Madrid 22 July 1990

 

The fact that this is called the Nude tour, and not titled after any particular album, says something about what to expect from shows of this era. His album at the time, Batman, was a year previous and the Graffiti Bridge album wasn’t released until late in the tour. It’s a ‘greatest hits’ show, with just three Batman songs appearing on the setlist. In recent years this has become common for Prince, but at this time, 1990, it was a first for him and us as the listener. Today I am listening to a good quality soundboard show from Madrid in 1990. Although I am not a big fan of the setlist, the recording is a very high standard, and there are a few interesting arrangements for me to enjoy.

July 22, 1990, Madrid

The show opens with the “DAT intro.” Several songs and intros are spliced together, it sounds alright, but it doesn’t get my blood flowing like perhaps you would expect it to. There are spoken excerpts of “Party Up,” “Controversy,” “1999,” “Let's Go Crazy,” “Around The World In A Day,” and a few others, but nothing we haven’t heard before.

However, things pick up once the music begins properly. “The Future” sounds excellent, and much stronger than on the album. The low end is very solid, and Prince's vocals are muscular and well suited for the lyrical theme. I must comment on the quality of this recording, it's top-shelf. The band and music sound great, and there is just enough crowd noise to enhance the live feel to it. “The Future” is my favorite from the Batman album, and I feel many people overlook it. But like I said before, live it is excellent. There are some very nice rolls on the tom-toms at the end, before we roll into “1999.”

For me, “1999” is always a little hit or miss live. Sometimes it comes off great and other times I just don’t feel it. Luckily this recording is one where it comes off great. The beat is driving, and the band vocals are all very strong- no one is holding back anything. It is a fine choice for this early in the gig and along with “The Future” it very much puts people in the dancing mood- me included! There are no horns in the band, so it has that nice electric feel that I enjoy.

Without skipping a beat the band starts “Housequake.” It’s always played well, and here is no exception. As I said in the previous song, there is no horn section in the band, so it’s the bold keyboard stabs that fill in. I am not sure if Prince is dancing or not, I can only assume he is, but his singing is still very tight, there is not a loose moment in the song at all. There are some calls and shout-outs for the Game Boyz, I don’t know what they are doing, but at this point, I am glad I am listening and not watching this gig. Prince sings “Sexy Dancer” for a time over the beat, and it’s surprising how well it all fits.

 

“Kiss” is played very quickly. The guitar is almost none existent, and it’s the keys that do most of the work in the song. I tried hard to enjoy this arrangement, but I just couldn’t get there. Princes’ singing is good, and the band is tight, but this one just didn’t seem to have any soul. If I had to sum it up in one word it would be sterile. One redeeming feature for me was the playout section when Rosie Gaines sings “Let's Jam It.” She has one of those voices that demand to be heard, and this is our first taste of her singing tonight, and it sounds great.

There is no let-up at all as the heavy organ intro to “Purple Rain” begins. It’s a nice change to the guitar intro that we were familiar with previously. The intro doesn’t last too long, Prince starts on the verses pretty quickly. Did I say verses? Actually, it’s just a verse, a chorus and then the guitar takes over. I find that the guitar solo loses a lot of its impact with the rest of the song cut short, there is no sense of rising to the climax, and it doesn’t have the triumphant release like when he plays the whole song. It’s a shame that this is usually the default version, and has been for many years. The solo is very fine, I can’t fault it technically, but it does feel a little passionless. The song ends with Prince singing “Live for Love”, obviously a lyrical idea that floated around for some time before it became a song, before ending with one more reprise on the guitar.

Things perk up when “Take Me With U” begins. I will forever associate this song with the scene in the Purple Rain movie, and I always have a joyful feeling when I hear it. It’s not the type of Prince song I normally like, but in this case, it gets a pass. The energy levels are very good, and the song hums along. Sadly it ends before I have a chance to collect my thoughts on it.

The next song gets off to an upbeat swinging start as Prince asks the audience “Madrid, do you wanna hear the blues?” Now is when Rosie comes into her own. “Don’t Make Me Pay For His Mistakes” is a nice bluesy song that gives her plenty of opportunities to showcase her vocals. She dominates the first part of the song and makes it her own before Prince takes over with some fine blues guitar. Nicely paced, and not too heavy or showy it’s another side of his playing that I always enjoyed. Of course, it’s also a good chance for Prince to break out “If I Had A Harem.” The sound of the two songs is very similar, and if not for the lyrics I wouldn’t have noticed a difference.

