Oakland 28 April 2001

 Today I will take a listen to a show from Oakland during the Hit N Run tour of 2001. I have already covered a show from the Hit N Run in San Jose from December 2000, and this one from just four months later is pretty similar. Despite a lot of the setlist being the same, there are some differences, and I felt that the recording is worth listening to as well as the San Jose concert. Prince throws in just enough to make me want to give this one a spin too. So, if it does read similarly to the San Jose concert, I apologize in advance. Some things are the same, and some things are different, such is life. 

28 April 2001 Oakland, California. 

I am not a great fan of the prerecorded intros that Prince often uses. Yes, I do understand that it helps generate the energy and anticipation for the show to come, but in a way, I find the snatches of songs are like spoilers for a TV show or movie. I feel its removes some of the surprises that may lie ahead. The intro here contains snippets of “My Name is Prince,” and just the barest of lines from “Erotic City,” both of which I would have loved to of heard in the main show, but don’t get played beyond this intro (now I’m the one giving spoilers!) 

 

The thrill of “Uptown” live has never left me. As soon as that drum roll kicks off, and the signature guitar line plays I am like a 15-year-old again. The quality of this recording is very good, and the song sounds just as good as it ever has. The mix is very strong, and Prince and his guitar are crystal clear in my speakers. He doesn’t sing too passionately, and I do get the sense that he is just going through the motions. When I listen carefully to the song, it sounds like the whole thing is played in this way, but I am too much in love with the song to care. 

“Controversy” has the excellent funky guitar again right to the fore. It’s a nice rendition we have here, the rest of the band and the keyboards are back in the mix, and just like the previous song it’s mostly Prince and his guitar that we hear. And that’s no bad thing, as his singing and guitar playing are very crisp and clean. However, the song is kept to a minimum and we quickly segue into “Mutiny.” 

I have long been a fan of “Mutiny,” and have dozens of excellent recordings from various shows. This one doesn’t live up to any of those, sadly it's missing that special X factor. The playing is excellent, as is the vocal performance, but energy or passion is missing from it. It’s a shame, as the recording is very good, just the performance at this stage isn’t up to the same level. Najee does get a couple of solos but fails to add anything of real interest to it. There is a very fast and furious organ break just after which would have saved it all if only it had been longer. Again, I’m not criticizing the recording or musicianship, but for me, it’s just missing that little bit extra. 

I enjoy “The Work Pt 1” much more. Its live debut was only two weeks before this show, so to Prince and the crowd, it’s still very much a new song. He seems to be feeling this one a little more than the previous songs and is more engaged. The song does meander just a fraction, but Mike Phillips does play a lovely clean guitar solo which for me is the high point of the song. Prince does sing over most of it, but my ears are very much focused on what Mike is playing. 

Next comes “Cream,” and it’s played very smooth and clean, this band seems to have a good handle on this song and it plays to their strengths. Listening to a lot of recordings, I often don’t give Cream the time or attention it deserves, but here it has my full attention. Especially when Prince plays a nice solo on his guitar midsong, and it’s very much played in the ‘Prince tone’, it’s unmistakably his guitar sound. A very pleasant surprise to my ears, this song is the first time where I feel the show is drawing me in. 

That feeling continues next as “Little Red Corvette” gets a nice long intro, with plenty of keys and a few howls from the backing singers. As most of you know, I could just listen to this opening refrain over and over, and this one is no different. When Prince does begin to sing it’s once again with a very good clean sound. He isn’t too engaged but his vocals are very crisp. The song is kept quite short from this point, but it’s not too bad, as the next song is a real treat to my ears. 

Prince begins “I Wanna Be Your Lover” with a bold “Stop trying to front like you know my jams, you don’t know my songs” The rest of the song starts with Prince and the crowd alternating lines before Prince takes over and delivers his classic falsetto. Of course, the crowd knows every line, and you can hear them singing strongly in the background. The bass is nicely mixed on the recording, and I can hear it nicely bumping along in the left speaker. The song itself only runs for a couple of minutes, but it’s cool while it lasts. 

“Sexy Dancer” is next, and it is sounding like it’s a good song for the crowd to get up and dance to. There is no singing to speak of, it’s all groove with the snare and bass keeping the groove going with some keys run over top. It’s very tight, and great to listen to, but once again it’s only a couple of minutes. But still, I enjoyed it while it lasted. 

 

The kicking beat of “Housequake” begins next, and Prince lets it run for a minute before he hits us with “Tell me who in this house know bout the quake?” From here the rest of the band join in and I must say it sounds very cool. Najee isn’t strong, but his horn line does sound good. Sure there are better renditions I have heard, but Najee does his job well, and Mr. Hayes on the keys gives us some enjoyable lines. It’s got some new things for me to listen to, and I do like it all. There’s very little singing, just a nice groove and that beat that I will hear in my head for the rest of the day. 

