Paisley Park 23 June 2002

 With great joy, I continue my rumble through the celebration of 2002. One of the stunning aspects of this run of shows is the ever-changing setlist and the way that each show stands alone and is completely different from one another. Today’s concert is no exception. The last concert I listened to was light and jazz-flavored, today’s concert, on the same day incidentally, comes from the other end of the scale. It is heavy funk, with a slab of meaty guitar thrown in for good measure. I appreciate both styles in equal measure, but I have had one of those days where I am good and ready for something substantial, and this gig certainly fits the bill. 

23 June 2002, Paisley Park 

The breezy horn riff that opens the show gives no hint of the heavy storm that is to follow. With its bright ostinato revolving around and around, the sound of a carnival in the air, all light, and colors. This will not last. As the brain-crushing rhythm section enters the music draws around its center, a suffocating “Days Of Wild” drowning out the optimistic sunshine of the horn. With an uncompromising and single-minded groove, the band becomes the eye of a funky storm, a storm that will engulf us for the following fifteen minutes. They are unwavering in their delivery as the music continues its steady rise in intensity, each return of the horn riff spiraling us deeper into the thick depths of the song. The band comes locked together in a death embrace that both embodies and enlivens the music, the song slowly drowning you in its waves of intensity. At its dark heart, it is impossible to separate life from death, the music a grim impenetrable wall yet life-affirming with its horn sound offering hope at every pass, this dichotomy ramping up the tension that gives the song its inner strength. It becomes overwhelming, the music pulling at you, pulling you down under its surface to the murky depths where the true funk lies. You cannot resist its pull, it is a sweet drowning, and as the sound swallows you up you know that this is what you have always wanted, death by suffocation of Prince’s funk. Somewhere above us, we can see Maceo’s sax solo shimmering, ripples and shadows on the water, before Prince plunges us ever deeper with his insistent rap making the real world just a distant dream that we no longer want to be part of. The ONA tour threw up some fearsome renditions of “Days Of Wild” (the monstrous version played at Antwerp springs to mind) and this version can look anyone of them in the eye for sheer intensity and pleasure. 

 

The electric sizzle and burn that introduces “The Jam” scorches across the audience before settling on the all too familiar bass sound of Larry Graham. Familiarity breeds contempt, but not in this case as the band attacks the song with great gusto, giving a spark that is sometimes missing. Whereas the previous “Days Of Wild” crushed me into the earth, “The Jam” picks me up, dusts me off, and has me once again in admiration of the versatility of the band as they each offer an uplifting contribution to the jam. Renato Neto shines with his keyboard solo, a solo that is both fast and playful, as does Prince with his guitar tone far removed from the electric fury that opened the song. The music feels full of possibilities, the chance that the band may move beyond their mandate and become more than just a party band. However, at eleven minutes it feels all too short and these possibilities remain unrealized. 

The potential stretch of the band and the music comes to fruition with “Dolphin,” a song that slows the concert to a standstill with its elegant opening before Prince releases the handbrake and lets the song power through the chorus. It is an intimate moment with the crowd singing the chorus alone, a moment that becomes starker as the music pulls back to reveal a pinpoint solo from Prince, not a single note of excess sounded as he cuts to the heart of the song with a few quick cuts from his scalpel-like guitar. It is a sound he returns to after each chorus, the outpouring of love from the audience during each chorus pared back by Prince’s barren guitar sound. His voice in the final verse captures all that has been expressed before in the music, his vocals revealing that the music is true to what is in his heart. Returning to the guitar he once again pulls it back into the unspoken world where emotions are felt and left unsaid. 

 

“Sign O The Times” crawls slowly upon us with a guitar steadily sketching it into shape. There is no sense of urgency in its arrival, Prince preferring to let the crowd sing the opening verses for him, only choosing to join for the “Sign O The Times” refrain, before drawing his electrifying guitar sound from its scabbard and cleaving the song neatly in two, the opening all about the lyrics and the crowd, the second half a firestorm of guitar fury that tugs and pulls at the song without ever shaking the confines of its tight structure. It’s not what I expected, and I love it even more for that. 

“The Work, part 1” isn’t as finely crafted here as it is elsewhere in 2002, it comes as a jagged and fractured version, with plenty of cracks for the band to emerge into the light. In particular, Maceo Parker shows us just why he is highly regarded, his solo played with his familiar sound yet fresh and demanding to be heard. The song flows easily from the speakers, and the fact that I am tapping my foot throughout speaks to its infectious nature. The final few minutes see the band on cruise control as we glide easily on the back of its good-natured groove, the song merely a vehicle to carry this groove and us through to the finish. It doesn’t come close to the intensity of the other songs of the evening, but it does bring balance to the performance and is all the more welcome for that. 

 

The natural order of the world is restored with an uninhibited “Paisley Park” that grunts and chugs behind a veil of sweet impassioned vocals. With his swirling psychedelic guitar sweeping up the funk, Prince has several genres bowing before him, making them slaves to his vision that can only be summed up as “Prince.” This performance is light years away from the sound of the previous night, a crisp mix making every instrument shine, none more so than Prince’s guitar work which is the foundation of the song. There is a sense that Prince is bringing the song home, and as he sings of “Paisley Park” it is no longer a spiritual or mythical place, but instead, a place that Prince has made real in his surroundings and attitude. Here ideas and concepts are brought to life in Prince’s home, and at this concert. 

Renato’s solo that bridges this and the following song is not to be underrated. It is no mere filler, Renato imbues the music with a sense of loss and melancholy while giving it a brushstroke of light that calms the soul. These moments can sometimes be frustrating, the audience hungry for more of their beloved Prince, but in this case, Renato plays a solo that holds the attention, and one finds themselves wishing that there could perhaps be even more of this before Prince returns to make the concert his own. 

If I said the final song was an eighteen-minute version of “Peach” you might expect that to be a devastating guitar attack that lays waste to all in its path. But Prince and the band are far too nuanced for that, and instead, we get a steady introduction before Prince pulls back the curtain on his guitar onslaught. Even then the guitar is used as a tactical weapon rather than a destroyer of planets. Prince carefully picks his spots for guitar fury, the rest of the song dedicated to working the crowd, and the ever-forward marching rhythm section. It is a playful finish to the concert, Prince playing the crowd for his amusement and the confines of “Peach” disappearing altogether as Prince talks to the crowd. With his usual themes of spirituality and the bible coming to the fore it is quintessential Prince, and exactly what I would expect at this time. Despite the chant of “it ain’t over,” unfortunately it is. 

 

As you can tell from my wordy description of this concert, I liked it. I liked it a lot. If details about who played what, and how, are what you’ve come for, then you’ve come to the wrong place. Music moves me. That feeling I get when I listen to it is what I want to share here, and it is really what this blog is about. Music that shakes me to the core, music that challenges and excites me. This concert was full of such songs and moments. “Days Of Wild” is exactly what I signed up for when I first became a fan. A song that holds me in awe and takes me to another place from which I never want to return. Throw in an exquisite “Dolphin,” a twitchy “Sign O The Times” and the psychedelic funk of “Paisley Park,” and we have a concert that I will come back to again and again. Celebration 2002, what a year. If only I had a time machine…. 

