Mountain View 10 October 1997

 

I can’t even remember the last time I listened to a Jam Of The Year concert, let alone wrote about one. I can’t offer a good excuse, looking at this show now I can’t see any reason not to listen to it, or even dislike it. Yes, it does have some weak moments, but these are offset by a run of classic hits, party grooves, and a Carlos Santana guest appearance that brought me here in the first place. This show was recommended by someone whose opinion I value highly, so I do expect it to exceed any expectations I might have.

10th October 1997, Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, California

The opening intro leaves me cold, I don’t need to hear snippets of his hits to hype me up. I have always had a soft spot for “Jam of the Year”, and this performance is everything I could ask for. It is stronger than on the album, giving the concert a great push from the start. The performance and concert tour hinge on this song and, although Prince does hype the crowd in the midsection,  it sets the tone for all that will follow.

The jams keep on flowing, with the band grooving on “Talkin Loud and Sayin Nothin” It is as one might expect, a solid groove that has the crowd on their feet as Prince encourages them to dance and clap. The highlight for me though comes when Mike Scott makes an appearance with a sizzling guitar solo that catches me off guard yet has me enraptured as he plays. I’m not so fussed about Prince and the crowd chanting which comes next, but the song does its job of enthusing the audience. A Prince piano solo ends the song on a high for me, and I find that all in all it is an enjoyable few minutes.

“Let’s Work” initially has me on a nostalgic trip, but interest wanes later in the song as it begins to take on a plastic sound. The outro of “Rock ‘n’ Roll is Alive” is where the real fun is, especially as Prince provides a ferocious guitar upon it that cuts through all the grooves and jams that have been heard thus far on the recording.

This loud and heavy guitar tone is maintained through the following “Purple Rain” which begins with a snort and a grunt and ends on the most epic of howls. With Carlos Santana in the building, Prince is putting on a show worthy of his influence, and although it's not overlong it does give one a taste of Prince's guitar abilities.

Things stay in the early ’80 s as the warm swells of “Little Red Corvette” introduces the next section of the concert. Personally, I think it’s a letdown. After a great introduction that had me raising my expectations through the roof, the next couple of minutes sees Prince racing through the song leaving me feeling that it was a lost opportunity.

  

I am caught off guard by how good, and downright fun, “Get Yo Groove On” is. It has a lively pop to it and would sit completely at ease on any radio station in the late ’90 s. As much as I love it from the outset, it does lose its way after a couple of minutes, but the guitar solo from Kat Dyson snaps me out of this thought, and the rest of the song is an easy groove that I would happily dance to when I’m home alone.

As much as I enjoy “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” (especially singing along) I always find that in the live performance I am drawn to the sudden stop in the song when Prince sings “How can I get through days when I can’t get through hours” The ticking clock and the way the band jump in and out of the song always has me sitting in admiration of their professionalism and abilities. As for the rest of the song, I sing boisterously along to what is proving to be a very good audience recording.

“Face Down” is one of the pillars that the concert is built around, and it monsters the recording for the next ten minutes. With its big beat and infectious vocal hook, I am completely drawn in, the following few minutes I am in another world. Prince knows what he is about to unleash upon the crowd, the first few minutes particularly interesting as he warns those with children that they should cover their ears or take them out before he hits us with the full force of his agenda and power of the groove.  The bass comes like a tank, rolling across the land, for the final few moments, and this emphatically seals the deal for me – this is just what I want to hear.

 

Contrast, contrast. The following two songs not only come from a different time but also from a completely different place musically. “A Case Of U” gently grounds the performance and brings intimacy to the arena not previously heard. The bump and grind of the opening half-hour are replaced by an emotional pull and thoughtful lyrics. “When You Were Mine” is equally compelling, this time the emotion replace with simple energy that is completely natural and can’t be replicated. With Prince playing alone for these two songs, his natural abilities are spotlighted and he draws attention to this with his final comment of “I would like to apply for the position of King” – a sly reference and dig at Michael Jackson.

The arena is again filled with sound as the band rejoins Prince for “The Cross” It lacks some seriousness of earlier tours, here it is a joyful stomp through a song that has become a celebration. This is underlined by the guitar solo that Prince brings to it, all shrieks of joy and howls of passion.

“The Cross” is more than matched in the spiritual stakes by “One Of Us”, a song that takes the celebration of God to yet another joyful stomp. These two songs are the backbone of the evening's performance and Prince gives plenty of time to the introduction, the vocals, and the guitar solo. Each part of the arrangement is worthy of the time invested, but it is the final minute of the guitar break where the rewards are greatest, with Prince playing with finesse and power.

The band all has a chance to play as “Do Me Baby” begins, the opening minutes are given over to the band introducing themselves and each playing a solo. I found this most enjoyable, but once Prince comes to the microphone the band is forgotten as he sings a timeless rendition of this seduction classic. The previous two songs may be the spiritual highlight, but “Do Me, Baby” is the sexy highlight and a song I could happily listen to again and again.

 

The concert speeds up considerably at this point, and the next 15 minutes see a quick romp through Prince’s back catalog.  “Sexy M.F.” starts this off in fine style. It is uptempo and fun early on before a surprising upswing occurs midsong that carries it away from its initial funk. “If I Was Your Girlfriend” likewise has an element of fun to it and although it lacks the intensity of the album version, it is still a rewarding listen here.

It’s with the piano set that Prince brings an air of intimacy to the recording. Although he plays a run of truncated songs, it still brings a smile to my face. “Diamonds and Pearls” begins this set, but it's “The Beautiful Ones” that follows where the real heart of the performance lies. However, the largest cheer comes for “Darlin Nikki”, and one can hear why. Prince teases the opening minute on his piano, picking out the hook as the crowd cheers him on at every pause. When he does sing, he only gives the first few lines, letting the audience loudly sing the risque lines.

As much as I love “Condition Of The Heart”, the rendition here is too short for me to get much enjoyment out of. “Girls and Boys” has my head nodding in approval, and even with only the piano for accompaniment Prince gives it the required funk and swing. Again it is short, but a nice moment.

“How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore” begins with Prince, but sees the reintroduction of the band. It is much longer than the previous few songs and sees the concert pull back to a more traditional format. I think the song sounds great, but there is nothing for me to latch onto emotionally and I find it drifts by me rather quickly.

I am far more engaged with “Take Me With You” which comes quickly after. Only a minute, but it is a joyful rendition that warms the cockles of my heart.

My cockles are less warmed by “Raspberry Beret” that comes paired with it. I don’t have a problem with the song, but the performance at this show is luck warm and it fails to build into the explosion of pop that it promises. It is the end of the main show, however, before a lengthy break before the first encore.

