Last week’s show was almost too much for me. I loved listening to the show, and three hours of Prince was just brilliant, it’s just that writing about a three-hour show isn’t as much fun as listening to a three-hour show. This week I have reined things in a little, and I have gone for a shorter show played at the same venue a few months previous. Today I am listening to the Viage show from July 2010. It’s got a different vibe from the November show, and the set list is quite different. It’s also much shorter, which suits me just fine this week. I can’t remember if it’s good or not, so I’m looking forward to taking a listen and finding out.
11th July 2010. Viage, Brussels
The first half of the show is very Larry Graham heavy, and when I look closer I see that indeed Prince is guesting with Larry Graham and GSC initially. The start of the show is a nice change from what we normally hear, and I like hearing Larry Graham on the microphone singing his songs. The first song of the recording is “People,” we are missing the songs played before that at the show. “People” has a nice fat sound to it, and with Larry Graham singing in his deep voice it does feel like I am being smothered in a warm comfortable sound. The sound of it takes me right back to when I was a child and hearing this type of music, and listening to it now I feel very at ease and relaxed. Larry does talk to the crowd for some time midsong, and it’s hard not to hang on his every word- his voice commands your attention. It’s a very good song to ease into the recording.
I am not the least bit surprised to hear “Dance To The Music” next. After a slow start, the band suddenly begins to bounce as the horns sharpen things up. I enjoy the version on this recording, the band is sounding sharper, and having the song earlier in the show gets things moving. On other recordings, it seems to appear near the end of the shows and is a throw-away. In this show it’s played much more carefully, and passionately. The singing is lively, but it’s the horns that steal the show. They are so bright sounding and lift the sound of the song right up. Prince is still deep in the band, playing guitar, and as yet I haven’t heard him make his mark on the show. It’s very much Larry Graham for the next few songs.
“The Jam” follows up nicely to “Dance To The Music,” and I can hear more of Prince's guitar playing now. He is still playing in the band, but I do hear his guitar sound early in the song. “The Jam” follows its usual template, and every member of the band is heard. As I say every week, it’s the organ I like the most, and this one is no exception. It’s a nice moment, and the only thing that counts against it is Prince takes a short guitar break straight after which makes me forget it immediately. It’s not an outstanding break, and it’s not turned up to 11, but it’s still an enjoyable moment. There is also the usual call and response with the crowd, and the crowd sing Larry Graham as well as GCS. As much as I enjoy it all I do begin to lose interest after about five minutes, and just as I think nothing more interesting might happen Prince gives a very cool, sharp guitar break. The song rolls by easily after this another couple of keyboard solos.
The bass of “Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Again)” starts and again this is a very tidy rendition. The bass is nice and sharp in my left ear, and the horns again sound sharp and lively. The horns do disappear for periods, and that’s a shame as the song sounds like a different beast altogether when they are in there. There is a funky guitar break provided by Prince, it's understated and doesn’t rate too highly on my funkometer©. The song swirls and shimmers later as it goes on, and it does work itself into my head for some time afterward. The second guitar break is sharper and shorter, and this time I find more to recommend it. I am just beginning to sing along when the song segues straight into “I Want To Take You Higher.”
This is the high point of the Larry Graham set. Everything I have enjoyed and commented on in the earlier songs is present in this finale. Larry is in good voice, and the organ is loud and swirling, there are lots of horns, and funky guitar licks from Prince. The recording has a fuller, party sound to it, and this feeling is emphasized when Frédéric Yonnet plays a very lively harmonica solo. I am in no way a fan of the harmonica, but it does have its charms on this recording and is played with a fierceness and passion that is infectious. I would even go so far as to say I would like to hear more of it. Predictably the song builds to a crowd-pleasing climax with horns, keyboards, and chants before it closes with a minute of the crowd alone singing “higher”. It’s a fitting end to a great set from Larry Graham.
“When Will We B Paid” has a brilliant start. The piano and keyboard play stabs at each other, each getting louder and louder as other instruments join the mix. The harmonica joins the fray, as Shelby and Liv begin to sing “When will we be paid, for the work we have done” The band quietens initially as Shelby begins to sing, but they build back up to the previous levels soon enough. The drums join halfway through, and the song gains a second wind. Shelby sounds very good, and she’s right in the song and not over the top at all. It’s a classy performance and a song I rate very highly on this recording.
Next up is a drum break. It doesn’t amount to much, it’s listed as a drum solo, but I have heard much better in my life. This one lacks direction, and never really takes off. In its favor, it’s only a couple of minutes, and the show isn’t derailed too much.
“You Bring Me Joy/Be Happy” is all Shelby. It’s very smooth sounding, and Shelby is well suited to it. The first half is her singing while the band grooves smoothly behind her. There is a short guitar break from Prince before Shelby sings the next verse. The song continues in this way verse/guitar/verse, and it’s sweet to listen to. It’s very polished, and later in the song, we hear Prince on the mic for the first time as he encourages the audience to show their love for Larry Graham. I should also make mention of the guitar and piano tickling underneath the groove, a nice line to listen along to. The bass also draws my attention later in the song, and I am right into it as it finishes.