Paisley Park 23 June 2002 (am)

 We have been in lockdown for a month now, and to be honest it hasn’t exactly been as I planned. I thought I would be updating my blog daily and enjoying some well-earned sleep. Instead, my sleep has been poor, and I have spent most of my days moping around the house feeling listless. But right now the sunshine is streaming through my windows, and I feel it is time to snap out of it and continue to enjoy Prince’s 2002 celebration. I am working my way through each of the nights, and today I will be listening to (rather loudly I might add) the second show from that run. It differs from the first show in its setlist, and indeed in its feel, as Prince plays an early morning show that is more aftershow than a proper concert. The setlist has me drooling from the start, and I can already see that with this particular band the setlist is pitched firmly at their individual talents. For any fan of the One Night Alone band, this is a mouth-water proposition, as you will soon see when I start listening. So, without further ado, let’s dive right in. 

23 June 2002 (a.m.), Paisley Park 

“Power Fantastic”.

Let me say that again – “Power Fantastic”. I am missing the opening “Rainbow Children” instrumental and the concert starts with “Power Fantastic”. My, my, my, what a dream come true. And even better, it lives up to the hype, sounding exquisite from the outset. Prince’s vocals ache and bend, all the while inviting the listener into his world. It’s not just a nod to his past though. He is fully invested in the moment as the band weaves its craft around him. With each line I find myself deeper and deeper into Prince’s universe, I am no longer a mere listener, but part of the experience as the song envelops me. People talk about songs having a life of their own, but here the song exists as a world unto itself. It is no longer something to be listened to but to be experienced on every level. Prince speaking to the crowd snaps me out of my reverie, and I am briefly disappointed to open my eyes and find I am still in the real world. 

 

Prince’s assertion that this is a rehearsal is borne out by “Extraordinary.” He calls out chords to the band, before stopping and starting again from the beginning. It is lush without becoming over-indulgent in the first few minutes. Prince keeps the song and the band tightly reined in, before allowing it to come to full bloom with several solos in the final minutes. The song frees itself of its previous shackles as Renato explores the boundaries with his keyboard solo, a solo that highlights just why he is so vital to this band. When Prince returns to the vocals the song tilts again, throwing us back into something all the more structured and familiar, but nowhere near as much fun. 

“Here On Earth” rises slowly, languidly, from the ether. It remains a stranger to me throughout, I can’t quite penetrate its lazy facade, and as it drifts smokily by there is nothing that draws me in. As a mood, it fits in well with the rest of the evening, but nothing is outstanding about it and it becomes faceless around its esteemed colleges. 

Prince gives us another rare treat with his performance of “With You”. Like a fine wine it has aged well, and in this performance has an earthy warmth to it that lingers on the ear. With no sharp edges, it could become as toothless as the previous song, but Prince injects enough of his personality into it to give it shape and life. He delivers the last line with a wistfulness that has him briefly looking back before the next song snaps us back to the present day. 

An instrumental “Pearls B4 The Swine” is the meat and potatoes of this band, and although short has them playing to their signature sound. Led by the piano, the band plays with a lightness of touch, an easy airiness that gives the song space and room. Unfortunately, it is all too short and leaves me wanting more in the best possible way. 

 

“The Ghetto” belongs to Maceo Parker with his sound firmly stamped across it. Prince gives him plenty of time to show us what he can do, and he provides us a good couple of minutes of swirling sax before Prince comes to the microphone. There isn’t much more to Prince’s contribution as the crowd joins before leaving Maceo to again dominate. Even when Prince breaks into “Prince and The Band,” it stays firmly in the realm of his surrounding players as they continue to give light to the performance. Singing about the ghetto has never sounded so good, nor so liberating. 

I don’t recall the last time I heard “Sweet Baby,” and as it slowly reveals its charms I wonder why I don’t give it a spin more often. It is a testament to Prince’s impressive back catalog that a gem like this is barely mentioned when discussing his canon. As I once more reacquainted I quietly rejoice in its subtle charms. It doesn’t know its own beauty, and it’s only after the passing of years that we see what was really there all along, a song as easy and natural as you like, just waiting for us to rediscover. Such is the wonder of this setlist, as Prince digs deeper into his past bringing unexpected joys. 

 

Prince digs further into the vault for “When The Lights Go Down,” a song that deserved better than appearing on a compilation album. Paired with the previous “Sweet Baby,” we get some sense of where its roots might lay. But where “Sweet Baby” had a teenage innocence, “When The Lights Go Down” brings sophistication as Prince speaks of more adult themes. I enjoy both for what they are, but I appreciate the former for its pure joy, while the latter has my heart for its musical muscle. As a one-two punch, this is the beating heart of the concert. 

One could well imagine this band coming up with “Strollin,” a song that predates them by ten years. There is no need for them to bend the song to their sound, it is already there. With Renato and Maceo in the band, they pick up the central sound of the song and run with it, dragging it forward into new territory, while remaining firmly with the same vibe that always infused it. “Strollin'” is familiar, but not once becoming stale as the band plays with a light touch and adds just enough of something new to keep my ear closely listening throughout. 

“Gotta Broken Heart Again,” practically drips out of the speakers as Prince spins his tale of woe. The band adds weight to the song, in particular, Maceo’s solo updates it for 2002, and future-proofs it for us listening today. Prince could have become overwrought in his delivery, but he remains restrained, and with the touches added by Maceo, it stays above its lyrical content. 

 

I could write a long list of potential cover versions for Prince, but I don’t think I could have foreseen a cover of a James Taylor song. “You’ve Got A Friend” works well in this context, it is evidently well known to the crowd as they can be heard singing along throughout. It does run out of steam after the third minute, and what promised so much fails to deliver in the second half. I may not enjoy the second half so much, but the first minutes were so good that I can see this may well be a song I will be returning to in the future. 

As much as I looked forward to “Pop Life,” what I hear in this case is disappointing. It lacks focus, and Prince’s vocals suffer through too much echo. His voice becomes a blunt instrument. Delicacy and nuance are lost to the echo and as much as I try I can’t listen past it. I wish for more, but I can’t undo what has been done, the more I listen the more frustrated I become. I remind myself of all the great songs that have come previously, which only makes me regret this last song further. The redeeming feature comes late in the song as Renato goes to work, Prince’s vocals no longer at the forefront of the song as his piano man kicks into high gear to round out the song. Oh yes, that’s much better now, and we finally end on a high. 

