Copenhagen 20 October 2010 (am)

 This show appeals to me for several reasons. It’s available on several different bootlegs, which is always a good sign of the quality of the performance. It’s also in Copenhagen and I know Prince has had a couple of other concerts there that I greatly enjoyed. And finally, looking through the setlist I can see that even though it has a couple of songs mid-set that don’t thrill me, there is also a quality opening, and the appearance of “Sticky like glue” has me particularly intrigued. I have no doubt that I have listened to this bootleg several times over the years, but looking at it now I have no recollection, so the best way to remind myself is to have a listen now and break it down. 

20th October 2010, Copenhagen 

There is an enticing keyboard at the beginning of “Stratus” that paints it in a new light for me. As much as I enjoy the musicianship during “Stratus”, often it is a song I could take or leave. Maybe it is just my mood, but today I dig it. It does its job of bringing me into the show and opens the curtain on what sounds like a fantastic atmosphere in the room. I know plenty of people in Denmark read this blog, if anyone was there let me know – there are only 950 people present and it sounds like they are having a great time. Prince drops in and out with his guitar, but what holds my attention for the duration of the song is Renato Neto. Now I am no Renato Neto apologist, but I have to say on this particular recording he sounds sublime, and I enjoy his contribution the most. 

 

Ida on bass and Cassandra on the keyboard make “Sexy Dancer” an entirely different experience. Although Prince is singing, it is these two who make the greatest impression with their groove and funk. The song is only three minutes, but it certainly lifts the tempo of the evening and gets the blood flowing here at home. 

Prince stays in the background and it is Shelby who leads us through “Give it to me Baby”. There is something humorous in Prince covering a Rick James song, and it is a great moment in the gig. Shelby gives a great performance. I don’t say that lightly, I know just as much as anyone how one can tire of her hyping the crowd, but in this case, she sings and emotes just right, providing the song with good energy and bounce. If she was like this for every song I’m sure she would be valued much higher in the Prince community. “Give it to me Baby” is the longest of the medley that it opens, “What have you done for me lately” follows quickly after before that too becomes “Partyman”. The bass is the driving force throughout these songs, and its buoyancy can be clearly through “Partyman” and the following “It’s Alright”. With both songs barely a couple of minutes, there isn’t much to grab on to, and a brief “We party hearty” rounds out this quick-fire medley of firm aftershow favorites from this era. 

As good as this all is, I can’t say I’m too sad when it’s over. Shelia E provides one of her trademark drum breaks, cool and without the fire that I would normally expect. The song and the show meander at this point, but it’s about to get a whole lot better and the following songs are the real meat of the show. 

 

The guitar solo that Prince lavishes “D.M.S.R.” with is immediately headline-grabbing. For the first time in the show, I feel Prince grabbing me by the scruff of my neck and demanding I pay attention. With my attention grabbed, Prince and the band keep the groove going, without letting it become slow or stale. Renato Neto provides another electric solo, it certainly wins me over without ever reaching the same levels of intensity as Prince’s earlier solo. 

The singing contained within “I want to be free” is the sweetest moment of the concert. After Prince sings a beautiful rendition, he hands it over to his backing singers who take it to the heavens with their softness and delicacy.  I am not normally one for singing when it’s not Prince, but in this case, it is exceptional and I must admit I was carried off on the vocal harmonies. This is a song that accents the nuances of a Prince concert, and at 14 minutes it gets all the time it needs to be fully appreciated here at home. For my money, this song is reason enough to listen to this recording. 

I may have spoken too soon. “Sticky like glue” runs at an incredible 13 minutes and shines both in its appearance and its performance. It gets the extended introduction that it deserves and is all the better for it as the audience marinates in the groove for the first few minutes. The song does stick like glue, the beat and rhythm stuck in my head long after, at almost 15 minutes there is joy in the repetition of the beat and groove. Embellished by a light piano solo from Renato, and a bass solo from Ida, the song moves across several instruments, yet retains its core sound. Like the previous song, it is the vocalists I am finally drawn to, as they close out the song with several minutes of their own groove and sway. It serves as a fitting end to the main part of the performance and Prince and the band take a well-deserved break at this point. 

It is Prince’s guitar that introduces the band back to the stage for an instrumental performance of “Guitar”. As much as it is about the guitar, I find it is lacking a focus without the vocals and although Prince does embellish it with several solos before he eventually comes to the microphone, it still fails to fire as far as I’m concerned. 

 

The next few minutes come as a complete contrast as a more soulful performance follows. First, there is an instrumental version of “How come you don’t call me anymore” that is gentle on the ear, before the singers offer an equally soft rendition of James Brown’s “Please, please, please”. It is short but is a crowd-pleaser as they continue to sing and clap the song for several minutes after it has finished. I have already praised the vocal performances at this gig, but here again, they are at the fore and a real high point. 

I can hardly contain myself as the band play “Which way is up”. I am normally quite restrained, but this has a serious groove to it, both Shelby’s vocals and Prince’s guitar give it some meat and it comes on hard and funky. It does become nothing more than chanting and guitar, but that’s fine with me as the groove is the important thing, and it never once lets up as the band rides it until the very end. 

The concert is finished with “Dreamer” – all guitar and heavy groove. Prince signals his intent from the start with his guitar tone set to “ominous” and the song lives up to this with the guitar appearing with a murderous howl throughout. When not soloing, Prince has it riff-heavy underneath, giving the song some rock credentials to match his flash on the breaks. The song does lose momentum as Prince has the crowd sing along, but I can’t fault it for that, after all, it is all about the live performance rather than what I am listening to here at home. The song and the show come to a fitting end with the audience chanting for the last four minutes, which very much puts me in mind of another great bootleg in Copenhagen. Listening to shows like this I think that they are the best fans, and I admire them for their input and love of the music. 

Overall, this recording wasn’t quite what I expected, but like most Prince concerts I was won over in the end. The crowd was exceptional, and apart from a couple of songs early on that suffered from over-familiarity, I found the remainder of the show arresting. A nice little bootleg and probably something I would listen to a lot more if not for the 100’s others circulating. The one fact that became apparent as I listened to this, I definitely need to get over to Copenhagen sometime!