 

“Alphabet St” starts very swiftly, and Prince races through the first verse before bringing it to a complete halt. After a long pause, he again races through the next verse before pausing again. This time the crowd's cheer is even louder, and with a shout of “Ok Ok!’ Prince resumes again. I love his rap in the middle of it, it’s hardly the sort of lyrics that would set the world on fire, but his delivery is a lot of fun. Even better is Rosie when she begins singing “It Takes Two” over the top of it. As you may guess, I am quite a fan of Rosie. Her voice is nice and full and adds a lot of strength to the whole concert. After Rosie, there is plenty of time for interplay between the drums and guitar, and instruments drop in and out seamlessly.

There is a change in tempo and mood when Prince takes to the piano and plays an instrumental version of “The Question Of U,” “An honest Man,” and “Under The Cherry Moon.” I had heard that Prince writes the majority of his music on the piano, and hearing him play here I can fully believe it. It’s only very short here but is a nice change from what we had in the first part of the show.

The heavy beat of “The Question Of U,” and the full band play for a more recognizable version of the song. A firm favorite for many, this is one song that has sounded great on every live recording I have heard. The beat is very strong here, but it doesn’t overwhelm the song, the guitar solo is very loud and more than compensates for the heavy beat. The guitar doesn’t get the final word however, there is some very good keyboard following it and as the beat continues there are several loud cheers from the crowd, so I am assuming Prince is doing some dancing. He then speaks for a short time, the normal pimp talk he usually comes out with, and follows this with his “Electric Man.” I have heard him play it like this many times, and it’s something I like a lot. I would like to hear him play this without it being incorporated mid-song like this, quite what else he could do with it I guess we will never know. He doesn’t rush this section at all, and it stretches out to a decent eight minutes.

 

“People call me rude, I wish we all were nude” serves as his introduction to “Controversy.” Sometimes this song is overworked, but here it is light and funky. He sings only the first few lines, and then over the same music sings the chorus of “Do Me, Baby.” Somehow it works and he gets away with it. Rosie then starts singing it, and by the way, have I mentioned how great she is? Prince also sings “D.M.S.R” and I feel slightly cheated I was hoping from the setlist it might be a fuller version. I would have said the same for “Do Me, Baby,” but fortunately, after a couple of minutes of “Controversy” he does pull it back and the band slips into “Do Me, Baby” proper.

After a suitable long and beautiful introduction Prince begins to sing. Three-quarters of the way through the show and he shows no shortness of breath or fault in his vocals. It sounds just as good as it does on record. The vocal section is short, the bulk of the song is the introduction, but that’s no bad thing at all, the song stands out as the emotional high point of the evening.

Rosie is again to the fore as she sings an Aretha Franklin cover- “Ain’t No Way.” I don’t want to again write about how good she is, but when she is playing I just want to stop writing and just sit here and listen. Maybe she does overwork some sections of the song, but overall it’s very good.

Finally, we get another Batman song, and it’s “Batdance.” Is the band playing it? I can’t tell. There are a lot of samples on this, it would be easy to just roll a tape and let Prince sing on it. The drums sound live, so I am going to presume the band is playing along to some samples (or vice versa I should say) “Batdance” is an original-sounding song, unlike almost anything else he has done. It does work live, but my only complaint would be the Game Boyz chanting over it at one stage, but it’s only very brief. By now it is apparent that the band is playing it, and they do a fantastic job of it.

 

“Partyman” gets the long chanting intro that we have seen on the long version of the video. All hail to the new King, again I guess that on stage Prince is pretty much playing out like the video. The song is lively and played as heard on record. I had to smile when I heard the line “Ladies and gentlemen, no pictures please”- not much has changed in the last 25 years! The first half of the song is sharp, but in the second half the band moves into second gear and things start getting exciting. There is a funky guitar running throughout, some rapid samples, and some furious keyboard bursts playing horns. There is only one way to end the song, and that is of course with the maniacal Joker laugh.

I didn’t expect to like “When Doves Cry,” but it was great. The beat is always going to sound fresh, and the band plays a suitably stripped-back version- something that doesn’t always happen. I like some aspects of live performances of “When Doves Cry,” there is often some great funky guitar work going on, and this one is no exception. In fact, I forget to listen to it as a whole, and the first time I found myself concentrating solely on the guitar. The bass comes on strong later in the song, and again it adds a lot to it. There are not many live arrangements of “When Doves Cry” that I like, but this is definitely one of them. The song gets a very long play out, and there is plenty happening, this one will get plenty more listens, I’m sure.