And so ends this second part of Prince’s 2002. It would be lazy of me to call this set and Prince’s band “jazz-inspired,” but there is no doubt from which well they are drawing their inspiration. However, what elevates this band though is their ability to stretch and knead Prince’s material, pulling it further into the dark, or into the light, as required. This setlist plays on their strengths, all the while giving them the freedom to move the material as they see fit. As a reminder of the symbiotic relationships Prince has with his bands, this is a fine example, and even twenty years on one can hear the push and pull of Prince and his band. Ignoring the final “Pop Life,” this is a good record of the band in their prime, and the era in general. 

Paisley Park 21 June 2002

 KaNisa is going to kill me. 

I want to tell you about 2002. I want to tell you about the glory of the One Night Alone Tour. I want to share the incredible music and concerts played over this period. I want you to love it as much as I do.

But this iteration of Prince is KaNisa’s Prince. This period is her greatest pleasure, her private joy. We should keep it quiet among ourselves she whispers. This is just for those of us in the know. But I can’t keep it to myself anymore and I’m sorry. This is one of Prince’s finest hours, and I’m going to tell you all about it. 

The 2002 celebration occurred amid the One Night Alone Tour. Titled Xenophobia Celebration 2002, it took place at Paisley Park between the 21st – 24th of June. A lot of the music played is not new to the audience with Prince having already been on tour since 1st March. Although familiar, the music has a weirdness that can’t be shaken and it continues to excite and fascinate throughout the year and beyond. 

Over the next few weeks, I will listen to some of these concerts from the 2002 celebration (who am I kidding, I’m probably going to listen to them all) and offer my thoughts. I’m starting with the concert from June 21st – probably the closest to the setlist Prince had been playing on the road and a good introduction to the vibe of the era. I can’t wait, I love this era and look forward to sharing it with you. 

As I said, KaNisa is going to kill me.

21 June 2002, Paisley Park 

A John Blackwell drum solo is a great way to open any show, and it kicks down the door on a flurry of Maceo Parker's saxophone work. There is freedom to his playing, and for a few minutes it sounds as if anything might be possible. The saxophone tears down barriers between genres, opening the mind to the new soundscape Prince envisages. With his distorted vocals and a lacerating guitar sound, it becomes a concentrated deconstruction of his 1980’s legacy as he seeks new inspirations and muses. “The Rainbow Children” sprawls across the opening of the concert, everything contained within offering a glimpse into this new vision. You don’t have to buy into it, you don’t even have to like it, but you do have to understand that Prince is seeking new horizons and he’s taking us all with him. With a band that relishes this free-form open playing, Prince has the right team around him to get him where he needs to go. Hold on to your hat, it’s going to be quite a trip. 

 

After the wild and woolly “The Rainbow Children,” the music solidifies around “Muse 2 The Pharoah,” and it feels like we are on safer ground. A smooth vocal delivery gives a sense of safety and warmth, this might just be the Prince we always knew, but that illusion is shattered with the dark clouds of the keyboard suddenly closing in and Prince spinning off into his darker lyrics. It’s a trap door in an otherwise innocuous song. It falls to Renato Neto to provide some soothing balm after this pitfall, but Prince isn’t finished as he returns to his theme for the evening. Easy listening it ain’t, but seeing an artist create something on stage before us, now that is something special. 

He continues in this vein through “Xenophobia,” his brooding music matching the lyrical content. Rising from the swirling darkness comes an ecstatic solo from Maceo, the brightness of his playing in sharp context to what is going around him. The solo from Renato Neto matches him, at times hinting at The Commodore's “Machine Gun” before he drags the sound far into the future with creative finesse. The song becomes a celebration of the band, each member playing off each other while taking it to ever-spiraling heights. I am giddy just listening to it, I can’t imagine how great it would have sounded to be there. Prince’s final gift of a guitar solo isn’t just a gift to the crowd, it’s a gift to all that love good music, and it cuts right through some of the former unsettling moments. 

Prince’s opening vocal stretches gently out as notes condense around the lyric of “A Case Of U.” With the backdrop of a lush piano, Prince enthralls with a performance that offers intimacy without sappiness, delicacy without weakness, the song carefully pitched so it never once falls into the nostalgic trap that often befalls such songs of the past. This is helped no end by the tail of the song that takes on a far more strident sound, Prince twisting it to his current sound and the heaviness of the band pulling it firmly into their orbit. It becomes of the era, and never once suffers for it. 

On a firm foundation of keyboards and horns, like so many of the songs of this era, “Mellow” is slow to reveal itself. Upon this foundation Prince gives us a spiky vocal performance, for a song titled “Mellow,” it often isn’t. It twists and turns, never settling one way or another. Out of kilter, it holds my attention with its constant evolution. I hold onto Prince’s vocals, his primary instrument never once faltering as he negotiates the twisted path of the song. 

A heavy dose of funk drives the concert for the next fifteen minutes as the band plays a pummeling version of “1+1+1=3.” With some brittle funk guitar lifted straight from 1981, the band underpins it with a heavier funk style more associated with Prince’s mid-nineties style. With Maceo Parker in the mix, it is brought up to his current era, an amalgamation of funk that comes together in a heady mix that intoxicates the mind while your body moves on the dance floor. Prince plays the crowd as well as the music, inter-cutting several times to chat, encourage and tease. It speaks to his comfort on stage and in Paisley Park, the show at times becoming a community gathering rather than the normal audience/performer divide. 

 

Stepping away from the Rainbow Children album and into the blues, Prince tortures and teases with a powerful rendition of “The Ride.” The opening guitar pleads and whimpers at his command, never settling on a lick, instead stretching and reaching into the darkness with its aching plea. It gains strength from the surrounding music, the atmosphere becoming crushing as the guitar rises to an untamed tower of electric discourse. It mutes all else in its rage and rough-edged fury, all the nuance and delicacy of the previous jazz fusion swept away with a single sweep of Prince’s guitar crunch. 

“The Other Side Of The Pillow” matches the aesthetic of the Rainbow Children material and it’s like jazz swing is complimented by some thoughtful keyboard work from Renato Neto. Greg Boyer and his trombone emerge from this as the star of the piece, the final minutes belonging to him and him alone as he bounces and loops us to an uplifting conclusion. 

The concert is ignited by “Strange Relationship.” A song long stuck in the groove of the original vinyl records with no secrets left to reveal or surprises to be sprung, here Prince lifts it from 1987 and gives it a spring clean for 2002. Vibrant and dazzlingly fun, it bleeds funk, the song flowing with a sumptuous groove across the audience. With Rhonda’s attitude burning through her bass work she becomes the most important member onstage, the center around which all revolves. 

Rhonda stays equally important for “Sing A Simple Song,” even with Larry Graham on stage my ears stayed attuned to what she is doing. The song pales in comparison to the previous “Strange Relationship,” and although each part of it shines in its own way, it never becomes more than the sum of parts. 

The cover version of “La, La, La Means I Love U” feels much more at home in this setlist. Safe and warm, it balances some of the more challenging moments of the first half of the concert. It becomes a communal moment, with plenty of time for the audience to sing along to the music. We again become aware that we are in Prince’s house as the feeling of a concert disappears beneath the soft waves of Prince’s vocals. 

