Montreux 13 July 2013

 Looking at Montreux 2013 the setlist is everything I could want. There are plenty of oddities and rarities, and songs that I just flat out love. There are three nights to the Montreux shows, I will cover all of them, one at a time. There is almost too much to digest! First up, let’s take a listen to the first night. 

13 July 2013, Montreux 

The show opens with the sound of storms and thunder played over the P.A. Typically, thunder seems to be a recurring theme throughout Prince’s career. The recording is great, and the sound of the crowd chanting and cheering sounds crisp without overbearing the recording. This is a soundboard recording I should add, and right from the start, it sounds great. 

“Strays Of The World” begins the show, and it gives us a good chance for us to listen to the backup singers. I am enjoying it already, the band sounds nice and full, it is the full NPG with horns, and there is some very nice organ playing which gives it a round sound, before some sharp crisp guitar playing. Nothing too fancy, no flurry of notes, nice and gentle. I am surprised how much I enjoy it, normally I am not one for syrupy songs like this, but it draws me in nicely. I especially enjoy the horn flourish that ends the song. 

The tempo and show start with the next song as they play “Days Of Wild.” Prince’s voice is strong and has an excellent slight echo on it. This will be forever a head-bobbing song for me, and I just can’t help myself as the song goes on. Prince mixes things up a little when he says “Oh, by the way, Donna plays guitar” and she plays a very un-Donna type solo. The song sounds a little smoother than I like, it’s missing the fire in it, but it sounds great all the same. This gets better as it progresses and Prince sounds in fine form. There is some excellent horn playing near the end, and this is the part of the song I enjoy the most at this gig. The song ends at about the six-minute mark, and I only wish it could have gone on for 10 or 12. All in all, excellent. 

 

“Big City” was unfamiliar to me. I do enjoy it, it’s got a modern smooth feel to me, but it’s not very memorable to my ears. I do enjoy the extended horn section, it adds a new dimension to the Prince sound. I wouldn’t want him to go this path too often, but here I do enjoy it. The only thing I remember about the song when it finishes is how great all those horns sounded. 

The horns lead us nicely into “Super Conductor.” It’s much more upbeat, and although my head isn’t nodding, my feet are tapping. Prince has a chance to engage with the audience and leads a quick call and response before the horns start to work on 1999. 

The horns are very present in “1999”, but the keyboards hold their own against them. The horns do add a nice flourish here and there though. Prince singing on this is very good, the best I have heard him sing on “1999” for a long time. He sounds engaged with it, rather than running over it on autopilot. There is a great thumping beat as we enter the “Parrtttyyy” section, and the crowd gets on board nicely. I am really happy to hear that the funky guitar has not been forgotten and it does get a brief break near the end of the song before the horn section takes us out. 

“Mutiny” is nicely mixed up with “Ice Cream Castles.” It confuses my ears and brain a little, but if I was hearing it fresh it would be fine. Princes’ singing is strong and passionate, but to me, the band sounds a little too sterile, just a fraction too note-perfect. It sounds like a criticism, but I dig this one. There are some cool lyric changes, again I wouldn’t normally condone such a thing, but it’s just too enjoyable. The horns close it out again, to quite a cheer from the crowd and me too. I am a fan of this one. 

There is a brief pause as Prince speaks, and what follows next is a highlight for me, “Old Friends 4 Sale.” True, it’s the modern version with the lyrics changed, but that doesn’t for a minute diminish the music. The horns threaten to take over, but they hold back just enough. Prince’s voice is the best thing in this song, such a melody. This has been a long-time favorite of mine, and I am just so happy to hear it live. It’s only two and a half minutes, but it’s an early highlight. 

“People Pleaser” is one of those songs that I would like to hear more of. It’s very well suited for this gig, and once again the horns drive it along. It would have been good to hear a long jammed-out version, but the song quickly segues into “Ain’t Gonna  Miss U When U’re Gone.” Even this is very abridged, and comes and goes very quickly. It sounds fun but much too short. 

I never expected to hear “F.U.N.K.”! If I hadn’t read the setlist first I would have fallen off my chair when this started. It sounds good, not as angry as it could have been. But again, the quality of this recording is so good that everything sounds great. Cassandra plays a very cool keyboard solo, unlike anything else I could compare it to. Very quirky and cool. 

Again, “Dark” is another song that I would have never guessed. I listened to versions of this from the nineties the other week, and it sounds just as good here, if not better. Prince sings it very clean and the horns add some nice color to it. To be honest, this is a highlight to me, it is very fresh sounding. I could listen to its easy groove all day, and Prince’s voice is heavenly. It’s smooth when it needs to be, and passionate when it needs to be. There is some nice saxophone here, and the backing singers are right on point. There is a great funny moment that made me laugh when Prince lets out a squeal and then says “I almost got myself pregnant then!” This is a top performance all around. 

“Something In the Water (Does Not Compute)” is a favorite to most people, myself included. Their arrangement here is sparse, just Prince and a piano, and I think that’s how I like it the most. We have had a heavier full-on version recently with 3rdeyegirl, but for me, the song played with just Prince vocals and the piano is what it is all about. Cassandra adds some extra flourishes to it on the piano, and it’s another highlight in a show full of highlights. It’s got a great ‘late night’ sound to it, and it's something I will be listening to much more in the future. 