There isn’t much to “Baby I’m A Star.” It’s just an excuse to have a long jam and turn the concert into a party. The first few verses quickly give out to a long groove over which everyone gets a chance to play their bit. Even the Game Boyz get a shout-out and a chance to play some rhythm. Normally I would love this, but there isn’t too much here that gets me excited, and I know it's blaspheme but to be honest, I find some parts of it boring and repetitive. Michael B however is always excellent and is the best thing about this long playout. Rosie also is another high point, but I have already given her plenty of coverage here. This is a Prince Blog, not a Rosie blog, so I will refrain from commenting on her again. I am doing the song an injustice here, it is a lot of fun, and it’s played for those at the gig rather than those of us sitting here at home. With that in mind, I would say that if I had been there I am sure I would have been dancing my ass off. However it is uneven and the low point is when Tony M delivers some verses mid-song, despite the funkiness of the music his vocal delivery is like a lead weight to it. But then it’s all redeemed by a short burst of “We Can Funk.” It’s a shade lighter than I had heard before and is more mournful than dark. A very nice smooth delivery of a classic. The song ends on this note, but after a brief “Don’t you wanna go home?” Prince kicks back into the groove. It’s only another minute before it all comes to an end.

I am still scratching my head about these gigs. I am not sure what to make of them. This one had some great songs, and some wonderful moments, but much like the final song, it was a little uneven. I did enjoy listening to it, but I would skip some tracks if I could, unfortunately, some of the things I would skip are buried mid-song. These shows are a turning point in Prince's career, and it’s about now that I lost interest in his main concerts, and instead started listening to far more after shows. However the twists and turns in his career have me relistening to a lot of things and seeing them in a new light as the years go on, and this one certainly stands up well to a relisten.

Rotterdam 2 June 1990

 

The image of Prince at the Superbowl, back arched, guitar howling into the wind and the rain, is indelible in many people’s minds. One of the great enemies of outdoor performances is always the weather and Prince combated the elements several times throughout his career. “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night” is the postman’s motto, and so too with Prince – the show must go on despite the conditions. There are several examples of Prince playing through the weather, but one of the more famous occasions is the opening night of the Nude tour. Rotterdam greeted Prince and his entourage not with respect, but rather with a torrential downpour during the show. Prince played on through the elements, and although this clocks in as the shortest show of the tour, it is a full setlist – perhaps trimmed of any fat to streamline the performance. The weather does little to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd, and buoyed by this the concert remains another curio in the Prince canon.

2nd June 1990, Rotterdam

There is little in the music to suggest what will unfold later in the weather, and the DAT introduction neatly crosses off a large portion of Prince’s back catalog before the concert commences properly. This is the Nude tour, and as the title suggests it is a far more stripped-back affair, both in sound and performance than the previous excesses of the 1980s. “The Future” sets the standard, built on little more than a rhythm and the rise and fall of the keyboard. The stage remains sparse, and this leaves the Game Boyz in the spotlight more than might be expected – there is simply nothing else on stage to look at. Fans have been unkind to the Game Boyz over the years, but history has treated them well, and in retrospect, they are certainly adding plenty of sparkle to an otherwise naked stage. As for “The Future” it continues to entertain while concealing the extravaganza that will follow.

 

Taking to his guitar, “1999” sounds far more aggressive than “The Future” although it rides the same rhythms. After the darker tones of the previous song, pop-centric “1999” raises spirits, even if its lyrics revolve around a nuclear armageddon. The chant of “party” and Miko’s funk guitar bury the lyrical content under a celebration of danceable pop. If the world is going to end, then what better way to go out than singing and dancing to a groove such as this.

Continuing with his ground-shaking, house-quaking party, Prince brings the ultimate party crasher song with “Housequake.” It is not as essential as the versions heard through 1987, but it is much better than the arrangements we heard in the 2000s. Prince gives a full version, and although it lacks real horns it does retain its central groove and the usual hallmarks that make the song what it is. The “Sexy Dancer” coda works well and has only gone up in my estimation since I first heard it.

Prince draws upon one of his hits to get the crowd bouncing, “Kiss.” Enlivened by the dancing of the Game Boyz, it sounds lighter than previous renditions, yet is still recognizable by its distinctive guitar riff which rests in the safe hands of Miko. Miko has always had a great feel for this song, and it slips and slides greasily beneath his fingertips, its inner funk fully released in his playing. A song that constantly evolves over the years, this version remains a close favorite behind the original in the live arena.

 

As “Kiss” slows to “Let’s Jam” the power of Rosie Gaines is revealed for the first time at the concert. It is a fine introduction, her robust vocal delivery pushing aside whatever detritus may litter the song, leaving her and her alone to dominate the stage. She does relinquish though, allowing space for some guitar intricacies to weave their own sound later in the song, the music, and groove slipping back to leave the spindling guitar sound to grow.

“Purple Rain” is always an integral part of any show, but it never seems to quite fit with the surrounding material. Such is the case here as we go from the synthetic sound of the band to the organic opening chords of “Purple Rain.” The opening chords hang in the air, previous polyester music banished before its glow before Prince plunges into his most famous song. The verses don’t get much of an airing, it is the guitar break where the song starts proper, Prince moving from the opening words of sorrow to full throat roar on his guitar. It’s not as overblown as heard elsewhere, but it does thunder and storm with the best of them, the intensity of any fifteen-minute version contained in this highly refined six-minute take.