“Didn’t Cha Know” hits me in my weak spot. With Rhonda Smith taking vocal duties I briefly forget Erykah Badu, the vocals interweaving with the mellow vibe crafted by the band around her. It creates an atmosphere of sweet soul and briefly is just as good as anything else heard in the evening. 

A performance of “When You Were Mine” accelerates the concert back into rock n roll territory and snaps me out of this revery. It is not as essential or urgent as elsewhere, but its stark, stripped-back sound brings Prince into sharp relief after the previous prominence of the band. The final guitar flourish has me listening for clues where this electrical storm might go next, but it’s all flash in the pan as the song dissolves into “Avalanche” 

 

The music slinks into the shadows as Prince’s vocals take center stage. He sings in a cursive style, his vocals flowing easily from line to line in an elegant loop and smooth transition. There is a simmering tension every time he is on the microphone, and although Renato Neto’s piano solo is commendable it cannot displace the vocal performance as the key element in the song. “Avalanche” barely registers in my consciousnesses most of the time, but I would gladly return to this performance any day. 

There is a hint of Stevie Wonder’s influence in the keyboard work of “Family Name.” I can’t shake the feeling as the keyboard sticks to me throughout the song, forever nudging me and whispering its influence in my ear. A jabbing guitar lick briefly banishes any of these thoughts, it’s rugged charm dismantling my infatuation with the keyboard. With its raw and real sound, it cuts to the bone of the song, its angst and fury turning Prince’s words into music in a turbulent ending to the song. 

I try and pretend that I have never heard “Take Me With U” before. It doesn’t work. It becomes wallpaper to me and with its everyday familiarity, I barely hear it. Funk guitar front-loads “Raspberry Beret,” but it too suffers the same fate. I am just too familiar with it to hear it as it is here. I may sing along, but this could be any performance from the last thirty years. 

The last jam is “The Everlasting Now,” and it is pleasingly upbeat and dance-able. It delivers all that it promises as a final jam, each member playing with a freedom and expressing themselves musically. None more so than Maceo, who in a flurry of horn work stamps his particular brand of funk across this ostensibly Prince song. 

From the smokey atmosphere emerges one final number, “Joy In Repetition.” It takes some time to assume its solid form as the various strands slowly come together to reveal their true nature, each instrument creeping towards a convergence point. It is hard to tell where the song starts and the atmosphere ends, the song becoming one with its own sound, swallowing the room with its suffocating dense sound. For the next fifteen minutes, I live the song rather than listen to it, it becomes its own world, a world crafted around us by this phenomenal band. Prince continues to craft this world, carving out a guitar solo so real you can almost touch it, a solo that feels as if it has always existed in all of us. A few lines of “Prince And The Band” pull at this illusion, temporarily warping this new land, before the song slowly returns us to the here and now. I never want it to end, but end it must, and I feel sadness at the end of it as if waking from a strange unknown dream. 

 

2002 – what a year. As a glorious celebration of Prince’s newfound muse, these concerts from Paisley Park can’t be matched. They deserve to be spoken about in the same reverential tones as the Purple Rain tour, after all, they are every bit as exhilarating and groundbreaking and a joy to listen to even as the passing of years consigns them to history. In the following weeks, I look forward to indulging in the other concerts from this celebration as a personal celebration myself. A celebration of life, of music, of Prince, and the pure joy that live music provides. Music that demands we all come together and rejoice in its undeniable power. 

Sorry KaNisa. 

Buffalo 8 March 2002 (am)

 All the talk this week has been about the appearance of a soundboard recording of the Buffalo 2002 aftershow. Any new soundboard is welcome, and although this show is not new to us (a Sabotage release of an audience recording has been circulating for some time) it is a welcome addition to the bootleg canon. Unfortunately, it is incomplete – there are sections of the show missing, but when we put it together with the Sabotage release we can get a well-rounded picture of the show. What excited me more than it is a soundboard, and it surprises me that this is not spoken of more often, is the sublime setlist and accompanying performance. The concert is relatively short, an hour and a half, but the setlist contains some show stoppers, including “Beautiful Strange” and “Paisley Park,” two songs that always deliver. The setlist is matched by a high-spirited performance that permeates a sense of joy and fun at every turn. All in all, this looks like a fantastic recording, and today I will be listening to it with the Sabotage recording near at hand to fill in any gaps, a stop-gap measure that works well until something better comes along. 

8th March (am) 2002 – The Tralf, Buffalo New York 

An unsurprising call for no cameras – “It’s blinding up here,” is Prince’s opening line, and it immediately takes me back to his Copenhagen show later in the year – a show he infamously stopped to berate the audience for taking photos (and incidentally a show I consider on par with Small Club). The music begins with a groove constructed from the bass and organ, it’s warm and inviting, and rather than throwing down a challenge it lures me in with its easy sashay. Renato Neto is an obvious hero, but a closer listen reveals Larry Graham’s distinctive bass as the glue that holds it all together. The first surprise of the night comes with Prince’s first line, drawn directly from “4 The Tears In Your Eyes.” It is the essence of why I collect these bootlegs, to hear such a rarity, and appearing in a completely foreign context. My heart lifts as Prince continues with this lyrical line, the groove remaining subservient to his willful indulgence in this song from his past. The song continues to delight, the keyboard is the first draw, but also with a cameo appearance of Prince’s guitar briefly revealed before Prince folds it back in behind the soft curtain of groove the band continues to tinker with. “Thank You For Talkin’ To Me Africa” remains its own man, the insistent horn lines barely make an impression on the groove and color the song ever so slightly with their input. Finishing with a soft drum solo, the song leaves me feeling nothing but good thoughts as we roll onward and into further groove territory. 

 

The is a laid-back feel to “The Work,” a song that normally I associate with an undeniable groove that I can’t resist. In this case, the groove remains tightly in Prince’s pocket. It comes as a gentle wash, Prince depowering it, and instead of weakening the song, it strengthens it as each player contributes a more nuanced performance. The soundboard recording doesn’t contain the whole song, but the Sabotage release is good enough for the final four minutes. Captured on the audience recording is Maceo’s solo, a piece of art that stands far above the quality of the recording and can be admired even under the most trying of circumstances. 

I am not convinced that “The Jam” needs to be on this setlist given the quality of the two jams that opened the show, however with Larry Graham on board for the first three songs I can’t say I’m surprised. It is Larry that gets things started with his distinctive vocal delivery, something that is only matched by his equally distinctive bass playing. It plays as we have heard throughout the years, everyone has their part to play, but to my ears, no one player stands out – they are all valuable yet equal, as they should be. With Prince’s guitar break kept to a minimum, the song quickly moves through its paces, enjoyable yet undemanding. 