 

The song that opens the encore is the reason this bootleg was recommended to be, a 10-minute jam on “Soul Sacrifice” with Carlos Santana. After a slow build, the song kicks off at the two-minute mark as the guitars rise to the occasion and blaze across the recording. Insert any superlative you want at this point, the following minutes are beyond description and make this recording indispensable. Prince introduces Carlos as his hero, and he delivers a performance to match expectations. Forget everything else I have said about the performance up to this stage, this song is all you ever need to hear and it lays waste to all that has come before it.

“Soul Sacrifice” is the pinnacle of the show and the following “Sleep Around” feels quite a letdown. It does play as a party jam, albeit a very ’90’s inspired party. I like to party just as much as the next man, but following after “Soul Sacrifice” it comes across as weak and almost throw-away.

There is plenty of audience interaction for “I Like Funky Music”, but very little for us to enjoy here at home. The groove works, but without seeing the dancers on stage or being involved, it does seem like a flat spot in the concert. No doubt a great concert experience, but it does play as a poor bootleg experience.

There is no surprise at all as the final songs of the recording are “Baby I’m A Star” and “1999”. “Baby I’m A Star” serves as an introduction, its energy giving the show one final boost. “1999” plays as an almost full version, with plenty of “Party!” chanting and funky groove playing us out for the final minutes. It doesn’t reach the heights that were previously hit by other songs in the evening, but it does close out the show on the right note.

Ignore the flat ending, and a couple of weak spots mid-setlist, there is no doubt that this show is worth listening to. “Soul Sacrifice” with Santana was what brought me to this bootleg, and it delivered far more than I could have imagined. Along with “Do Me, Baby” and “One Of Us”, it formed the backbone of the show. Despite some cliched ’90 s sound in places, the show was far better than I expected for a Jam Of The Year concert. It might be some time before I get back around to listening to this one again, but I would have no hesitation in listening to it again in the future.

Denver 6 October 1997(am)

 

The Prince of 1997 is not the Prince that I grew up with. At this time a lot of the magic and excitement of being a Prince fan had dissipated for me. There is no doubting that Prince was still playing as well as ever, but for me, the songs, the very heart of the matter, were missing. Aftershows still retained some thrill, a measure of excitement provided by guest appearances and cover versions. The gig I am listening to today has both and is all the better for it. The guest is Chaka Khan, both vocally and playing drums(!) and the setlist is chock full of cover versions, only the odd Prince song breaking up the run. It is an audience recording, and a scratchy one at that, but there is no distortion which is about all I ask for out of a recording nowadays.

6th October 1997(am), The Church, Denver

Ignore the opening introduction as the announcer tries to flog off some t-shirts to the crowd, the real fun begins immediately as Chaka Khan emerges from the crackle of the recording playing the drums through the opening “Instrumental.” It isn’t a song that kicks sand in your face and laughs, with a kindlier gentler sound it is a gentle stroll into the show rather than an aggressive rampage. I would love to see footage of this moment, and this audio recording is a poor representation of what must have been a cool introduction.

It is Marva King who provides the entertainment for the next number, with a deep rendition of “Playtime.” Marva brings plenty of firepower to the performance, and she is ably matched by some equally insistent horn lines and a dark organ swirl. The thin recording doesn’t do the song justice and it is up to the listener to fill out the sound in their mind. However, it does sound like a stonking version and we can only listen in envy of those that were there.

 

I’m not so fussed by “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).” It’s not this performance that I have a problem with, it's just that I have heard it so many times from Prince and this rendition doesn’t add anything new that I haven’t heard before. Coupled with the quality of the recording,  it becomes a flat spot on the bootleg. Prince can be heard defiantly working his guitar and to his credit, it does sound like it’s building to something, but we never get to fully appreciate the fruit of his labors as the recording saps the energy from his performance.

I am far more interested in “777-9311” and “Ain’t No Fun To Me” that comes next. It is the bass line of “777-9311” that serves as the introduction, before “Ain’t No Fun To Me” comes snapping hard on its heels. It is only short, but Prince manages to evoke the spirit of the song with his impassioned delivery and the heavy wheeze of the organ that anchors the song. There is one point of the song where an audience member can be heard saying “He’s a genius, man, a genius!” and sitting here at home 20 years later, I am inclined to agree with him.

 

There is a “Colorado” chant that carries the first minutes of “Days Of Wild” before its crushing groove arrives proper and suffocates the recording with its thick funk. Even the thin recording is no match for “Days Of Wild,” it is just as wild as always, and even if it doesn’t stretch out for days it still sprawls itself across the recording for seven unequaled minutes. This wildness is personified by the hectic Tony Morris saxophone solo that bursts into flame in the final minutes of the song, making for a fitting end to what is a highlight of the recording.

Tony Morris is again present for the following Chaka Khan “Tell Me Something Good,” sung by the legendary Chaka herself. My feelings are mixed, I love the song and the performance, but I find the quality of the recording to be intrusive and several times I am taken out of the moment. However, it is a fantastic song, and on a soundboard recording I would be positively raving about it.

The show has a warmth to it as Marva King displays her considerable chops on a cover of the Staples Singers' “I’ll Take You There.” Even though Prince is barely noticeable, he doesn’t sing and there is no blinding guitar break, the song still has its place in the setlist, with its nostalgic charm and warm glow. This isn’t the first song I gravitated towards in the setlist, but I find it just as rewarding as anything else played.

 

“I Got The Feelin” is a cover of a James Brown song, but it lacks the drive and power that we would normally expect from a James Brown cover. The horns can be heard with their vigorous turn around’s, and after hearing them I can say that again it is the recording that is sucking the life from the song. There is no doubt that the band is playing an authoritative rendition, and their hard work is only undone by the shallow recording.

Prince goes even further back for a cover of “The Way You Do The Things You Do” This has me re-enthused for the bootleg, mostly because this is one of my favorite songs, and I am transported away as Prince and the band play the song with plenty of sunshine and energy. It’s only a few minutes, but they cram a lot into the song, with the organ, the vocals, and the horns all vying for attention.

Prince goes even further back in time for an even bigger surprise – a short, sharp rendition of “Shout.” Forget the quality of the recording for a minute, if this doesn’t bring a smile to your face, then I don’t know what will. It has the crowd engrossed, and it’s easy to see why with its upbeat call and response and the undercurrent of swirling energy that never quite settles.

Ignore the next minutes as the announcer again reminds the crowd to buy T-shirts. The music returns with a slow-building jam built around a lone drum sound provided by Chaka Khan. It doesn’t do much, it stays low and never gains any real intensity or intent, but it does pave the way for the next few songs.

