Chicago 25 September 2012

 Today I continue my journey by looking at main shows and after shows from the same night. This week I am taking in a 2012 concert from Chicago, with the aftershow to follow next week. This is part of a string of shows Prince played in Chicago at this time, playing three main shows and two after shows. The concert I will be listening to is the performance from the United Centre on the 25th of September, followed by an aftershow at House Of Blues in the early morning of the 26th. The main show offers no surprises, it is a standard set of the time, while the aftershow provides the usual mix of covers and jams. Across the two there seems little here to differentiate these performances from any other, but as I have found time and time again, listening to the recording can reveal much more than we see on the surface. 

25th September 2012. United Centre, Chicago 

The drawn-out introduction of “Let’s Go Crazy” is the first point of interest in the recording. The curtain of synth that heralds the oncoming spectacle lingers far beyond what we normally hear, with the only other input coming from the first sparks of excitement generated by Prince’s guitar. When the song does kick into gear it becomes less compelling, the vocals impulsive, but unmatched by the music, Prince’s call of “turn me up” is unanswered, and the guitar sound remains neutered for the end of the song. 

It is the keyboard stabs that provide the driving energy to “Delirious,” the concert propelled forward on the back of the contagious energy. It is an unbridled performance that better starts the show, Morris Hayes adding some depth to the pop, his keyboard adding a richness to the otherwise sharp sound. 

 

The final coda of “Let’s Go Crazy” leaves me with mixed feelings. The “on no, let’s go” chant adds nothing to the bootleg, but the more guttural sound of Prince’s guitar hits at something far more substantial, the song ending in an equilibrium. 

“1999” is a feel-good song, and it has the desired effect as I feel good throughout. The crowd is vocal throughout the song, as one they cheer and sing, and even though this is an audience recording, it puts the band first and foremost, the audience noise merely adding color to the recording. 

Prince chooses just the right moment to insert “Shhh” into the setlist, the pop and sparkle from the opening songs giving way to a more serious and mature sound. It comes as no surprise to see it appear at this point of the concert, looking back at many of these recordings as we see it popping up at about this time. It is one of the more weighty moments of the concert and sees Prince striking a powerful blow early in the show, a heavy-weight punch reminding us that we are listening to one of music’s great heavy weights. 

Prince takes us back to the 1980s for “Let’s Work.” As much as I like the song and the performance, it is lacking in the strong bass sound as it should, despite Prince’s call for “more bass.” It is an average moment of the recording and gets a pass based purely on its nostalgic value. 

“U Got The Look” is equally lackluster, this time it is Prince’s guitar that remains too far in the background. I do find myself singing along, but this isn’t the song that would make me recommend the bootleg. Prince’s final guitar stanza is louder but contains very little fire and fury, all flash and no show. 

 

The first moments of “Sometimes It Snows In April” are stunning, but the moment is lost as audience chatter takes over and drops me out of the moment. The song itself has its understated elegance, but with audience chat constantly breaking the mood it amounts to little. 

This flat spot of the concert is rounded out by the appearance of Andy Allo and “People Pleaser.” A good song, and fine performance, it fails to fire with the audience, and even on the recording, it sounds flat and hard work. The crowd remains unmoved and this leadens the mood of the recording. Coupled with the previous few songs this part of the show drags, despite the best efforts of Prince and the band. 

The ship is righted with a quickfire performance of “She’s Always In My Hair.” Although only two minutes in length, Prince regains the enthusiasm of the audience, and many can be heard murmuring appreciation as the open riff cries out. Prince keeps the performance neatly manicured, the guitar solo being both the high point and the closing salvo of the number. 

We stay with the aggressive guitar tones for  “Dreamer,” a song that is steeped in steely lyrics and guitar venom to match.  His speech mid-song still rings every bit as true today and backs up the lyrics he is singing. I am not normally one for mid-song speeches, but in this case, it works and the guitar break that follows matches his words for feeling and as a statement. 

 

It’s hard for me to be objective about the blues version of  “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man,” I love it without reservation. This version is just as smoldering and made all the more affecting by the audience singing at Prince’s prompting. The guitar break has the guitar weeping in the hands of Prince, the emotion and feeling of earlier in the song made all the more real as Prince turns it into a tormented cry. Prince's final talk to the crowd does detract from the previously scaled heights, but the song stills stand monumentally above the surrounding tracklist. 

Andy Allo returns for “Take Me With U,” a song that seems to go over extremely well with the audience. Andy adds brightness, and with its generally upbeat sound, the concert turns purely pop for a few minutes. The best part though perhaps lies in the final minute as Prince turns this pop sound darker with an ominous piece of guitar work that brings the song to a definitive full stop. 

Hearing “Raspberry Beret” straight after is no surprise, although it is refreshing in this case not to have it segued from “Take Me With U.” It appears as a separate entity, and I find it all the better for it. It is short (especially in comparison to “Take Me With U” which stretched to five minutes) but its inclusion is welcomed and appreciated. 