There is a wild card entry next as the band plays an unexpected version of “Cream.” It seems a lot of the crowd don’t immediately pick it, and it’s only after Prince’s first line that they cheer. The song is a nice fit for the after-show, it’s not as pop sounding, and some of the different elements are stronger, giving me more to listen to. The keys have a good shimmer to them, and the guitar sound is louder in the mix throughout the song. Prince plays his customary guitar break before there is some nice interplay between the organ, guitar, and harmonica. I like the extra dimensions added, and it moves further away from the recorded version as the band plays off each other for the latter part of the song. Prince doesn’t sing much after his guitar break, its instrumental with Shelby singing the refrain over and over. The guitar and harmonica both get stronger, as well as the piano, and it maintains my interest through to the end of the song. The song draws out to near the ten-minute mark, and it's a very nice surprise, I got a lot out of this song.
We get another treat next as Prince plays a song off the 20TEN album. “Future Soul Song” gets the full treatment from Prince as he requests for the lights to be turned down. There is a cascade of guitar sounds before the girls start singing with some great harmonies, and I am reminded of just how good they sound together. The girls sing the title a few times while the music keeps on the beat behind. Prince himself doesn’t sing, but he does speak to the crowd a lot, eventually having them sing along with the girls. And then just after this he does sing, but he doesn’t croon, instead, he sings directly to the crowd, ad-libbing words to include them. There is another very tidy harmonica solo, and I am warming to this guy. The song then retreats a little, and it’s mostly the crowd singing and clapping along while the girls sing the refrain. It comes to a soft landing, and although very pleasant there wasn’t anything that I could latch on to.
There isn’t any time to reflect on what I have just heard as the band picks up the beat of “All The Critics Love U In Belgium” immediately. The crowd picks up the clapping as the bass rolls over and over. This is another song I enjoy, and although it’s not as fierce as it used to be, it still pushes me along at a good rate. Some of the sharpness of the 80’s sound is missing, but I can hear the quality of the band. As you might expect Prince sings it as “All the critics love U in Belgium”. The instrument I hear most is the harmonica, it’s playing in the groove, and it stands out just a little bit more than everything else. Prince calls to Shelby to bring some people up as the band sings “dance, dance”. The song takes on a very bare laid back sound, nothing leaps out of the speakers at me, and it rolls along in its own time. There is a solo from Renato, but it lacks any real intensity or fire, and pretty much sums up my feeling for most of this song on this recording. There is a very fun part as Prince has the men and women in the crowd doing ‘Meows’. He has them eating out the palm of his hand, and it does make me smile as I listen here at home.
“Sexy Dancer” sounds much more intense right from the start. I am temporarily thrown as the girls sing Le Freak over it, in retrospect, it was entirely predictable and I should have seen it coming. I listen carefully but eventually decide that I don’t like it. I would prefer to hear one or the other, but not both songs. The ever-dependable harmonica makes a return, and my mood lifts considerably. Things get even better as for the first time in the show Prince plugs in and turns up with a soaring guitar solo. He returns to earth to get down and dirty with it, and the song takes a turn. With the girls singing ‘I know you got soul’ the band strips back to a beat, the bass, and a series of stabs.
I don’t recognize the bass line, but it’s listed as “Partyman,” and as soon as I read that I think, ‘oh yes, of course.’ The girls sing “Northside” as the band moves into groove territory. There are a few songs thrown into the mix, and we hear snatches of “Water,” “I Wish” and “What Have You Done For Me Lately.” It’s a party jam, and even sitting at home I find myself grooving along. Prince is deep in the band, and we don’t hear too much of him in this song. We do however hear the harmonica again, and I wonder if Prince secretly aspires to play it himself. The harmonica gets a good long solo before the band stops leaving just the drum beat playing. The drum plays in and out with the crowd chanting ‘party’ before it eventually stops leaving just the crowd chanting.
There is a break as the crowd chants and claps before Prince returns to play “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore.” A solo piano plays and with the crowd accompanying him Prince plays a gentle version of the song. It’s devoid of any intensity or passion, and although it sounds good, I feel Prince isn’t truly invested in the song. For all that though, this is the most Prince-orientated moment of the show, and for the first and only time, we get to hear him sing and play. There is a great moment as he begins to sing Please Please Please with the backing singers behind him, and it’s got a classic feel to it. The harmonica also chimes in at this point, adding its unique sound to the mix. With a final “please, please, please, don’t go” Prince does indeed go, thus ending the show.
This recording differs from most that I listen to, in that Prince himself does very little singing, and his sound isn’t all over every track. It is however very good, and the fact that Prince isn’t front and center for the show doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of it. This wouldn’t be the first thing I would listen to if I wanted to hear an aftershow, but it was a nice listen on a relaxing afternoon.
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