 

The band is running at full power for an energized performance of “(Eye Like) Funky Music.” One of the few Prince songs to be played at this show, it gains even more respect in my book by being a song that was very rarely played live. Hearing it here, it sounds fresh and bright to my ears, and the chanting of the chorus is fun even if it is me alone a home. This is not a song I would play someone to demonstrate the genius of Prince, but as a fun song to hear on a bootleg it is right on the money.

We have another call and response jam next with “Denver Rock The Party”. As a horn lead instrumental it has the temperature rising on the recording, and this is made even better with Prince’s guitar break that he bestows upon it. It never blows out to a guitar jam though, and it is the horns and chanting that make up most of the song. I would like to say more about the guitar, but it is a little low in the mix, no doubt at the show itself it was louder, stronger, and altogether better.

There comes a slow down with the steady swagger of “Johnny” filling the air with its roguish grin. The lyrics make me smile, a smile made even bigger as Prince tells the audience that he and Chaka had said a prayer before the show, a prayer that the show would be funky. Well, that prayer has been answered, and the show is funky throughout, even if the recording can’t match the concert. “Johnny” may be slower, but it is just as funky as anything else played, and is another highlight as the music curls and bends around the listener.

“I’m A Woman (I’m A Backbone) is a song with purpose and direction. It may be Chaka’s name and vocals that give the song early impetus, but later it is the saxophone of Tony Morris that drives the song into the ground. The saxophone stabs the carcass of the song with incisive cuts and wild slashes, leaving the music twitching and foaming with every attack, making for a wild and unhinged performance that tears through the skin of soft funk that has so far covered most of the evening.

I have often thought, and indeed written, that Prince and Hendrix aren’t the great mix that many imagine. The performance of “Little Wing” at this concert has me not just eating my words, but positively choking on them, the lump in my throat palpable from the opening seconds as Prince serves up a delicious treat of chords stacked on top of each other. It’s not just about Prince though, Chaka and the saxophone of Tony Morris bring their flavors and tastes to the song, making for a balanced and well-rounded dish.  Chaka is out in front, while Tony garnishes her performance with soft touches and a drizzle of sax as required. Prince displays another side of his playing, while known for playing the type of solos that would raze a forest, here his playing scatters seedlings that bloom and grow into a varied fruit as the song progresses. It is a thoughtful performance, with a trace of wistfulness that is never quite resolved. The song isn’t perfect though, the recording is too poor for that and as effusive as I have been so far I must admit it is a song that requires close listening as for the most part it is distant and exists on the fringe of listenable.

Putting aside the sound quality for a second, this performance is a 10/10. I don’t say that lightly. The setlist gives no hint to how great the actual performance is, and having Chaka on board makes for a real treat. The songs swallow the room in their immersive brooding, punctuated by the electric fury of the guitar or the relentlessly vivid saxophone. Unfortunately, the bootleg is not a 10/10, the sound is too poor, and it took a close listen on headphones to unearth the treasures buried in this release. For die-hard fans this is another must listen, casual fans I would say approach with caution.

Houston 11 August 1997(am)

 

Last week I listened to an aftershow from 1997 released by Sabotage records. This was part of a two-disc set that presented me with some problems. The first disc has the Denver show, while the second disc covers the Roxy show, and two extra tracks. These two extra tracks caused me to scratch my head, the databank listed them as from an unknown concert, while Prince vault had the listed as part of the Denver aftershow. I chose to run with the good folks at prince vault and listened to these two tracks as part of the first disc.

The show covered on the second disc also presents some unknowns. This concert is also heavy on cover versions, there are only four Prince songs – two of them unreleased, which leads us into unfamiliar territory and offers a unique listen. With Marva King and Doug E. Fresh taking on the bulk of the vocal duties, Prince's main contribution is his playing, meaning I have to at times listen carefully to hear his input – especially given that it is an audience recording.

11th August 1997(am) Roxy, Houston, Texas

Marva King sings the first three songs starting with the Prince penned, and unreleased, “Playtime.” It has a firmness to it, a solid warmth, that despite the audience recording still manages to sound weighty and carries an inner intensity. The band dwells on the song as an opener and, as long as it is, I still feel like I could listen to it longer. It is a good introduction to the quality of the recording, the audience is vocal, but the bass is well rounded and without distortion.

The audience is heard more on the following “Sweet Thing.” Marva King does a commendable job of the vocals, although the song is well known and the audience adds their own vocal flourishes. A bootleg snob would be disappointed at this point, but as a fan, I simply wallow in the live feeling of it all.

 

“Lovin’ You” is so short that by the time I realized it has started, it is already half over. It’s too quiet, and the recording does it no favors at all, it disappears into the crowd and general background noise. It is disappointing to me because when I do listen carefully I can hear that Marva is singing beautifully.

Databank wrote disparagingly of Doug E. Fresh, and in the first minutes of “Flash Light” I can perhaps understand why as he engages the audience in chanting. I do find myself warming to it, however, and Doug E. Fresh comes across as a perfectly likable bloke – before I know it I am chanting along with him here at home. What sounds best on the recording though, and what I dig most, is the bassline. It has a life of its own as it bounces and runs up and down the funky stairs, I find myself moving to it and temporarily forgetting Mr. Fresh and his enthusiastic calls to get things moving.

Prince can be heard playing some lead guitar as the song morphs into “Jam Of The Year’ and for the first time in the recording I can safely assert “yes, that is Prince.” The song is an instrumental jam, barely distinguishable from “Flash Light” that preceded it, and as Prince chants “Turn This Mother Out” it becomes apparent that this is just a long medley of funk tunes and chants. The bass stays with its hypnotic loop, but with Prince on the microphone, there is much more to pay attention to as Prince shifts and shapes the music into different forms.

 

The recording suffers somewhat as Prince carves into “Johnny.” The mix is murky and Prince isn’t as prominent as one might expect. However, the rest of the band is sounding excellent, in particular Kat Dyson who delivers a weeping solo that stretches across the latter part of the song. Doug E. Fresh and his “Do It On Film” can’t match her, and the contrast between his overworked rap and Kat’s light guitar break is like night and day.

Morris Hayes opens “Cissy Strut” with plenty of power, but it is the Mike Scott guitar break that grabs all the headlines here. The rest of the band becomes yesterday's news as Mike weeps and wails, dips and dives, writing an array of emotions with his fingertips. It is only short, but it is a fitting digest of all he does well.

“Hotel Blues” is another unreleased song written by Prince and sung by Marva King. As its only live appearance, it should command attention. However, it doesn’t initially grab me, there is no rush of intensity and it is a laid-back jam that offers no deep groove or fiery statement of intent. It isn’t unpleasant on the ear though, and I do find Prince’s piano playing worthy of a closer listen – if only the mix was slightly better and more balanced.