Prince rounds out this trifecta of pop hits with a sedate rendition of “Cream.” The only spikiness, or indeed interest, comes from the sharpness the horns bring, otherwise, it is business as usual with a smooth rendition. 

It’s hard to tell where “Cool” ends and “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” starts and Prince intertwines the two with finesse, making them both sound like one long continuous jam. It is a celebratory moment, and even listening at home one can hear home much of a party is ignited in the arena by this performance. These types of songs don’t always work on bootlegs, but in this case, it carries across well on the recording, making for another eminently enjoyable moment. 

“Nothing Compares 2 U” is a showstopper. The appearance of Jennifer Hudson is a masterstroke, her vocals bringing a sense of shock and awe to the performance. It is almost a spiritual moment, and this is heightened by the solo provided by Morris Hayes on Princes’s command to “bring em to church”. The keyboard maestro obliges with a solo that has me both fearing God and bathed in his light. In a show that is three hours long, this is a song that passes us by in a flash, leaving me wishing that it could go on for longer. 

 

There is an air of predictability about “Purple Rain” and the first few minutes live up to that feeling as the song goes steadily through its paces. This changes with the arrival of Prince’s guitar break, as he once again lifts the song from another 1980s power ballad into something otherworldly. The first howl of guitar inflames the recording, and from here on in it's an emotive and riveting experience. As the final strains fade, I feel well satisfied, but the concert is far from over yet. 

There is very little time to reflect on the previous “Purple Rain,” as the bootleg takes us directly to the first encore of “Controversy.” It is an electrifying performance from the outset, with the insistent keyboard riff creating a tension that can only be released by the scratch guitar sound of Prince. The main riff itself is powerfully intoxicating, and even though the song is 30 years old at the time of this recording, it remains just as compelling as ever. The “Housquake” chanting is unnecessary, “Controversy” itself contains funk for days, and the chant only undoes some of its power. 

The recording sees a pause in the action before we return to a free-flowing and lucid “How Come You Don’t Call Me.” After the previous fireworks, its stripped-back sound is welcome. Prince hovers and lingers over the lyrics, drawing as much as he can from its bare bones and imbuing it with a sense of emotion that belies its bare form. 

 

The sampler set remains what has always been, a tease that demonstrates the vastness of Prince’s hit collection. “When Doves Cry” deserves far more than what we get here, but what can Prince do with a catalog such as his. “Nasty Girl” probably gets what it’s worth in this case, a mere taster and reminder of where he has been. The most interesting part of its 20 seconds is Prince calling to John to get ready for “Kiss”, a pointer to where the full band will rejoin at a later stage. 

“Sign O The Times” sounds the same on the sampler as it does on record, and so too does “Hot Thing.” Their electronic leanings are served well by the sampler and little is lost by not having a band performance. 

“Forever In My Life” promises more, and there is just enough time for us to appreciate its sentiment before the arrival of a song from the opposite end of the lust/love spectrum – “Darling Nikki.” No words are required, the riff enough to conjure the song to the front of the mind. 

“Mr. Goodnight” is short and sweet, both in sound and sentiment, and the following “I Would Die 4 U” swallows it up in sound and energy. 

John and the band add their weight to “Kiss.” The song doesn’t seem to have its usual propulsion, although it’s hard to discern why this might be. The finest part of the song is the final moments as Prince dances to the barest of beats, although we are robbed of seeing this on the audio recording. 

There follows a monstrous performance of “Little Red Corvette,” a song that Prince pulls and pushes in several directions over the next ten minutes. From the long drawn-out intro, through the pop of the original, to the final mournful moments, Prince plays with the song like putty in his hands. The crowd are willing accomplices and follow Prince with his whims, always on hand to provide whatever vocals and moods that Prince requires. At ten minutes, it is a shade too long, and it does languish towards the end. For all this though, it is a great performance and one of the more memorable moments in the recording. 

The end of the show is an unstoppable jam building the groove set down by “Act Of God.” The song sounds fresh in this setting and is a natural bed for the other songs to lie in. “What Have You Done For Me Lately” is a natural fit, and the song squelches easily across the two. It takes a drum break to switch us up into “(Theme Song From) Which Way Is Up,” a song that gives Shelby to shine brightly as the end of the concert looms large. It is only fitting that “Partyman” is the last song of this jam, Prince is the party-man personified as he and his music turn a mere concert into a communal party.  It is traditional for Prince concerts to end with a party, and this one is no different as Prince raises the energy levels one last time before the finale. 

At three hours long, this show had a bit of everything, although to be honest, three hours was a little too long, and there was a moment mid-setlist where it did drag and the audience wasn’t quite as engaged as they could have been. If the test of a good bootleg is “Would I listen to it again,” then in that case this certainly passes. Without being stunning, it nevertheless covers all the bases with a steady audience recording. The setlist managed to touch every part of Prince’s back catalog, and I look forward to listening to the aftershow from the same night and seeing how it compares.