Detroit 6 March 2002

 This week, worlds collide as my love for the ONA tour crashes headlong into the always dynamic and vibrant Detroit audience. Detroit has been a fervent supporter of all the Prince concerts to this point, and this continues today with the more challenging Rainbow Children material and ONA show. The new songs and presentation phase the audience not one bit, and from the first note to the last they provide a knowledgeable and supportive base for Prince to play to. It is also worth noting that today’s audience recording is considerably better than anything else we have heard of late, so expect today’s post to concentrate a lot less on sound quality and a lot more on performance quality. 

6th March 2002, Detroit Opera House, Detroit 

One might expect a somewhat muted reaction to “The Rainbow Children,” but the Detroit crowd let the love flow from the first minute with their passionate embrace of Prince’s new direction. The lyrics may cause some diversion among the Prince fan community, but one can’t deny that it sounds oh so good, especially the flinty guitar licks that Prince provides, giving a sharp counterpoint to the otherwise downbeat groove.  When people speak of Prince’s greatest bands this one is often left out of the conversation, but listening here it seems desperately unfair as they stretch and flow in every direction Prince needs them, creating a sound that perhaps non of his other bands could reach. 

The slide and croon of “Muse 2 The Pharaoh” has me enraptured, and with the audience providing a soft percussion of hand claps it has a natural and organic sway. This smoky atmosphere Prince creates is blown away by the stern and sententious second portion of the song, and it is only the cool breeze of Renato’s piano that reminds us of the sweeter opening of the song. 

 

“Xenophobia” picks right up where “Muse 2 The Pharaoh” left off, as Prince continues his musical sermon. His comment about “coming to get your Purple Rain on” is greeted with a cheer, but not as loud as the cheer when he says “you’ve come to the wrong place,” a reminder of just how close this Detroit crowd was to Prince, and how they had a deeper understanding of what he was trying to achieve. The horn of Maceo Parker, along with Greg Boyers's trombone, subverts this message as they swamp the recording with their full sound, and John Blackwell’s final solo is a timely reminder of just how much he contributed to Prince’s sound, and how much we still miss him. Prince pointing out Morris Day in the house surprises me, it’s not something I remember hearing before, and although it’s only a few seconds it makes for a cool moment on the bootleg. The final few minutes are where the song spins off in a new direction, and with a furious Maceo blowing up a storm, with Prince matching him on the guitar, it is a dramatic rush to the finish. 

The fragile beauty of “A Case Of U” is just as poignant here as when we first heard Prince’s cover of it back in 1983. The lyrics flow easily from him, as if they were his and his alone, and listening to the song now I can see how it is a good fit for both the concert Prince is constructing, and for this band as they bend it ever so slightly with their delicate jazz touch.  It is again the second part of the song where Prince wades deeper into unknown waters, the song by turns becoming darker, deeper, and all the more ominous. 

I don’t get as lost in the “Mellow” as Prince would like me to, it treads the same sonic territory as some of the earlier material at the show without reaching the same ethereal heights, while not touching me as much as the previous “A Case Of U.”  However, it’s not as demanding as anything else we have heard and makes for an easy listen without forcing the listener into any corners. 

 

The bootleg becomes far more like a regular concert with the appearance of ” 1+1+1 Is 3,” a song that has an insatiable groove and draws the best out of every player on stage. With the Detroit crowd providing the double-time hand clap, Maceo again enters the fray with a cameo of a solo that raises the temperature of the performance. The rest of the song lives up to the opening jam, never once does the band lift their foot off the gas as they power the song through to the finish in a shower of horn blasts, buttery funk, and laughter. 

I'm not enthused for “Love Rollercoaster,” but Prince’s final flurry of guitar work cleanses any negativity and leaves me feeling like the exercise was worthwhile. A tiny triumph that cleanses my palate before the next course. 

A soft and feathery “The Other Side Of The Pillow” lowers the energy levels in the building but keeps the crowd engaged as they provide a gentle accompaniment to Prince’s pillow talk. The song itself is almost too soft and compared to the earlier material of the evening it kills with a slow smother rather than a hammer blow. The later meanderings of the song bring the piano to the fore before it washes up to a horn solo that nicely rounds out the moment. 

The first song to look back at Prince’s past is the spruced up “Strange Relationship,” brought back for the One Night Alone tour, refreshed and refurbished it carries its funk as well as it ever has. There are other far more impassioned versions on the tour, but the song itself remains undiminished here and it shines brightly in the middle of the set. 

 

I do enjoy Maceo and “Pass The Peas” and it only suffers in that I have heard it far too often. I would have liked to hear Maceo contribute some other songs from his past, but  one can’t complain, as Prince himself says midsong “music for music lovers” 

Prince stays with his musical history lesson as he steers the band into “Sing A Simple Song.” It’s a good fit for the band as they bring their smooth yet funky style to the party. And it is a party, one can hear the crowd enjoying the moment, and Prince has chosen his cover versions well. There are some dark clouds with the guitar bringing a winter sound later in the song, before retreating and leaving us with the warm summer's funk sound. 

The next cover version in this run is The Delfonics “La,La, La Means Eye Love U.” Prince owns the song for the next few minutes with his croon holding centre stage, before the release of the “la, la, la” chorus.  It falls soft as rain, the song seemly falling from heaven. It may not be the first song that one would gravitate towards on the recording, and I am surprised by how much I find myself falling for its hidden charms. 