 

There are no surprises with “Kiss,” it could have been lifted from any show in the 1990s. The performance is mostly positive, but there are a couple of negatives. There is rather too much shouting and chanting for my liking, and in the moments in between when the song is playing the audience is again very vocal on the recording. They aren’t negatives, indeed they are a big part of the live experience, so I can’t complain about them being on the bootleg. These shows are after all for those in the room at the time, not us listening on a bootleg years later. The concert ends in this way, with Doug E. Fresh chanting and singing with the crowd, entirely representative of the show in general.

A very short concert and I can understand why Sabotage chose to pair it with the Denver gig. Of the two shows, the first disc easily outshines this one. This recording is of poorer quality, Prince is largely absent from vocal duties, and while I greatly enjoy Marva King, I can’ say the same about Doug E. Fresh. If it wasn’t part of a two-concert set I wouldn’t listen to this at all, but as a completest, I am pleased it exists, especially for the performance of the two unreleased songs. A curiosity, but far from a good listen.

Detroit 13 January 1997

 

The year is 1997, and four years on from his last concert in 1993 and things have changed. Prince has changed, his music has changed, and recording technology for bootleggers has evolved. This week's bootleg is again an audience recording, but it sounds considerably better than what we have heard in the last few weeks. It has more depth than what we have previously heard, and even if we still have heard some rumblings from the audience, it is still a much more pleasant and satisfying experience. The music Prince is presenting is a happy medium between crowd-pleasing favorites of his colorful past and his current studio output at the time. I haven’t visited this period for quite some time, but I can see from the setlist that I will be listening to some material that doesn’t perhaps get as much praise as it should, and a few of my personal favorites that I haven’t heard for a while.

13th January 1997. The State Theatre, Detroit

The first screams we hear on the tape suggest we may be in for a crowd-heavy recording as per the Detroit show of 1993, but things quickly quieten as we settle into “Jam Of The Year.” The depth of the recording pays immediate dividends with the jam nature and pure groove of the song highlighted in the solid bass and some sparkling keyboard work. The live performance sizzles far more than what we hear on the album version, and this is a good opening number to get the Detroit cooking, and the bootleg off to a fine start.

There is an organic transition to  “Talkin’ Loud And Saying Nothin’,” the song a natural pairing to the previous “Jam Of The Year.” The band continues to stew in this type of jam, and although the crowd never boils over, they are warming up. The tape remains an easy listen, giving this recording an immediate edge over the other Detroit concerts I have listened to.

“Purple Rain” comes as a melancholy postcard from the past, its previous glory faded and tatty against the smooth sheen of the opening numbers. Even with its revamped and muscular guitar solo, it still feels like a song that is too weak to scratch the surface, and rather than digging deep under my skin and injecting some raw-edged emotion it instead leaves me feeling a sense of loss for a more emotional and engaging Prince.

 

All is forgiven with “17 Days.” It’s not the Revolution, and it’s not 1984, but it’s a close enough facsimile of the beloved funk classic for me to buy it. Some choppy guitar and swirly organ lift it to a late 90’s sound, while the rhythm section keeps us firmly in the Purple Rain era. It’s kept short enough that I don’t dwell on nostalgia, and that’s a good thing as it keeps the concert moving forward and focused on his newer material.

Although the opening of “Get Yo Groove On” initially has me interested, there is not enough meat on the bones to hold my attention, and despite the appearance of “Six,” the rest of the song remains devoid of anything to latch onto and enjoy. I could get my groove on listening to it, but it isn’t a demanding dish and slides by without making a lasting impression on me.

“The Most Beautiful Girl In The World,” loses some of its beauty in this recording. Listening to it is like seeing a beautiful woman without makeup, recognizable enough as a beauty, but not as striking as we have become accustomed to. I usually derive pleasure in the sharpness of the band for the mid-song break and re-entry, on this bootleg I find it tiresome and breaks the flow. Maybe I am particularly grumpy and tired tonight, but this time it just doesn’t work for me.

The extended treatment is bestowed upon “Face Down,” and this gives us plenty of time to indulge ourselves in the pure pleasure of Rhonda Smith’s bass. Rumbling angrily beneath for most of the song, the final minutes see her break cover to “play that motherfucking bass,” in one of my favorite moments of the concert. It’s undone a little by the recording, but there is enough fleshed out there for me to put myself in the moment and the arena.

 

“The Cross” retains its fierce intensity despite its somewhat pared-down sound on the recording. I do hear a storming version, but due to the tape, it does sound one step removed and not quite as upfront as I would like. There is no doubt that it is the final guitar frenzy that holds the most interest, and several whoops from the crowd suggest that this may be one to watch as well as to listen to. However, we only have this audio recording, so that is merely surmising.

The inclusion of “One Of Us” is timely, and a nice companion for the previous song. It comes neatly packaged, Prince’s forceful guitar line the hook that adds a sense of drama and show to the moment. Without that it remains firmly Joan Osbourne’s song, but as Prince lets loose later in the song he makes a strong claim for the song as he briefly turns it into one of his.

The seduction suite is next on the setlist, a medley that contains “Do Me, Baby,” “Adore,” “Insatiable,” and “Scandalous.” The opening line of “Do Me, Baby” brings a roar from the crowd, this is what the Detroit crowd is here to see. Prince gives a surprising rendition of “Do Me, Baby” opening with a couple of minutes of intense and lusty guitar that sets the mood just as much as Prince’s lights-down vocal performance. The vocals arrive long past the five-minute mark, by which time I am wondering why I don’t play this a lot more than I do, it is a performance to speaks to me in the raw language of love and music. The other songs in the set don’t get long in the sun, “Adore” rolls quickly into “Insatiable,” “Scandalous,” and a single line from “How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore” before Prince bookends it all with another verse of “Do Me, Baby.” Just when I think it can’t get any better Prince unleashes several of his screams of passion that mark this out as the best song on the recording.

“Sexy M.F.” is loud and proud, especially the guitar that greases it in the first minute. I’m not totally convinced by Prince’s rapping, but the funk and sing-a-long chorus is more than satisfying and this is just the song to bring the concert back to full speed after Prince’s dip into velvety seduction in the previous song.

The wheeze of the organ at the start of “If I Was Your Girlfriend” has me hoping the rest of the song will go the same way, but the recording undoes this heavy oppressive curtain of keyboard with its mix that brings the bass to the fore, leaving Prince’s vocals and Morris Hayes keyboard too far back for my tastes. Not that it matters too much, after all this is still “If I Was Your Girlfriend” we are talking about, and the song still stands strong as its own man in the setlist.