Suddenly the sound of beach campfires and relaxing with friends fills my ears with the gentle strum of “Paisley Park.” It has a simplicity to it that speaks to my nostalgia, and in this bare form, one can easily imagine hearing it played at house parties over the years. Prince keeps this thought at the front of my mind as he asks the audience to take up vocal duties after the first verse, a task they take on with great gusto and enthusiasm, albeit not with great musicality. There is a sense of ease and humor present in the recording as Prince tests the audience on their knowledge of the lyrics, a test I may well fail myself if put on the spot. It is playful and light, adding a sense of intimacy to a concert that only has 300 people to begin with. Prince’s return to the song wraps it all up in a pop bow that neatly caps the most fun part of the recording. 

 

“Paisley Park” would be my favorite part of the recording, if it were not followed by “Beautiful Strange,” a song that is itself both beautiful and strange. It weaves its way slowly onto the recording, shimmering in and out of focus as the sound of a solo horn tries to tie it to something solid amidst its smoke and mirrors, hide-and-seek sound. There is only one way to hear this song and that is live. In the live setting, it becomes bigger than on record, more mysterious, and several levels deeper as Prince and the band bury it in untempered guitar work and keyboards that add a sense of unease to the sound. It is a song that exists outside of the people playing it, in fact at times it sounds as if it plays itself as it becomes more unworldly as we fall deeper into the web of guitar that Prince weaves across the latter part of the song. It is the horns that I cling to in the final minutes, the anguish of Prince’s guitar replaced by their hopeless melancholy sound that only adds to the allure of the song. It is a song to be wallowed in, and in the last two minutes there is plenty of wallowing going on at my place. 

The tight-fisted guitar sound of Prince builds us into “Calhoun Square,” a song that feels rooted in the Seventies, especially compared with the choice of covers in this setlist. With an organ rolling back and forth underneath, and the horns adding their sound, it takes me to another time, while Prince’s guitar work draws from the same era – rocking and rolling but never dominating in the way that he often does on this song. It is a tidy performance, classy and missing any sense of danger, but then again this is real musicians playing real music, danger belongs to the young and the dispossessed. 

This bootleg has thus far given so much, and that continues with a performance of “Dolphin” that is just as good as any other I have heard elsewhere on the tour. It draws from the well of sadness, Prince’s vocals saying so much in what he not saying, and even the quickening chorus remains low and serves a greater purpose. Prince inhabits the song, one senses he is not playing a character, rather he is himself directly speaking through the song. I cannot separate Prince from the message he is singing, and for me, this is the true weight and power of the song, much more than the notes played and the lyrics sung. It is another heavy blow in the concert, and matches “Beautiful Strange,” for its beautiful and perfectly pitched delivery. 

“The Ride” isn’t as essential as it was in the mid-Nineties, and Prince is more than happy to give way to Greg Boyer and Maceo Parker before he finally takes up the cause on his guitar. The horns are sharp, but Prince buries them under a landslide of guitar work, the notes coming thick and fast as he plays with a quickness belying the slow crawl nature of the groove. The song returns to form as the groove sinks back into the undergrowth, encouraged by Prince and the steadiness of John Blackwell’s hand, and Rhonda Smith's sense of time. 

 

It is the loop and hook of the rhythm guitar that holds court throughout the cover of James Brown’s “There Was A Time,” it is relentless in its energy and ensnares me from the start. Unfortunately, the soundboard is again incomplete, Sabotage’s release picking up the slack for the second half of the song. With Maceo picking up the lead vocals Prince sits back in the band, it’s no loss as the music remains central and one can hear his influence throughout. 

Maceo doesn’t take the vocals for “Pass The Peas,” it is presented as an instrumental and initially, it is the organ that has me salivating with its evolving wheeze and stomp. However, Maceo reclaims the song with his contribution, he was the man at the birth of it, and in this context, it is his baby and he squeals and shrills the room to a standstill. Even John Blackwell’s solo can’t upstage him, and the moment belongs to Maceo as the song crashes to a close. 

Larry Graham returns for the final song, a quick run-through of Sly Stone’s “Sing A Simple Song.” Compared to the rest of the show it is somewhat throw-away, but one can’t deny the quality of musicians Prince has on stage with him and they certainly live up to their billing. However, the song remains firmly rooted in the past, and no matter what the band brings to it, it remains overly familiar in my mind. I am unable to hear any freshness to the performance, and even Prince’s guitar solo fails to excite me as it so often does. Again, it’s not without quality, but in this case, it just doesn’t appeal to me in the way the earlier songs did. The show had to end somewhere, and here it is, not the exclamation mark I had hoped for, but a competent display by some world-class musicians. 

 

This old friend has been taken out and polished up with the appearance of the soundboard recording, and it certainly deserved it. I have previously enjoyed this but perhaps didn’t give it the respect it deserved being an audience recording. That has changed for good with this new recording, and I can only hope it reaches a wider audience in this form. I am sure most people have heard it by now, but if you haven’t I urge you to find a copy or pull out the old Sabotage release. This is real music by real musicians, and the recording is at its very best when Prince reinterprets his own music rather than taking on covers. 2002 is a golden era in my eyes, and recording like this only cement this thought. Prince was striving for new heights, and as this show demonstrates, he was hitting them. 

Detroit 6 March 2002

 This week, worlds collide as my love for the ONA tour crashes headlong into the always dynamic and vibrant Detroit audience. Detroit has been a fervent supporter of all the Prince concerts to this point, and this continues today with the more challenging Rainbow Children material and ONA show. The new songs and presentation phase the audience not one bit, and from the first note to the last they provide a knowledgeable and supportive base for Prince to play to. It is also worth noting that today’s audience recording is considerably better than anything else we have heard of late, so expect today’s post to concentrate a lot less on sound quality and a lot more on performance quality. 

6th March 2002, Detroit Opera House, Detroit 

One might expect a somewhat muted reaction to “The Rainbow Children,” but the Detroit crowd let the love flow from the first minute with their passionate embrace of Prince’s new direction. The lyrics may cause some diversion among the Prince fan community, but one can’t deny that it sounds oh so good, especially the flinty guitar licks that Prince provides, giving a sharp counterpoint to the otherwise downbeat groove.  When people speak of Prince’s greatest bands this one is often left out of the conversation, but listening here it seems desperately unfair as they stretch and flow in every direction Prince needs them, creating a sound that perhaps non of his other bands could reach. 

The slide and croon of “Muse 2 The Pharaoh” has me enraptured, and with the audience providing a soft percussion of hand claps it has a natural and organic sway. This smoky atmosphere Prince creates is blown away by the stern and sententious second portion of the song, and it is only the cool breeze of Renato’s piano that reminds us of the sweeter opening of the song. 