I am very happy that “The Ballard of Dorothy Parker” gets another airing at this show. The low-key playing of the band and the disinterested singing of Prince suits the downbeat feel of the song. My enthusiasm wanes a little when Najee begins to play, but the moment is saved by Mr. Hayes on the keys. The song spins off into an instrumental jam, with Madhouse's “Four” thrown in as well as “Talkin Loud And Saying Nothin.” It fails to fire my enthusiasm, whereas on some other shows I enjoy Najee, here I find him lifeless and frankly a little boring. But the keyboard throughout is good and gives me something else to focus on. It’s all nice, but not something I would be in a hurry to return to. 

There is an interlude next where Prince speaks to the crowd about the NPG music club, and strangely I find myself enjoying his sentiments, even if I know that in the future he will shy away from the internet and such openness with his fans. It was a nice dream while it lasted, and I am reminded here of his idealistic vision. 

This speech about record companies and the NPG music club is followed by “Someday We’ll Be Free.” The song sounds nice but fails to engage me, as Prince himself doesn’t sing, and there is a lot of Najee in there. I am surprised how much I dislike Najee on this recording, as on the San Jose recording from four months previously I enjoyed him, but at this show, he seems to add very little. The song has a well-intended sentiment, and the execution is good enough, buts it’s not the reason I come to a Prince show or am a Prince fan. 

I am back on board as Prince sings “U Make My Sun Shine.” This is where the quality of the recording comes to the fore, as I can hear Prince's vocals, and the backing singers just beautifully working together. The song has a silky smooth sound to it, and although this smooth sound isn’t my cup of tea, I still appreciate and enjoy it here. There is the classic Prince spoken breakdown midsong, which is fun to listen to, without being outstanding. What is good though is the next minute when Prince asks Mike to play the blues, and there is a minute of very sharp guitar playing from him. It’s nicely paced and has a beautiful clean tone to it. Prince returns for some more spoken lines, but by now I’m a little over it and it’s perhaps a bridge too far for my tastes. Najee gets half a minute to play, and now I am dangerously close to pushing the skip button. There is some Prince playing guitar, which as always I give my attention to, but this portion of the show is a little drawn out for me. 

The next part of the show is very interesting to me and gives a good insight into Prince’s world at that time. Prince tells the crowd that he is happy to be in Oakland because that’s where Larry Graham is from. He then goes on to say “Sometime I think he is my best friend in the whole wide world”. He continues by telling the crowd that Larry Graham asked him if he ever tried a show without cussing, and told him he used those words for effect. Prince tells the crowd that those words from Larry messed with him and he decided that “It isn’t the words that make me funky, it’s the funk that makes me funk”. He then plays some real funky guitar which has me excited. He goes on to shout out some of the celebrities in the crowd that night and is in good humor as he tells the crowd that he told Laurence Fishburne he could have free tickets if he told him the plot of the Matrix 2 and 3. It’s a nice break in the action and he goes on to ask for the house lights to be turned on so he can see the crowd. 

 

Next, we get a nice up-tempo “I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man.” The up-tempo beat gets the show back on track after the lull of the last twenty minutes. It’s not a rocked-out version, but Prince does play a good break, although this is very short before the breakdown. There is absolutely no complaint from my end though, as the breakdown gets played to the hilt, and there is some excellent guitar playing from Prince for the next couple of minutes. The breakdown has some interesting guitar runs from Prince, it’s more sharply and faster than some other breaks I have heard from him. Najee enters for a minute too, and although I have been generally negative towards him so far through the recording, he does redeem himself here as I love the variation from what is traditionally a very rocky song. I am waiting for Prince to return with his guitar coda, but instead, it’s Najee who plays us through to the end of the song. Interesting, but not great. 

We next hear Prince at the piano for the piano medley part of the show. This one follows what we heard at the San Jose show, but it’s a great selection of songs and there is no complaint from me about what we hear next. He begins by playing my long-time favorite “Do Me, Baby.” The piano playing is nicely underpinned by some organ and a soft beat. Prince starts with his trademark “owww” before gently singing the verses that we know so well. He pauses after the line “You want me just as much as I want you” and receives an appreciative cheer from the crowd. The song resumes with Prince singing relatively softly and sounding reserved in his delivery. Even a shriek or two can’t quite shake the feeling that he’s holding a lot back. 

“Scandalous” too has this feeling about it, but that doesn’t prevent me from enjoying it immensely. Prince’s vocals are delicate, and the band provides some nice little stabs behind him. It doesn’t have the seductive power of the original, but it is well played. Again Najee comes on board for a solo, but it’s neither here nor there and comes across as bland rather than inspirational. The drum seems to lack some pop to it, and I wonder if it’s the mix or the performance. 

There is plenty of Najee influence all over “Diamonds and Pearls,” and it begins with him playing before Prince's vocal lines begin. It’s easy to dismiss it as nice but boring, but I do enjoy the half-minute we get here. Prince sings only the first verse before we move on to the next song. 