 

Prince teased earlier with a single line from “How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore,” and here he returns to the moment. He may be alone at the piano, but he certainly isn’t alone with his vocal performance as the Detroit crowd out-muscle him on almost every line. Prince rides the song and the audience throughout, the song never quite settling as it passes back and forth between Prince and the audience.

The double pop punch of “Take Me With U,” and “Raspberry Beret,” hit the right notes with the audience again, and they are more vocal here than at any other point of the concert.  As jaded as I am by this combination, I can’t help but be energized by the Detroit crowd's embracement of the songs, and a youthful glow descends upon me as I listen.

I want to get on board with “Mr. Happy,” but on this recording, I just can’t. There is a power in the bass that I am drawn to, but the bulk of the song remains beyond my reach with the recording negating some of the power. The Detroit crowd does save the moment for me, their chanting of “If you’re 18 and over, I wanna bone ya” has me laughing out loud and enjoying it for what it is.

“Somebody’s Somebody” was only ever played occasionally in concert, and that s a shame as listening to it here brings delicate beauty to the concert after the brutal “Mr. Happy,” “18 And Over” combination. It does sound very much of its era though and roots the concert firmly in 1997. It has an easy glide to it, only gleaming at the last minute as Prince burnishes it with a light guitar solo.

“The Ride” rolls in with an easy gait, the first minutes merely a deception before Prince brings it to a climax with his guitar flickering before bursting into a scorching solo. It doesn’t contain any surprises but is a good demonstration of Prince building solo up from nothing into epic proportions, and I am more than happy to wallow in his indulgence.

 

The tempo increases with “Sleep Around,” a song that runs on a groove and very little else. Whatever else there is to the song is lost as Prince strips it down mid-song, providing the Detroit crowd another chance to fill the void. I want to like it more than I do, but there just isn’t enough there for me, and even as it runs to five minutes I find it leaves no impression upon me.

The final song of the night is “Johnny,” a song that sounds neutered in this context, especially in comparison to some of the renditions in previous years. I do warm to the piano lines, but overall the final two songs make for a weak ending to what has otherwise been a good concert. There is no doubt that “Johnny” is a great song, but to my ears, it works better at one of Prince’s late-night after-shows, rather than a closer to a main show. The one good thing about it is that it ends the concert with the crowd chanting “N.P.G. in the motherfuckin house,” something guaranteed to always get a smile from me.

A highly enjoyable concert, this one did lose me in the final minutes. As with previous bootlegs coming out of Detroit, the crowd certainly brings the best out of Prince as he provides another show full of vim and vigor. It is easy to overlook 1997 when there are so many bootleg gems from the 1980s, but I recommend this as a solid audience recording that provides a tidy snapshot of where Prince was at that time.

Pennsylvania 7 January 1997

 

“Great men, it’s been noted, die twice—once as great and once as men.“
– Mark Kram

Prince’s greatness wasn’t dead in 1997, but it did seem in terminal decline. His most recent burst of creativity in 1995 already felt a lifetime ago, and the 1980s seemed to belong to another Prince entirely. It is often said that form is temporary while class is permanent, but by mid-1997 it was hard to remember just how classy Prince had once been.

The Love 4 One Another charity tour is undoubtedly well-intentioned, and a reminder that Price was a great man aside from music. But as a celebration of the Emancipation album, it was uninspired and lacked a sharp focus, a criticism that could equally be leveled at the album itself. The sheer sprawl of the album buries any interesting ideas or musically challenging moments as Prince’s productivity works against him. Likewise, the live setlist suffers the same problem, no enduring theme or concept is holding the show together, and the setlist does at times look like just a random list of songs rather than a coherent whole. If the Lovesexy tour was the pinnacle of Prince putting together a cohesive show, then this comes as the complete opposite, a dire moment in the live canon of Prince's performance history.

 

7th January 1997, Tower Theatre, Pennsylvania

Prince sets out his stall early with the first track of the Emancipation album opening up the concert. “Jam Of The Year” sounds great for cruising in the car during summer, but at this concert it feels forced and tense, undoing any previous summery vibes that may have been associated with it. The biggest problem is one common of this era, it has no firm core or focus. The song sprawls as the band takes solos. Normally I love to see the band stretch like this, but this is the wrong song, and none of the contributions build the song to any more than what it was before. Kept to four minutes and this could have been a punchy opener, instead, it becomes a disappointing introduction to what will become a trend for the next few songs.

“Talkin Loud And Sayin’ Nothing” fits better in aftershows. The intense swirling keyboards and funky beats belong in small clubs, not the larger venues such as this. However, I do enjoy all the elements. Mike Scott and Morris Hayes are not men to be taken lightly and they contribute mightily to the groove that Prince builds this part of the show around. But with no firm direction, the song begins to meander and once again is too long for so early in the concert.

Prince continues to persist with these longer songs, this time dropping “Purple Rain” as the third song of the night. There is no sense of build-up in this concert, and “Purple Rain” feels empty and throw-away because of this. Prince is drawing from his history, a history that feels far removed at this concert, and “Purple Rain” beams in as an alien at this stage. Empty and dead-eyed, this is a hollow imitation of the song. It only highlights Prince’s rapidly fading greatness and the weakness of the new material. Emotionally barren, there is a relief as the final notes fade and Prince returns to a song that has something to say.

 

“17 Days” is a short sharp shock that casts the concert back in sharp relief. Prince’s greatness continues to shadow him, taunting his current music at the time, but in this case, he embraces the song for what it is and briefly engages with the material more than we have previously heard at this concert. The tightness of the song works in its favor as it keeps Prince on the straight and narrow, here he is a slave to his music rather than the music playing on his whim, the song remaining the center of attention rather than the performer.

Light-hearted and focused, “Get Your Groove On” keeps the concert in equilibrium. After the drifting opening numbers, the concert is now moving rapidly through the music with Prince’s songcraft to the fore. With the band taking a back seat, the show becomes all the more enjoyable with the solos enhancing the music rather than distracting from it.

Prince’s recently glories get an airing with “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.” It has a tenderness not heard elsewhere at the concert and is one of the two high points for me. It has an authenticity that serves it well, the song connecting immediately with the crowd and with Prince. As a radio hit it has an important place at this concert and is the rock that dominates the center portion of the show. Other songs may rise and fall against it, but it remains firm in it’s solid pop joy.