“Courting Time” gives Prince a break, and the horns get a moment to take over. It’s very good, and I can’t fault it, but really I’m just here for Prince, and in that aspect, it is sadly lacking. 

The setlist has another surprise with “Xpectation.” It’s an opportunity for some of the band to get heard, and there is a fine little keyboard solo, as well as a decent guitar break. Nothing earth-shattering, but all fine and enjoyable. The bass break is a bit faster and more my thing, and it gets me nodding again. It gets better when Prince starts the crowd chanting, and the band starts cooking. It’s only for a couple of minutes like this, but it nicely leads us into “Get On The Boat.” 

“Get On The Boat” is not often listened to by me. So listening to it here is like listening to a new song for me. It’s better than I remember, and things start swinging again. I am happier when I hear Prince say “Can we jam a little bit” and there is some fast piano playing. The song then gets played out nice and long, with plenty of keys, horns, and even a flute. Well, who knew I liked horns so much? Certainly not me until I found myself bobbing along and loving this. With the overall sound of the keys, horns, and percussion, it’s almost a Latin feel. You can add it to my list of favorites from this recording. 

“School Boy Crush” was unknown to me. A cover of a song by The Average White band, it is another chance for Prince to play with the expanded NPG and his enlarged horn section. (See what I did there?) The song has a nice groove and there is some cool guitar just looping along underneath all the horns. It is very horn dominated, but I am rapidly growing to love the full horn sound. 

Next is another cover – “We’re A Winner.” Normally I would bemoan all these covers and the lack of Prince’s own material, but the truth is that this is a great addition to the setlist. I am just getting very excited about it, and how great it sounds when the band quickly changes and begins “I Never Loved A Man.” A real shame, I very much enjoyed the brief part they played. 

 

“I Never Loved A Man” is played even shorter, just a verse before it all changes again. I find it frustrating as both these songs promised so much. 

“Satisfied” follows these short medleys and gets a much more full treatment. I heard this song a few times during his 21 nights concerts, but here it sounds even better. His singing is faultless and the backing vocals are very strong and add fullness to it. Prince doesn’t add too much to the song, but it is a very strong version, and it fits well in the setlist. 

Prince gets the crowd clapping along for “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing.” It’s only short and played as part of the general medley. There is a deviation in Prince's “I got too many hits” when he tells the crowd “I’ve got too many hits, I play mine and everyone else’s”. The music sounds great, but there isn’t much singing, again it’s the horns that push it along. 

We are back in more familiar Prince territory with the kicking beat of “Housequake.” Prince sounds like he is having fun, and the song sounds the freshest I have heard for ages. Again I am bitterly disappointed when it ends after the second verse. Oh, Prince, it could have been so much more this night! 

The next song is “The Jam,” and finally, the band gets to jam like I have been waiting for. It’s a classic jam song, with every band member getting name-checked and a chance to do their thing. I am particularly impressed by Donna, who is very restrained and plays a very cool line. The whole jam is pretty smooth, and it’s just what I expect them to play at Montreux. 

“The Bird” isn’t as wild as I would like. This time the smoothness of the band counts against them. The sound is good, but it’s slightly lacking the deep funky groove. The horns are an interesting addition, but I am not a fan of them on this one. I cringe when Prince says “we getting funky” – a sure sign that it ain’t that funky. 

The song ends, and I realize that the last 7 or 8 songs have all been played as a continuous medley. Not too bad at all, sure it had highs and lows, but overall it was very well done, and it certainly demonstrated all the strengths of the band. 

Of course, this band is custom-made for a song like “Musicology.” They play it very well, but by this point, I am finding that the setlist is lacking a little variety. This is a similar song to what we have been listening to for the last half hour. I don’t want to criticize the song, but I am feeling a little jaded when it plays. As the only Shelby J fan in the world, I do enjoy her vocals on this, but for me, this song is a bridge too far. 

All is forgiven when the band plays “Extralovable.” This is one of those songs that I just can’t get enough of. The big band treatment isn’t exactly what I would choose to listen to, but I still love that main riff. It’s a head bobber from the start, and this is the song on the recording where I just want to close my eyes and enjoy it to the max. Just a shame I can’t type with my eyes closed. I was a little concerned that Prince may play a shortened version of this, but it does get its full moment. The horns are all over it, sounds good, but I could have done with a little more keyboard in there. But that’s just personal preference, really this sounds great. There is some heavy deep sound near the end of it, and it hits a deep groove with some nice simple clean guitar. It ends with a couple of horn squeals, and it leaves me wanting so much more. 

“Purple Rain” finds Prince singing in a way I have not heard before. He sings the same lyrics, but differently from what I have previously heard. Normally I cringe when I have to write about “Purple Rain,” it’s featured on so many recordings, and there is only so much you can say about it, but this version gives us something different again. His vocal stylings are very interesting and he does give a touching monologue about Claude Nobs. This is the first version of “Purple Rain” that I have heard in years that I didn’t want to skip. You might think I would miss the guitar solo, but I barely noticed it wasn’t there. It was an emotional and fitting way to end an excellent show. 

This recording was full of surprises. The setlist was great, but I was surprised that the songs I enjoyed most weren’t the ones I expected at all. There were several highlights, from the type of band that I don’t normally enjoy. And the sincere and sweet Purple Rain at the end was a real surprise and treat. This looked good on paper, but in reality, it was even better than I imagined.