From the same era, “Take Me With You” comes powered by a high octane Michael Bland. He drives the song far beyond its roots on the back of furious power, propelling the song to new heights in such a way that I forget all about Prince and the rest of the band. Rosie, Prince, all is lost behind the propulsive revving of Michael Bland. Little did we know at the time, but it was this heavy hitter that would power the Prince sound for the following years.

 

The noodling guitar fails to move the concert forward from here, it’s not until Prince sings the opening line of “Alphabet St” that the concert is suddenly thrown forward again. As always it’s a stop-start affair, Prince building momentum before crashing to a halt in a series of pauses that only heightens the anticipation of the audience. The final funky break finally unleashes Rosie Gaines in all her glory, and for all the fun earlier in the song this is the moment that lingers in the mind after the rest of the music has faded from memory.

The mood changes with a brief piano interlude, a delicate moment that sets the scene for “A Question Of U.” Michael Bland is there from the start before Prince invites us in on the back of the vocal performance. It is a triple threat, Prince’s guitar break cementing the song as a classic as he spins his magic out of thin air, bringing the song to life before our eyes with his deeply personal guitar work crafting an electrifying spell. Lifting “Electric Man” from Muddy Waters, Prince injects it into his own song, at once making it his own as he toys and plays with it as a coda for “A Question Of U.” The lyrics of “Thieves In The Temple” briefly flicker into view, promising more but revealing themselves to be nothing but an empty pledge.

 

Prince intones the lyrics of “Controversy” by way of an introduction to the song and it works surprisingly well. The rest of the song is a gleeful stomp through familiar material, elevating it to the same status as the more current songs in the setlist. When Rosie enters for her “Do me baby” lines all bets are off, and the song revolves around her from this point onward. No bad thing as her voice commands respect, no matter where it sits in the song, and even her simple repetition of a couple of lines is enough for her to take over the concert.

She continues to shine as Prince surrenders the concert to her rendition of “Ain’t No Way.” Aretha Franklin would be proud of her take on it, her voice resonating deeply with the material she is covering. It is only a couple of minutes of the concert, but it briefly reveals the influences behind many of these songs, and one can easily draw the line between Aretha and Rosie.

Prince reclaims the concert with his own version of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” I wait for Rosie to take over, but she remains in the background, the song instead resting between Prince and the audience. It sounds a little shaky at times, but hearing Prince taking the song back from The Family and Sinead O’Connor is a breathtaking moment no matter the context, and this version holds up to the more bombastic versions later in his career.

 

The live arrangement of “Batdance” is far more band-orientated and builds on a solid base of funky guitar. The samples from the movie are irrelevant and it’s the music of Prince that holds my attention far more than the quotes. Tony M. snaps us out of its easy groove, temporarily punching us into the now before the song settles back into its groove for the remaining minute. It’s far from a highlight of the concert, but it is historically interesting as Prince again integrates current technology into his musical palette.

“Partyman” is far more demanding of the listener, pulling us into the concert with Prince’s demand that we hail his reign. The rest of the song is a brisk run through a typical end-of-show jam with each instrument getting time to play while Prince plays ringmaster to the ever-evolving sound. It lives up to its title, Prince is the party man throughout, his sense of mischievousness present as he name-checks some of his albums, including the then-unreleased Black album.

The following “Baby I’m A Star” takes this party jam and turns it up to ten as the band tear through the song, pushing it beyond record and into the unknown with an ever-escalating jam. It’s a wild ride, and one I don’t want to get off. With a torrent of keyboard it is Dr. Fink who kicks off the jam proper, before ceding control to Prince and the Game Boyz. The song continues to undulate, rising and falling on the tide of Prince’s will before Prince pauses to apologize for the rain. From here on out there is no stopping as the band takes off, propelled throughout by the ever-forceful Michael Bland. It is a fantastic showcase for the band, and a timely reminder that Michael Bland and Levi Seacer Jr. will be key contributors for the coming years, their sound already well integrated into Prince’s music. Rosie’s final blast through “Respect” is one last reminder of how great she was, and how dominant she was in Prince’s sound throughout 1990-1992

 

Listening to this concert, one would be hard-pressed to guess the weather conditions if not for Prince’s comment near the end of the show. As it is, the show is far more lively than I remember the Nude tour being, and it is a lot of fun throughout. The concert also cements the key roles of Michael B and Rosie Gaines at the time and serves as a great introduction to their unique talents. There are better shows to come later in the tour, but for an opening night, this concert ticks all the boxes and gives the sodden audience something to celebrate. I’m just glad that I could enjoy it in the dry environs of my home rather than a wet and wild stadium back in 1990.