 

Muhammad Ali once told Elvis “Elvis, you have to keep singin’ or die to stay big.” In “Facedown” Prince is that man, still singing to stay big, and appropriately name-dropping Elvis throughout. The first portion of the song is the beat and gives the crowd too little to engage with, but once the band enters the song lifts immediately as Prince makes his angry statement through music. Not normally a fan of this singing style, but I do like the sharpness of it and its intent. There is steel to Prince that he reveals through this song. His anger briefly flashes to the surface, and the song takes on an intensity that isn’t heard anywhere else in the show.

After the pop of “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” and the anger of “Facedown,” Prince engages us at the spiritual level with a reverential rendition of “The Cross.” It is a thin, weedy version, and despite the religious heft Prince wants to install in it, it remains pale compared to other live renditions. Morris Hayes's keyboard work matches Prince’s guitar in thickness of sound, but neither can prop up a song that is ten years past its best.

From the same spiritual well, “One Of Us” holds up much better. After the climax of “The Cross,” it is a paired back sound, the music given more room to breathe in this refined atmosphere. Princes’ guitar gains the most from this, it’s call clearer in the stripped-back setting. Prince’s vocals wash over the song, it is the guitar that brings the music to a fine point, a point that holds your attention and draws the threads of the song together. As a religious moment, this is as close as Prince comes in this particular concert, and the vocals and guitar combine to give it a religious vibe, even if the vocals aren’t always distinctive.

 

“Do Me, Baby,” sucks us back into Prince’s past. The concert is cast in a new light with guitar spilling and flowing over the first minute of the song as Prince touches on his greatness. The enthusiastic crowd response breaks this spell cast by the guitar, and the rest of the song fails to live up to these first moments. Sadly the hint of vulnerability that carried the song in its first years is gone. Prince’s vocals are just too clinical and dry in this context. Prince is no longer a yearning young man, but rather a man who has conquered the world and as such carries the confidence of someone who has done it all.

This confidence is well placed and on full display for the following “Sexy M.F.” In this era, and with this band, it works well and goes over well with both the audience and me. The band has just the right amount of funk and sass to make it believable, and the song matches the general mood of the performance.

Unfortunately, “If I Was Your Girlfriend” does not match the mood of the times and feels out of place. A song that is tangled in Prince's past, the rather plastic rendition here does no favors to the song, nor my memories of it. Resting on name value alone, the song fails to deliver the emotional gut-punch I expect and is rather emblematic of this concert and tour in general. The songs are still there, but they have been strip-mined of their greatness. Prince is playing little more than cover versions of his songs.

Likewise, “The Ride” is a light ramble, rather than a smoldering dark diversion, and Prince’s guitar work repeatedly fails to capture the intensity or excitement of previous years. It lingers long, but never demands you sit up and listen. All the pieces appear to be here, yet they aren’t connecting and the song never becomes greater than its sum of parts.

 

Things return to an even keel for “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?” It’s an unhurried version, yet this time I’m happy to indulge Prince in his musical ramblings and wanderings. The piano drifts into organ and back again, the guitar and drums lightly touching the song in places to remind us this is a band performance. Prince’s vocals are outstanding as he hits all the heights expected of him. The audience is appreciative as he goes through the same routine as the previous fifteen years and there is a comfort in the familiarity and sense of stability in a concert that has otherwise been a shotgun blast of songs and styles.

The particular recording I’m listening to finishes midway through the concert at “I Feel Alright.” It sounds like the audience is well involved by this stage and lapping up all Prince can give, although there is not enough of the song for me to get a good handle on it.

This concert does nothing to dispel the notion that by 1997 Prince’s star was on the wane. Listening now, there is very little to signpost the renaissance and second flourish his career will take with the release of “The Rainbow Children” and “Musicology.” There are glimpses of his greatness, an occasional flash of guitar or vocal flourish, but for the most part Prince’s greatness remains buried, and if not dead already at least on life support. A great man dies twice, but only Prince can arise from that death and reassert his greatness with a string of creative and exciting albums in the wake of this nadir. Critics may have been ready to pronounce Prince dead, as he did in the mid-Nineties, but he was anything but. Think of this as hibernation rather than death.

Chicago 21 November 1996 (am)

 Today’s show is a plan B for me. I was intending to write about another show that someone spoke highly of online, but when I started to listen to it, I found that it was very similar to another show that I had written about a couple of months ago. This aftershow from 1996 has been on my radar for some time, but I have never quite gotten around to listening to it. It sounds interesting from what I have previously read, the big downside is that it is a low-quality audience recording. Not to be deterred, I decided that it was just too intriguing and I had to give it a listen. 

21 November 1996, Chicago 

Rather aptly the show opens with “Jam Of The Year.” I am going to lay my cards on the table right from the start – I rather like the Emancipation album. Despite its plastic production values, the songs are still there, and there are plenty of them. This rendition of “Jam Of The Year” is quite interesting, the first couple of minutes it’s only instrumental, and has a good groove to it that bounces along nicely. I am not going to carp on about the audience noise throughout the recording, but be aware, that this recording has plenty of crowd noise, and there are plenty of times when Prince and the band sound secondary. The guitar plays a nice figure, and there is a loud cheer when Prince rather obviously appears at the two-minute mark. However, his appearance doesn’t move the song along at first, and the groove continues for another minute with plenty of cheers before he begins to sing. The bass line is well worth the effort to listen to, it’s tight and has a good bounce to it. The song ends after five minutes, it could have easily been stretched out much longer. 

 

Is that the opening chords of “Purple Rain” I hear? It is indeed, and the crowd noise increases several decibels. There is a long piano intro while Prince speaks directly to the crowd, several times referencing emancipation (the word, not the album). Some might find the crowd noise off-putting, but it does give it an intimate feel, and there is a sense of togetherness that the recording seems to capture. Prince pulls into his guitar break, and there is that sense of release that I often feel as he throws his head back and begins to play. It’s a shame therefore that the recording is thin at this point and the guitar sounds weaker than I would like. I know it’s the recording rather than Prince, and things get better as he slows it down and plays a more relaxed solo, the likes of which I hadn’t heard before. Any doubts I had about the recording fade at this stage, the quality of the show easily surpasses the quality of the recording. There is a further surprise, as the crowd begins to sing “ooww, owww, oowww” Prince starts to sing the first verse again. His guitar plays along, and I find it to be a touching moment. He is still finding emotion in a song that I thought had been emotionally wrung out. Again he plays into the beloved solo, and this time he pushes on with it and keeps his guitar wailing. There is the final reprise of “ooowww owwww oowwww” and my girlfriend is now looking at me oddly as I wave my arms from side to side. 

