s not only Larry front and center. The guitar and organ both shine in their respective moments, and there is the feeling that this is very much a band performance rather than one or two people dominating.

 

Things slow down next as the blues take hold in the form of “Sex Machine.” It is low and slow, with plenty of guitar work from Prince to wallow in. He plays tight and restrained, and I do enjoy hearing another style of his playing. The blues sound that he stakes out is kept with by both Morris Hayes on the organ, and Larry Graham on the bass. They play in the same manner and keep us firmly rooted. The sax work of Jerry Martini adds brightness to proceedings, but Prince buries us in the blues when he returns for a stronger, heavier guitar break. It’s still smoky and bluesy and even when the notes come in a flurry it still sounds dark and tightly in the groove.

The moment I have been waiting for arrives, and at first, I fail to recognize it. It starts with a simple bass loop, and for me, it sounds a lot like the start of Miles Davis's “So What.” There is no mistaking “The War” as the keyboards begin to emerge from the background and Prince intones his “One, two”.  This song interests me in so many ways, and it is very Prince-sounding in lyrical content. In many ways, it points to the direction he will take with the Rainbow Children in a few years both with the music and the different slant on lyric writing. The lyrics have a weirdness to them which only makes me listen more carefully, and even if the music doesn’t always have me fully engaged, Prince and his lyrics certainly do. The sax of Jerry Martini again lifts us, but it’s against the backdrop of the darker swirling sound, wah-wah guitar, and Prince's spoken manifesto.  Mike Scott soars with his guitar break and things loosen briefly and we come out of the darkness. Any hopes for a 26-minute, or even 45-minute version, are dashed as Prince wraps it up at 10 minutes, ending with an appropriate macabre laugh.

 

We end on a high with a furious take on the “Santana medley.” Although the recording isn’t great, Prince tears it up at this stage, and his guitar rips through the songs. I would have loved to see his face as he plays, he certainly sounds like he is playing with great abandonment and plenty of joy. The guitar sings in places, howls in others, and is undoubtedly the star of the show for the last ten minutes. Even as the song ebbs and flows, the intensity is maintained throughout by Prince and his playing, and I don’t tire of it for a single moment – it is essential listening throughout. The final stabs shoot out at me and end the show on a high that would be hard to top if they continued to play.

This show is redemption for the show I listened to last week. Last week I bemoaned the lack of intensity and fire, this show recorded a week earlier has plenty of both and delivers on all fronts. Hearing “The War” live was undeniably a real treat, and a highlight for me, but there was plenty more to this show to recommend it. Larry sounded great, as did Jerry Martini, Marva King, and the irrepressible Morris Hayes. It would be unfair to compare this to Prince shows from other eras, but on its own it stands as a worthy listen.