 

“Xenophobia” picks right up where “Muse 2 The Pharaoh” left off, as Prince continues his musical sermon. His comment about “coming to get your Purple Rain on” is greeted with a cheer, but not as loud as the cheer when he says “you’ve come to the wrong place,” a reminder of just how close this Detroit crowd was to Prince, and how they had a deeper understanding of what he was trying to achieve. The horn of Maceo Parker, along with Greg Boyers's trombone, subverts this message as they swamp the recording with their full sound, and John Blackwell’s final solo is a timely reminder of just how much he contributed to Prince’s sound, and how much we still miss him. Prince pointing out Morris Day in the house surprises me, it’s not something I remember hearing before, and although it’s only a few seconds it makes for a cool moment on the bootleg. The final few minutes are where the song spins off in a new direction, and with a furious Maceo blowing up a storm, with Prince matching him on the guitar, it is a dramatic rush to the finish. 

The fragile beauty of “A Case Of U” is just as poignant here as when we first heard Prince’s cover of it back in 1983. The lyrics flow easily from him, as if they were his and his alone, and listening to the song now I can see how it is a good fit for both the concert Prince is constructing, and for this band as they bend it ever so slightly with their delicate jazz touch.  It is again the second part of the song where Prince wades deeper into unknown waters, the song by turns becoming darker, deeper, and all the more ominous. 

I don’t get as lost in the “Mellow” as Prince would like me to, it treads the same sonic territory as some of the earlier material at the show without reaching the same ethereal heights, while not touching me as much as the previous “A Case Of U.”  However, it’s not as demanding as anything else we have heard and makes for an easy listen without forcing the listener into any corners. 

 

The bootleg becomes far more like a regular concert with the appearance of ” 1+1+1 Is 3,” a song that has an insatiable groove and draws the best out of every player on stage. With the Detroit crowd providing the double-time hand clap, Maceo again enters the fray with a cameo of a solo that raises the temperature of the performance. The rest of the song lives up to the opening jam, never once does the band lift their foot off the gas as they power the song through to the finish in a shower of horn blasts, buttery funk, and laughter. 

I'm not enthused for “Love Rollercoaster,” but Prince’s final flurry of guitar work cleanses any negativity and leaves me feeling like the exercise was worthwhile. A tiny triumph that cleanses my palate before the next course. 

A soft and feathery “The Other Side Of The Pillow” lowers the energy levels in the building but keeps the crowd engaged as they provide a gentle accompaniment to Prince’s pillow talk. The song itself is almost too soft and compared to the earlier material of the evening it kills with a slow smother rather than a hammer blow. The later meanderings of the song bring the piano to the fore before it washes up to a horn solo that nicely rounds out the moment. 

The first song to look back at Prince’s past is the spruced up “Strange Relationship,” brought back for the One Night Alone tour, refreshed and refurbished it carries its funk as well as it ever has. There are other far more impassioned versions on the tour, but the song itself remains undiminished here and it shines brightly in the middle of the set. 

 

I do enjoy Maceo and “Pass The Peas” and it only suffers in that I have heard it far too often. I would have liked to hear Maceo contribute some other songs from his past, but  one can’t complain, as Prince himself says midsong “music for music lovers” 

Prince stays with his musical history lesson as he steers the band into “Sing A Simple Song.” It’s a good fit for the band as they bring their smooth yet funky style to the party. And it is a party, one can hear the crowd enjoying the moment, and Prince has chosen his cover versions well. There are some dark clouds with the guitar bringing a winter sound later in the song, before retreating and leaving us with the warm summer's funk sound. 

The next cover version in this run is The Delfonics “La,La, La Means Eye Love U.” Prince owns the song for the next few minutes with his croon holding centre stage, before the release of the “la, la, la” chorus.  It falls soft as rain, the song seemly falling from heaven. It may not be the first song that one would gravitate towards on the recording, and I am surprised by how much I find myself falling for its hidden charms. 

Rhonda Smith provides a steady lead vocal performance for Eryka Badu’s “Didn’t Cha Know.”  There’s not a lot to it, the song dissolves as Prince gives some praise to Rhonda, and it is a moment that could have become something special had it gone for longer. 

I looked forward to “When You Were Mine,” but when it comes there is too much high end, and some of the basic rock n roll feel that I associate with it is waterblastered away by the over-the-top keyboard. It is glassy and shiny, the bedrock guitar subverted by this keyboard shrill, and leaves me feeling that this could have been so much more. 

 

There is a slow burn to “Avalanche” that appeals to me, and I listen enraptured as Prince smolders through the opening verse. The embers of the song continue to flicker and glow for the next few minutes as the piano smokes its way through the final minutes. 

“Family Name” is an important part of Prince’s One Night Alone concert. It returns us to one of his key themes of the album and tour, and although it's unconventional with its opening, the following music keeps the concert on track as the band plays behind Prince’s message-heavy lyrics. Prince’s guitar picks up where his lyrics left off, a hint of spite, malice, and pure anger present as he applies the pressure with his solo. It is an uneven song as it challenges expectations, and Prince rewards the audience with another jewel from his past in the form of “Take Me With U.” Obviously it can’t compare to his new material, but it once again turns the concert into a celebration rather than a lecture. 

This spirit of celebration is maintained throughout “Raspberry Beret” as we return to a style more in tune with Prince’s previous tours. I sometimes tire of this song, but in this case, it works well in a concert that hasn’t had any pop moments, or hits, until now.  The energy levels jump up on the recording, and it’s just as well as Prince is about to unleash his full arsenal for the next song. 

 

Prince and the band turn everything up to ten for the “Santana Medley” and with Renato Neto’s keyboard going blow for blow against Prince and his guitar it becomes titanic with the music swirling into an intense storm. There is no victor, and the real winner is the listener who gets to experience this maelstrom of musical fire and fury. It is ten minutes of carnage as Prince whips me into a fervor with his take on the Santana sound, and he carries the Detroit crowd with him with the same deep intensity and forthright guitar sound. 

Again Prince builds on contrasts and adds another level of sophistication to the concert with his precisely placed piano set. The Detroit crowd is all screams and cries for “Adore,” and in fairness, to them, there isn’t a crowd in the world that wouldn’t react the same. It’s short, there are plenty of longer versions from this tour, but it doesn’t matter as for the next couple of minutes as he plays Prince holds the audience in the palm of his hand. “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” comes from a similar place, and although I love the piano sound of it, Prince only gives us the opening line before he switches things up again. 

“Free” works well with Prince’s theme of emancipation, and here it sounds glorious as the band rises behind Prince with their uplifting sound. Again, it is short, but I do like it for the time it appears. 

The next three songs stay in this shortened manner – each barely a minute as Prince ticks off a few of the boxes for his hardcore fanbase. “Starfish And Coffee” has a whiff of teenage nostalgia, while “Under The Cherry Moon” speaks to the more serious music lovers. Both are well appreciated before “Nothing Compares To U” completes this diversion through the 1980s. In later tours, Prince would choose to have other singers accompany him, here it is just his lone voice and the Detroit crowd that create an intimate moment that one feels the recording doesn’t quite do justice to. 