We are swept up into the here and now as a rather plastic-sounding “Get Yo Groove On” starts. This song is too smooth for its own good, and it’s easy to dismiss it as something that Prince could do in his sleep. But listening to it carefully now I can see that it’s well crafted, and Prince is making it look all too easy. There is nothing wrong with a smooth, well-crafted pop song, and that is what this is. The first half of the song is a bit of fun, and it’s only as it goes on do I find it’s a little devoid of fresh ideas in the second half. However, there is a brief guitar break by Prince that shakes things along. I do like it when the band throws “Six” into the mix, I hadn’t expected to hear that at a 90s show. The song finishes and part of me regrets praising it earlier on, there wasn’t as much there as I had initially thought. 

“The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” has a joyful opening, and it’s not hard to get caught in its charming web. Prince begins to talk to the crowd and then suddenly stops the song without singing. It’s disappointing, and I briefly frown, that is until I hear the next song begin. 

 

“The Ride” is classic mid-nineties Prince. Prince seems to relish it, and he wallows in the down and dirty groove with some dark guitar licks, and his laid-back vocal delivery. The guitar comes to the fore a couple of minutes in, and it’s worth the wait. It’s a slow-burning solo, and it certainly does have some intensity to it. It's stronger sounding than some of the other solos I have heard on The Ride, and I wonder if he is using a different guitar setup. As the solo progresses it takes on a voodoo sound, and I find myself listening very carefully to it. Prince name-checks some of the people at the show “Mavis Staples is in the house, R Kelly is in the house, Oprah Winfrey is in the house” Each name elicits a louder cheer from the crowd, and things become louder as Prince encourages the crowd to wave the wild sign, before playing with the crowd some more. The band then plays real low and Prince plays some dark licks on his guitar. There is not much more to say about this part, except that it is my favorite part of the song. This does go for some minutes before Prince closes it to a loud cheer from the crowd. 

Spirits are uplifted as Prince plays a loud, guitar-heavy sounding “The Cross.” The drums are down in the mix, and the crowd claps along. The most striking thing in the opening minutes is the heavy chug of Prince's guitar. However, this eases back in the next verse and the drums and keyboards come to the fore as the song progresses. Prince begins his solo, and the balance is restored. I have no complaints about the solo at all, apart from the fact that I would love to see it as well as hear it. The song is surprisingly short, and a horn sound suddenly appears in the mix near the end, I guess from Morris Hayes's keyboard. One final crescendo and we finally get a rest as the band stops between songs. 

“Do Me, Baby” is one of those songs that I find myself writing about week after week. That and “Purple Rain” seem to be in every show, and I can’t deny it’s well worth the inclusion, I would be terribly disappointed if I went to a show and didn’t hear “Do Me, Baby.” Prince takes his time before singing this one, but it’s not a gentle build-up as we have heard previously, at this shows there is plenty of intensity and screams from the crowd. I love it as Prince begins to sing as some women yell encouragement to him from the crowd. This one is squarely aimed at the women in the audience, and Prince’s scream gets an equally loud scream back at him. This continues as he begins to sing lines from “Adore,” and then Insatiable. Each song gets a couple of lines, and he also throws “Scandalous” and “How Come U Don’t Call Me” anymore into the mix just for good measure.  The squeals of delight settle down and Prince resumes singing “Do Me, Baby.” The song ends on a high with some more shrieks from Prince and a simple “Do me, baby, do me, baby” 

 

We go from his slow jams straight into some funk as the band strikes up “Sexy MF.” Prince’s rap on this doesn’t always do it for me, but I do enjoy that groove. The band swing on it as the song goes along, and Morris Hayes adds his touch which changes the direction of the song. Apart from the first minute, most of the song is instrumental, with several changes. I find it to be disjointed and off-putting, and there is a part of me that is secretly pleased as it ends. 

The bounce of “If I Was Your Girlfriend” begins and I am all in.  There does seem to be something missing in the song, I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is, so I’m just going to blame the recording. The bass isn’t as prominent as I like, and some of the other instruments I can’t hear very well. The crowd certainly likes it, and it’s one of those occasions where I think that perhaps I should invest in a time machine. Prince again tells the crowd that “Freedom is a beautiful thing” as the song comes to a rather unsatisfying ending. 

“One Of Us” surprised me when I first heard Prince cover it, but in retrospect, it makes perfect sense as a song Prince would cover. The lyrics are a good fit for his spiritual side, and the steady beat gives him room to put his stamp and guitar sound over it. This isn’t the best example of the song, Prince's vocals aren’t recorded well, in fact, nothing is except his guitar. There is the feeling that I am just tolerating the song between guitar breaks, which isn’t fair. His second break is when things become interesting, it’s not too long though and he is soon singing again. There is another guitar break that carries us to the end, I find it hard to get too excited about it, it’s good without being great. 

I am no great fan of “Sleep Around.” The song sounds busy, and yet it fails to grab me. Even listening carefully here I don’t find anything to latch onto. I have heard it plenty, it is fine to listen to when I am doing other things, it’s just when I give it all my attention I find it lacking. The performance here is good, and in the wider context, it’s a good fit. The song eases off later and Prince thanks the crowd. This part I like much more, it’s a more basic sound, and I can feel the groove better. There is a nice rhythm guitar sound, I have to listen carefully but it is there. And as soon as I write those words it comes to the fore and gets a minute to shine – Prince is laughing at my expense. There is a segue into “Take The A-train” and Prince uses this to finish up the song and move us into a “Chicago Jam.” 

 

Some cool bass play gets this “Chicago Jam” hopping, and there are a few occasions in the song when it is right out front. This is the last song of the show and Prince takes the opportunity to play with the crowd and get them chanting along. It’s a characteristic Prince-type jam, and Morris Hayes in particular gets plenty of time to play. The song has an easy groove to it, it never becomes intense and I bob along easily to it at home as Prince has the crowd chanting “C..H...I love you” The song ends with a horn flurry courtesy of Morris Hayes and his keyboard and the show ends appropriately with the sound of the crowd. 

There is plenty to dislike about this show, and yet I find myself liking it. Sure, the recording was less than ideal, and I didn’t warm to every song played. But the parts that I liked, I really liked. The rendition of “Purple Rain” was an oddity and something worth hearing, as was The Ride. It’s a nice document of this time, and something I should probably give more listens to. 

Chicago 21 November 1996 (am)

 I have been continually surprised by how much I enjoyed concerts from 1996 to 1997. At the time I wasn’t taken by them, but twenty years later I find that I have finally matured and caught up with Prince. The shows are an odd mix, Prince is aiming at the pop audience, yet the music and performance lack the sparkle of his younger years. However, to my more mature ears, there is plenty to keep me entertained. This week’s bootleg covers an aftershow recorded in Chicago after Prince’s performance on Oprah. It doesn’t quite fit the classic aftershow mold and is more or less a run-through of the Love 4 One Another tour setlist. It is a crowd-pleaser though, and Prince offers a couple of diversions that keep the crowd well and truly involved with some loose renditions later in the show.  Despite being an audience recording, with all the baggage that comes with that,  I look forward to hearing this again and discovering something new. 