Rhonda Smith provides a steady lead vocal performance for Eryka Badu’s “Didn’t Cha Know.”  There’s not a lot to it, the song dissolves as Prince gives some praise to Rhonda, and it is a moment that could have become something special had it gone for longer. 

I looked forward to “When You Were Mine,” but when it comes there is too much high end, and some of the basic rock n roll feel that I associate with it is waterblastered away by the over-the-top keyboard. It is glassy and shiny, the bedrock guitar subverted by this keyboard shrill, and leaves me feeling that this could have been so much more. 

 

There is a slow burn to “Avalanche” that appeals to me, and I listen enraptured as Prince smolders through the opening verse. The embers of the song continue to flicker and glow for the next few minutes as the piano smokes its way through the final minutes. 

“Family Name” is an important part of Prince’s One Night Alone concert. It returns us to one of his key themes of the album and tour, and although it's unconventional with its opening, the following music keeps the concert on track as the band plays behind Prince’s message-heavy lyrics. Prince’s guitar picks up where his lyrics left off, a hint of spite, malice, and pure anger present as he applies the pressure with his solo. It is an uneven song as it challenges expectations, and Prince rewards the audience with another jewel from his past in the form of “Take Me With U.” Obviously it can’t compare to his new material, but it once again turns the concert into a celebration rather than a lecture. 

This spirit of celebration is maintained throughout “Raspberry Beret” as we return to a style more in tune with Prince’s previous tours. I sometimes tire of this song, but in this case, it works well in a concert that hasn’t had any pop moments, or hits, until now.  The energy levels jump up on the recording, and it’s just as well as Prince is about to unleash his full arsenal for the next song. 

 

Prince and the band turn everything up to ten for the “Santana Medley” and with Renato Neto’s keyboard going blow for blow against Prince and his guitar it becomes titanic with the music swirling into an intense storm. There is no victor, and the real winner is the listener who gets to experience this maelstrom of musical fire and fury. It is ten minutes of carnage as Prince whips me into a fervor with his take on the Santana sound, and he carries the Detroit crowd with him with the same deep intensity and forthright guitar sound. 

Again Prince builds on contrasts and adds another level of sophistication to the concert with his precisely placed piano set. The Detroit crowd is all screams and cries for “Adore,” and in fairness, to them, there isn’t a crowd in the world that wouldn’t react the same. It’s short, there are plenty of longer versions from this tour, but it doesn’t matter as for the next couple of minutes as he plays Prince holds the audience in the palm of his hand. “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” comes from a similar place, and although I love the piano sound of it, Prince only gives us the opening line before he switches things up again. 

“Free” works well with Prince’s theme of emancipation, and here it sounds glorious as the band rises behind Prince with their uplifting sound. Again, it is short, but I do like it for the time it appears. 

The next three songs stay in this shortened manner – each barely a minute as Prince ticks off a few of the boxes for his hardcore fanbase. “Starfish And Coffee” has a whiff of teenage nostalgia, while “Under The Cherry Moon” speaks to the more serious music lovers. Both are well appreciated before “Nothing Compares To U” completes this diversion through the 1980s. In later tours, Prince would choose to have other singers accompany him, here it is just his lone voice and the Detroit crowd that create an intimate moment that one feels the recording doesn’t quite do justice to. 

There is a spring in the step of Prince’s piano playing as he leads us up the musical garden path before the verse of “Girls And Boys” reveals it for what it is. Just as good as anything heard on the piano and microphone tour, this is my highlight of the piano set, my only disappointment coming with its ending after five minutes. It has a groove that I could roll on for days, and I feel cheated as Prince brings it to an end long before I am ready. 

“Venus De Milo” and “One Night Alone” are mere footnotes and it is “Sometimes It Snows In April” that returns us to a more conventional full song. It is a light version, there is no real emotional depth here, but it sounds pretty enough, and like all good art often what you experience is what you bring to it. 

And that rings true for the following “I Love U, But I Don’t Trust U Anymore,” a song I feel far more connected to as I live through Prince’s heartbreaking lyrics. It is a perfectly pitched performance, Prince emoting just enough without giving over to the drama that is already inherent in the music he is playing. 

If “I Love U But I Don’t Trust U Anymore” was Prince’s moment, then the following “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” belongs to the Detroit crowd, at least for the first portion of the song as they are word perfect with Prince. The arrival of the full band sees them slipping back, but they are still present to the end of the song, although they can’t match Prince’s final anguished squeal. 

 

There is a bold guitar sound that sits at the heart of “Anna Stesia” and this colors the song throughout. Prince lets it cry out later in the song, and overall it is much stronger than what we know so well from Lovesexy, Prince’s vocals are full of power and punch, and the guitar drives the song into darker and unfamiliar corners. There is a final speech from Prince, you’d expect nothing less, but it is the final refrain that hits me. I have heard this song for 30 years now, but that chant of “Love is God, Love is God,” still touches me in ways I can never get used to. Prince brings it back round to his current beliefs as the crowd joins him for his “rise up” Rainbow Children chants before the band brings the curtain down with several minutes of jazz-infused groove. A fitting end for this band as they play to their strengths, and a lovely way to end the show. 

Of the Detroit bootlegs, this is one of the better ones. After a string of great concerts and poor recordings, we finally have one where the concert has a suitable recording to match. The concert offers the usual smorgasbord of music we have come to associate with the ONA tour, and it’s captured for prosperity with a worthy audience recording. ONA tour is well documented in the bootleg world, and this is another worthy addition to that catalog, the fact it comes with a passionate and knowledgeable Detroit crowd is just a bonus. Everyone has a favorite ONA concert, this is one of mine.