There is a spring in the step of Prince’s piano playing as he leads us up the musical garden path before the verse of “Girls And Boys” reveals it for what it is. Just as good as anything heard on the piano and microphone tour, this is my highlight of the piano set, my only disappointment coming with its ending after five minutes. It has a groove that I could roll on for days, and I feel cheated as Prince brings it to an end long before I am ready. 

“Venus De Milo” and “One Night Alone” are mere footnotes and it is “Sometimes It Snows In April” that returns us to a more conventional full song. It is a light version, there is no real emotional depth here, but it sounds pretty enough, and like all good art often what you experience is what you bring to it. 

And that rings true for the following “I Love U, But I Don’t Trust U Anymore,” a song I feel far more connected to as I live through Prince’s heartbreaking lyrics. It is a perfectly pitched performance, Prince emoting just enough without giving over to the drama that is already inherent in the music he is playing. 

If “I Love U But I Don’t Trust U Anymore” was Prince’s moment, then the following “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” belongs to the Detroit crowd, at least for the first portion of the song as they are word perfect with Prince. The arrival of the full band sees them slipping back, but they are still present to the end of the song, although they can’t match Prince’s final anguished squeal. 

 

There is a bold guitar sound that sits at the heart of “Anna Stesia” and this colors the song throughout. Prince lets it cry out later in the song, and overall it is much stronger than what we know so well from Lovesexy, Prince’s vocals are full of power and punch, and the guitar drives the song into darker and unfamiliar corners. There is a final speech from Prince, you’d expect nothing less, but it is the final refrain that hits me. I have heard this song for 30 years now, but that chant of “Love is God, Love is God,” still touches me in ways I can never get used to. Prince brings it back round to his current beliefs as the crowd joins him for his “rise up” Rainbow Children chants before the band brings the curtain down with several minutes of jazz-infused groove. A fitting end for this band as they play to their strengths, and a lovely way to end the show. 

Of the Detroit bootlegs, this is one of the better ones. After a string of great concerts and poor recordings, we finally have one where the concert has a suitable recording to match. The concert offers the usual smorgasbord of music we have come to associate with the ONA tour, and it’s captured for prosperity with a worthy audience recording. ONA tour is well documented in the bootleg world, and this is another worthy addition to that catalog, the fact it comes with a passionate and knowledgeable Detroit crowd is just a bonus. Everyone has a favorite ONA concert, this is one of mine. 

San Francisco 29 April 2001 (am)

 After listening to a string of after-shows and one-off performances from 1995, I was reminded of how large the gulf is between Prince’s main shows and his one-off performances. Sometimes that contrast is lost on me as I rarely listen to the two side by side, and indeed I often treat the two concerts as two different artists. I thought it might be fun to compare the two concert styles by listening to main shows and after-shows from the same night in a single sitting and letting the enormity of the difference hit me. A good place to start would be  28th April 2001, where Prince played an arena show in Oakland, California, before an early morning aftershow at the Fillmore in San Francisco. When I started looking at this, I realized that I have already written about the main show in Oakland, so this week we take a listen to the second half of this night, Prince’s aftershow at the Fillmore. 

29th April 2001 (am) Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco 

Ignore the first cheers and crowd noise and head straight to where the funk lies stretched out taut across the skeletal structure erected by the band. While the band maintains the shape of “Daisy Chain”, Prince and rapper DVS pull in separate directions creating a tension that Prince fills with unexpected melodies and subject matter. The song was released only two weeks before this, and its obvious freshness can be heard in the relatively quiet response Prince gets throughout the number. With the core song being unknown, it is the players themselves that gain the loudest cheers as they spin the song out to twenty minutes, the funk ribboning in and out the whole way. 

There are only two know performances of “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” – this show and the soundcheck of the main concert played just a few hours earlier.  It is the immutable vocals of Rosie Gaines that stand unjostled at the center of the song, even when buffeted by the deep waves of sound coming from the keyboards and the combined power of the NPG rhythm section. Rosie never wavers from her stance, her performance unflinching and uncompromising as she demolishes the song in yet another barn-burning vocal display. 

 

It is Rosie who stays at the eye of the storm with an all-conquering rendition of “Car Wash” that sweeps across the recording, leaving no room for any other member to shine. She dominates everything with punch and power, a colossal performance that has me temporarily forgetting that this is a Prince concert. 

“Ain’t No Way” rounds out this Rosie Gaines trifecta, whereas the previous numbers were delivered with a force of nature, this time Rosie gives an earthy performance that grounds the show in far more emotive energy, and this song is the one that demonstrates the sheer power of music and live performance. This sounds as if it is coming from the heart rather than the lungs, and it is a dizzying performance that puts an emphatic full stop on Rosie’s major contributions to the evening. 

Prince takes his rightful place at center stage for an incendiary performance of “Joy In Repetition,” a song that burns long and slow in the wake of Rosie’s more tempestuous execution. The bass drips slowly across the brooding saxophone and keyboards, the music a forlorn lament long before Prince even enters the scene. When he does take to the microphone the dark atmosphere becomes all the more enveloping, the air becoming thick and unbreathable as Prince and the band draw the air out of the room with their sonic drama. Before we are all crushed under its weight Prince finally releases the pressure with a guitar solo that is blinding in its brilliance. The song melts before the heat of this final climax, and it is as near to perfection as I can imagine. There is joy in repetition indeed. 

“Paisley Park” comes from another world entirely, yet is just as engaging as the previous “Joy In Repetition.” With its raw nerved guitar sound and vivid wordplay it clatters and rattles over the recording, forcing me to listen carefully for every speck of gold hidden in its many folds. This show has been thrilling in its variety thus far, and “Paisley Park” is a rare treat of retro rock that adds a touch of wistfulness to the previous somber and substantial songs. 

 

The pace becomes blistering for the “Santana Medley” and based on the quality of the audience recording so far I expect a lot from it. Sure enough, it delivers as Prince dismantles the song with a frenzied disregard from the start. It is Najee who injects some of his personality later in the song with a surprising saxophone solo, but Prince is the marquee name, and it is Prince who punctuates Najee’s contributions with strutting guitar bursts that jolt the room with their electrical charge. 

This ragged glory of “Santana Medley” is replaced by a rapidly deteriorating recording and “Oye Como Va” Until this point the audience recording had remained a secondary consideration, but it becomes noticeable with an ongoing crackle through this song. It becomes so much of a distraction that any positive thoughts, or indeed any thoughts at all, about the music, are forgotten, replaced instead with an ongoing battle between my ears and the distortion heard. 

Thankfully the noise issues are gone as the band settles into 100% pure groove for “Come On.” Only the horns dare raise their heads from this bass-driven sleaze, their brightness providing a gleaming foil to the otherwise titanic crunch and roll that crushes the rest of the song. True, it would be better served on a cleaner recording, but even as it is it punches hard below the belt. 