21st November 1996 (am), Park West, Chicago 

There is no denying, that the recording gets off to a rough start. I have no issue at all with the music, “Jam Of The Year” opens with a long instrumental featuring some taunt guitar work that makes it all the more appealing. However, the recording is rough for the first few minutes, with crowd noise overwhelming the music in places. Listening past that though and things aren’t so bad, this opening number has some cool keyboard work as Prince sings his lines to a highly charged and appreciative audience. “Jam Of The Year” doesn’t quite live up to its title though and I am already looking forward to what comes next in the setlist. 

Doing a quick calculation, I have heard “Purple Rain” four or five times a week for the last twenty years, factoring when I listened to the album on heavy rotation from 1984-1994 when Prince was THE MAN, and Purple Rain was THE ALBUM, I estimate I have heard the song approximately 16,000 times. And yet I find I still enjoy it. The version on this recording is surprising for several reasons. Firstly, it appears very early in the setlist, whereas traditionally it comes later in the show. Secondly, it is a late-night/early morning show, where the big songs don’t normally get an airing. And finally, this is a loose version, featuring a veil of intricate guitar work from Prince. The main solo pulls back as Prince begins to gently weave his way through the song before returning to the verse, almost rebooting the song at this point. It keeps me guessing, and even if I have heard the song 16,000 times before I still finish with a smile on my face. 

 

I am pulled straight back into the summer of 1996 with “Get Your Groove On.” Listening to it today I can almost feel myself in the car, windows down, music on, and the feeling of the sun on my skin. Prince imbues the music with a sunshine feel that seeps through the song at every opportunity, and for my money, this is a better representation of Emancipation than the earlier “Jam Of The Year.’ It certainly helps that a lot of the earlier sound problems have dissipated, and even though the crowd is loud and vocal, it adds to the sense of being there, rather than detracting from the music itself. 

Prince doesn’t dwell on “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World,” drawing it in after a minute to instead deliver a hard-hitting “The Ride,” something that seems to go over very well with the Chicago crowd. I am with them on this one as the music churns and chews through the next ten minutes. At times the music is so low it almost disappears into the floor, and that is no bad thing at all as Prince lays down his blues sound in a blues town. From this swampy festering sound, Prince’s guitar rises loud and proud, a flaming sword in the darkness of the music, a light to gravitate to. It's a great moment, but not the finest moment of the song, that comes later and Prince teases and taunts the audience with his talk, made all the better by the audience yelling encouragement – “Come on Boy,” “Alright now!”. In these moments I am right there in the audience, just the reason I listen to bootlegs. 

 

There is a guttural grunt and snort to the guitar sound at the beginning of “The Cross,” a raw sound that transports me back to when I was a young punk. Prince keeps his guitar set to “Garage Band” as he plays a mighty rendition that comes from the gut. It may not be the cleanest sounding recording in circulation, but Prince more than makes up for it in raw, unadulterated power and force of will. Even twenty years later listening to a scratchy bootleg at home, it is easy to be swept up by the fervor of it all, and by the end of the song, I too am desperately close to whooping and hollering with the rest of the crowd. The response to the end of the song is overwhelming, it is obvious that I’m not the only one deeply affected by the performance. 

Prince may have declared “Prince is dead” a year earlier, but here he is full resurrected and digs deep into his back catalog for a performance of “Do Me, Baby,” a performance that sounds as if the song had only been written the day previous as Prince plays it with unbridled emotion and feeling. Again, the crowd is right with you as the song plays, it may be too much for some but I do get a buzz hearing the audience screaming their appreciation, even if they do swamp the music at times. Prince unleashes an exquisite scream that has the crowd baying for more, and who can blame them when Prince is sounding this sexy. With lyrics thrown in from “Scandalous”, “Adore”, “Insatiable”, and “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore”, it becomes a tour de force of Prince’s most seductive songs, no bad thing at this stage of the concert. 

The following “Sexy M.F.” is most welcome, with its horn refrain it brings a fresh sound to the concert. However, the verses can’t quite live up to this, and the recording does Prince no favors. While the horns are recorded well, Prince himself sounds a touch fuzzy, and the slippery guitars underneath are mostly lost to my ears. A song that promises much, in this case, the bootleg just can’t do it justice. 

 

When I was fifteen, “If I Was Your Girlfriend” sounded like the most important song in the world. Thirty years later, and as much as I try, listening to it here I can’t recapture that feeling. The weight of the song has gone, and now when I listen all I can hear is the easy groove the song rolls across. Getting older is a bitch. However, as a live bootleg experience, it is perfectly serviceable, and when I take my personal feelings out of the equation, I find it an easy-going three or four minutes. 

Prince’s spiritual side again comes to the fore with his intense cover of Joan Osbourne’s “One Of Us.” One can see the attraction, and with the snare sound anchoring the beat it fits in well with Prince’s oeuvre. It could do with a better quality recording, but Prince's playing is forceful enough that it overcomes most sonic limitations. It’s not quite the key song of the evening, but it is a good pointer to where Prince was at this time. 

The encore begins with “Sleep Around” from the Emancipation album. It may not be the best-sounding song on the bootleg, but it is good enough that I feel I should pull out the original album and give it a listen, which I guess is the point of these concerts; to promote the album of the time. The Emancipation songs may be firmly fixed in the mid-Nineties by their sound and style, but they still have their own spirit and for me nicely capture the zeitgeist of that time. The bootleg itself is a passable listening experience without ever blossoming into something essential. 

This is followed by the final song of the evening as Prince segues “A Train” into an all-encompassing jam. There is some bass work, that judging by the screams is the man himself, and the crowd is fantastically vocal with their “play that funky bass”  encouragement. This jam is the highlight of the show for me, the thumping bass (or should I say thumbing bass) is glorious in its chest-thumping vibration. Prince's chant of “C, H, I, love you” is pretty cool and coupled with the contributions from the other band members it is a fitting end to what has been a lot of fun. 

 

The first five minutes give a false impression, and after a bumpy start, the concert settles into something very cool indeed. Putting aside any recording issues, I found that even though it wasn’t an aftershow in the true sense (the setlist being pretty much a condensed mainshow), the interaction between the band and audience made it feel like one, and especially so in the final couple of songs. Of the concerts of this era, there are certainly better ones, but this is the one I have enjoyed most so far. One to avoid if you are an audio purist, but for anyone who likes plenty of passion and crowd interplay, this is pretty darn good.