Minneapolis 18 January 2013 (show 2)

 It’s taken me a long time to reach this final show in the Dakota series, much longer than I originally planned. I got sidetracked a couple of times by the piano and microphone shows, but today I finally get to the final show. Another one billed as a surprise, it again features 3rdeyegirl. It’s very similar to the first show of the evening, and I don’t expect too many surprises at all. Although similar I will give it a listen, I haven’t listened to any Prince this week and it sure beats watching “The Bachelor” with my partner! 

18th January 2013 (show 2)  Dakota Jazz Club Minneapolis 

It’s raining, I haven’t had a great day at work, but all that is forgotten, and I feel much better as the recording starts with Oasis's “Champagne Supernova” played over the PA, now there’s a band I would never associate with Prince. The scene is set as Prince adjusts his guitar, asking for it to be turned up several times before the band kick into “Endorphinmachine.” I feel energized just hearing it, although it’s not the greatest version out there it still gets the pulse racing with that crunching guitar. Prince’s vocals are not forward enough to my ears, luckily it’s all about the guitar for this one and he certainly gives us plenty of that- especially in the latter part of the song where he unleashes. 

The same as the first show we next get “Screwdriver” in the mix. It debuted at the earlier show, here it gets a second outing.  Of the two I prefer this one, the band is tighter and I can hear the bass much better. Just like “Endorphinmachine,” it’s as the song progresses that we get much more guitar fireworks. As I mentioned in the early show, it has a lot of life to it, and rumbles along at a great rate and bounces out of the speakers at me. The crowd interaction near the end is also a lot of fun, even with Prince’s ramblings. The song leaves me on a high, and I am surprised to find myself enjoying a relatively new song so much. 

I am very pleased to hear “Beautiful Strange” gets another outing after the early show. I thought it was the best part of the early show, and I am delighted to find that this time it’s even better. Prince’s vocals are fantastic, I was going to mention that I can hear people talking during the recording, but Prince silences them when he tells those talking to be quiet and the music and singing intensify. Fantastic stuff, I never want the song to end. Unfortunately, I can still hear the audience chat during the song, and that detracts greatly from the moment. Asides from that, it’s a total knockout. 

The audience talk and chat is still quite prominent as “Purple Rain” begins. It starts with a bare piano before the guitar quietly begins to play. I would normally be raving about this type of thing, but sadly I am constantly distracted by the audience's conversation. The long intro is beautiful, if I could just block out that inane chatter I would be a happy man. It’s almost five minutes before Prince sings, and it’s at this point I finally enjoy it more as he drowns out the chatter, for a short time at least. The guitar break has a high tone to it and lacks some of the depth and power that I expect, the one good thing is it is nice and loud. 

With plenty of howling guitar as an intro, it is fitting that the next song is “Guitar” itself. The recording for these louder rock songs is much better, and although I may not like the songs as much, they sound better. I thought “Guitar” might have been squeezed much more, Prince plays plenty of guitar and I was expecting it to go much longer than what we get. I can’t complain at all, the guitar is the hero, and just like the first couple of songs, it’s just the tonic I need this evening. 

Things stay on track with “I Like It There,” and the band sounds nicely in their groove by now. In this case, they do play the heck out of, and there is plenty of enjoyment for the audience to have as well. Prince’s guitar has a great howl to it, like wind on a stormy night. I like it as the band breaks it down and there is plenty of space for some rhythm guitar and singing along with the crowd. Inoffensive, and easy to listen to, it has a great live vibe to it. 

As the opening riff of “She’s Always In My Hair” begins I have an involuntary surge of excitement. That guitar line is like a drug to me, and I can feel a physical reaction as it begins. Prince sounds good and drops to a lower register a couple of lines in the song which sounds cool. As always it’s the second part of the song where it begins to fly and the soaring guitars have me giddy like a teenager. Don’t be fooled, this isn’t one of the great performances, it’s just a song that I get a lot of enjoyment out of today. The bass especially hits me and I wish I could turn it up to eleven. There is an unexpected appearance of Liv Warfield, and she contributes something a bit different with her addition, and I am pleased to hear her. Equally the call and response work surprisingly well, and upon reconsideration, I think will be a recording I will come back to especially as it stretches out to the 13-minute mark. 

Prince closed the early show with “Dreamer,” this time it shows up in the middle of the set. As much as I want to like it, it is a come-down after “She’s Always In My Hair.” I feel it much more as it takes an upswing mid-song, and Liv comes on board again. It lightens it, and I have a bounce in my step as I listen along. There’s a shot of funk in it, and the show sounds quite lively at this point. It does end with a scorching guitar from Prince and at this point I am well and truly sold on it. 

The audience chat is again heard as the gentle “Liathach” is heard. This is one song that I have grown to love, and it’s an absolute pleasure to listen to it here. Slow building to the guitar crunch, I am slowly drawn in before that guitar hits me. Most of the song I sit swaying from side to side, I don’t care what anyone thinks, I am completely lost in the song. 

The spell is broken as “Bambi” roars into life next. Prince introduces it with “We’d like to do another ballad right here” -always good for a laugh is our Prince.  How good is the bass? -it’s very good! If there was ever a song for this band, this would be it. It’s loud when it needs to be, sharp when it needs to be, and all in all, it’s a good time. There comes that moment when Prince just leans back and plays and it’s so natural and pure sounding, well that is the moment I live for. And then to top it all off, there’s a drum solo that I like. 

“Check The Record” is short and doesn’t stand out from anything else in the evening. It's fairly generic sounding, and I find it to be a space filler until the next song begins. 

“Cause And Effect” is a fun-filled crowd-pleasing song. When I reflect on it I don’t find much, but sitting back and taking it in, it’s a good old time. Prince’s vocals are easy to listen to, and there is plenty of guitar action for those who like that sort of thing, and it’s never over the top.  It could never be considered a classic, although it has its charms. There is a looseness and feeling that the show is coming to an end as Prince and the band mellows into a groove that drifts along. 

The best is saved for last as Prince and the band plays a version of “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man” that floors me. The smoky, bluesy, dark version here is a show stopper. Prince’s vocals are heavy sounding, but in my opinion, it’s the guitar tone that captures the emotion and mood of the song. Sure, the vocals are good, but my word, it’s that guitar that steals the show, especially as the vocals drop out and it begins to howl. The next few minutes are raw emotional guitar, and even if the recording isn’t great I still love every moment of it. The call and response are great, as is the spoken word by Prince to the crowd. It’s a real rock and roll moment that connects with me, even if it is too short. The song suddenly stops at this point, just as I was hungry for much more. 

With that, the show is finished and I am left to reflect on not just this show, but this series of shows. I want to say this show was the pick of them, but honestly, I am someone who is always of the time, and whatever I am listening to or doing is “the best”. This show certainly had some high points, and when I break it down, this was the one where I enjoyed more songs, so on a pure number games, yes, it is the best. This series of six shows promised a lot, and yet by the end of it, I felt like they had never quite reached the heights I had hoped. What I did like was that they showcased different aspects of Prince's musical persona and at different times I was heavily into each recording. However, they were inconsistent and ultimately unsatisfying. That said, I will always give credit to something different and challenging and from that point of view, these shows gave me a variety of experiences that were fun to listen to. I think in the future I will come back to these again, but to nibble at rather than consume whole.