I was looking forward to hearing “The Beautiful Ones” when I saw it on the setlist, and it doesn’t disappoint. The sound seems to change during the song, and I wonder if it’s the recording, or if my headphones weren’t quite plugged in right earlier. But the recording does take on a deeper fuller sound, and at just the right moment too. Prince’s voice has more strength to it in this song, and he sings the second part of it in his throaty voice. This is some great howls and shrieks near the end and for a minute I am transported back to the 1980s. The song ends, but it seems like the concert has turned a corner, and we have reached a better place. 

“Nothing Compares 2 U” keeps to the love's lost theme, and Prince plays the part of the victim well. His voice is suitably sad and mournful when it needs to be, without ever being over the top. There is a moment when midsong he introduces Najee for a break, but it is kept short and we return quickly to the main body of the song. The song fades out with Najee playing while Prince speaks to the crowd about love, before the final coda with Najee. I enjoy him much more at this point, this seems like a much better fit for him here. 

There is then a break with what sounds like electronic movie music. It doesn’t do much for me, and it certainly doesn’t seem very Prince-like. But it does nicely fill the break while we wait for the encore. 

 

The encore begins with the long keyboard intro of “Let’s Go Crazy.” There is no spoken piece as you may expect with it, but it does run for a good minute before Prince can be heard with “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life” and the classic guitar riff begins. The drums sound good, the bass sounds good, and the guitar sounds good, but once again it’s missing the Xfactor. I can’t fault the song in any way, but it never quite grabs me. Prince’s guitar solo is nice, but not much more, and the song ends before it feels like it has even begun. Here it is just a shadow of its former self. 

“Take Me with U” begins, but it too feels like it is just plodding along. Prince sings a little, and then leaves the crowd to sing the chorus before we move quickly on to…….. 

“Raspberry Beret.” Not much surprise there. Prince does speak to the crowd briefly about God and Christ before the song begins proper with the crowd singing along. Prices guitar does chug along nicely, and the crowd does sound like they enjoy it. And it is good to hear a bit of pure pop and joy in the evening, which has sounded like a Prince concert by the numbers. 

“Darling Nikki” is a funny and cool arrangement. The rolling snare sounds sharp, and the keyboard has a fun dainty sound to it. Prince cleverly avoids singing the lurid lyrics by having the crowd sing some of the more risqué lyrics. The latter part is also a bit of fun, with the bass rumbling well in the speakers while the keyboards provide some thrills and excitement. They even play it right through to the end, complete with the backward finish, which is a treat. 

The start of “When Doves Cry” is pure purple Prince, with the cold passionless Prince singing the main lines while the keyboard plays in the background. It briefly raises my hopes that this too will be played in full, but after a brief drum and keyboard refrain we move on. 

“Fathers Song” is great, although short. Najee plays most of it, and he does a fine job of it. There isn’t too much more to say about it, although it does end with a few moments of him playing Computer Blue, which too is a tease and a treat. 

As with the San Jose concert, the arrangement of “The One,” mixed with “I Would Die 4 U” and “Baby I’m A Star” is outstanding. Over the somber music of “The One” Prince sings one line of “Baby I’m a Star,” and “I Would Die 4 U.” I couldn’t have imagined it working before I first heard it, but it is truly excellent. It runs for two minutes, and that is mostly the music alone before Prince sings his lines near the end. In my view, the concert is worth it just for these couple of minutes. 

Over the music of “God,” Prince works his way through the band introductions before he ends and hands the song over to Najee. Najee seems in his comfort zone here, and he gets a good four minutes to do what he does best. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea- it’s certainly not mine, but it does sound good, he does what he does well. It does feel like the show is coming near the end with this type of song and that’s proved correct as the next song is the final Purple Rain. 

 

There is very little in way of introduction for “Purple Rain,” Prince starts singing almost right from the start. The recording sounded good all the way through, and in this song, you can hear the nice echo of Prince's vocals. You can also pick up some seconds of sweet guitar playing throughout as he sings his lines. Later the more heavy guitar enters and it is here that for the first time in the show it sounds as if Prince is expressing himself. After the initial intro to the guitar that I am used to he goes into his longer improvised section, and it’s now that I listen more carefully and get a lot more out of this show. It’s not fiery, but it is impassioned. The crowd does have its moment near the end, but the recording doesn’t pick them up very well, either they weren’t into it, or the mics just didn’t pick them up. 

This show should have been more to me. It’s a great recording, and it’s got some top songs, and the band is faultless. And yet, as I said time and time again, it was lacking that magic to it. Something was missing, which left the songs sounding ‘nice’ but not great. Prince is in a holding pattern here, the next stage of his career, The Rainbow Children and ONA is very interesting for me, but here he is not quite there yet. He has moved on from his symbol era but hasn’t found his next place yet. But this is a great recording of a decent show, and I can’t fault it for that. A nice listen, but not essential.