The opening of “Alphabet St” is promising, the drum settling on a quick beat while the rest of the band flitter and flame around the rapidly sketched-out song. With no lyrics to speak of in the first half of the song, it is all about the instrumentation, and the band delivers with a range of sonic invention. Things accelerate later as Prince does bestow some lyrical content upon the music and the song leaps forward in response. It is a gleeful stomp to the finish, the crowd, and band coming together in a moment of solidarity and celebration. 

 

The difference between this concert and the main show couldn’t be more striking. While the main show was a soundboard that offers a selection of tried and trusted hits, this concert is an audience recording that serves as a smorgasbord of after-show flavors. The covers, audience participation, and extended jams are all there in a 90-minute show which is only marred by the appearance of crackle in a couple of songs. If I had a choice between this or the main show, I would plump for this every time. It’s not one of the greatest, but it is very, very good. 

Oakland 28 April 2001

 Today I will take a listen to a show from Oakland during the Hit N Run tour of 2001. I have already covered a show from the Hit N Run in San Jose from December 2000, and this one from just four months later is pretty similar. Despite a lot of the setlist being the same, there are some differences, and I felt that the recording is worth listening to as well as the San Jose concert. Prince throws in just enough to make me want to give this one a spin too. So, if it does read similarly to the San Jose concert, I apologize in advance. Some things are the same, and some things are different, such is life. 

28 April 2001 Oakland, California. 

I am not a great fan of the prerecorded intros that Prince often uses. Yes, I do understand that it helps generate the energy and anticipation for the show to come, but in a way, I find the snatches of songs are like spoilers for a TV show or movie. I feel its removes some of the surprises that may lie ahead. The intro here contains snippets of “My Name is Prince,” and just the barest of lines from “Erotic City,” both of which I would have loved to of heard in the main show, but don’t get played beyond this intro (now I’m the one giving spoilers!) 

 

The thrill of “Uptown” live has never left me. As soon as that drum roll kicks off, and the signature guitar line plays I am like a 15-year-old again. The quality of this recording is very good, and the song sounds just as good as it ever has. The mix is very strong, and Prince and his guitar are crystal clear in my speakers. He doesn’t sing too passionately, and I do get the sense that he is just going through the motions. When I listen carefully to the song, it sounds like the whole thing is played in this way, but I am too much in love with the song to care. 

“Controversy” has the excellent funky guitar again right to the fore. It’s a nice rendition we have here, the rest of the band and the keyboards are back in the mix, and just like the previous song it’s mostly Prince and his guitar that we hear. And that’s no bad thing, as his singing and guitar playing are very crisp and clean. However, the song is kept to a minimum and we quickly segue into “Mutiny.” 

I have long been a fan of “Mutiny,” and have dozens of excellent recordings from various shows. This one doesn’t live up to any of those, sadly it's missing that special X factor. The playing is excellent, as is the vocal performance, but energy or passion is missing from it. It’s a shame, as the recording is very good, just the performance at this stage isn’t up to the same level. Najee does get a couple of solos but fails to add anything of real interest to it. There is a very fast and furious organ break just after which would have saved it all if only it had been longer. Again, I’m not criticizing the recording or musicianship, but for me, it’s just missing that little bit extra. 

I enjoy “The Work Pt 1” much more. Its live debut was only two weeks before this show, so to Prince and the crowd, it’s still very much a new song. He seems to be feeling this one a little more than the previous songs and is more engaged. The song does meander just a fraction, but Mike Phillips does play a lovely clean guitar solo which for me is the high point of the song. Prince does sing over most of it, but my ears are very much focused on what Mike is playing. 

Next comes “Cream,” and it’s played very smooth and clean, this band seems to have a good handle on this song and it plays to their strengths. Listening to a lot of recordings, I often don’t give Cream the time or attention it deserves, but here it has my full attention. Especially when Prince plays a nice solo on his guitar midsong, and it’s very much played in the ‘Prince tone’, it’s unmistakably his guitar sound. A very pleasant surprise to my ears, this song is the first time where I feel the show is drawing me in. 

That feeling continues next as “Little Red Corvette” gets a nice long intro, with plenty of keys and a few howls from the backing singers. As most of you know, I could just listen to this opening refrain over and over, and this one is no different. When Prince does begin to sing it’s once again with a very good clean sound. He isn’t too engaged but his vocals are very crisp. The song is kept quite short from this point, but it’s not too bad, as the next song is a real treat to my ears. 

Prince begins “I Wanna Be Your Lover” with a bold “Stop trying to front like you know my jams, you don’t know my songs” The rest of the song starts with Prince and the crowd alternating lines before Prince takes over and delivers his classic falsetto. Of course, the crowd knows every line, and you can hear them singing strongly in the background. The bass is nicely mixed on the recording, and I can hear it nicely bumping along in the left speaker. The song itself only runs for a couple of minutes, but it’s cool while it lasts. 

“Sexy Dancer” is next, and it is sounding like it’s a good song for the crowd to get up and dance to. There is no singing to speak of, it’s all groove with the snare and bass keeping the groove going with some keys run over top. It’s very tight, and great to listen to, but once again it’s only a couple of minutes. But still, I enjoyed it while it lasted. 

 

The kicking beat of “Housequake” begins next, and Prince lets it run for a minute before he hits us with “Tell me who in this house know bout the quake?” From here the rest of the band join in and I must say it sounds very cool. Najee isn’t strong, but his horn line does sound good. Sure there are better renditions I have heard, but Najee does his job well, and Mr. Hayes on the keys gives us some enjoyable lines. It’s got some new things for me to listen to, and I do like it all. There’s very little singing, just a nice groove and that beat that I will hear in my head for the rest of the day. 

I am very happy that “The Ballard of Dorothy Parker” gets another airing at this show. The low-key playing of the band and the disinterested singing of Prince suits the downbeat feel of the song. My enthusiasm wanes a little when Najee begins to play, but the moment is saved by Mr. Hayes on the keys. The song spins off into an instrumental jam, with Madhouse's “Four” thrown in as well as “Talkin Loud And Saying Nothin.” It fails to fire my enthusiasm, whereas on some other shows I enjoy Najee, here I find him lifeless and frankly a little boring. But the keyboard throughout is good and gives me something else to focus on. It’s all nice, but not something I would be in a hurry to return to. 

There is an interlude next where Prince speaks to the crowd about the NPG music club, and strangely I find myself enjoying his sentiments, even if I know that in the future he will shy away from the internet and such openness with his fans. It was a nice dream while it lasted, and I am reminded here of his idealistic vision. 

This speech about record companies and the NPG music club is followed by “Someday We’ll Be Free.” The song sounds nice but fails to engage me, as Prince himself doesn’t sing, and there is a lot of Najee in there. I am surprised how much I dislike Najee on this recording, as on the San Jose recording from four months previously I enjoyed him, but at this show, he seems to add very little. The song has a well-intended sentiment, and the execution is good enough, buts it’s not the reason I come to a Prince show or am a Prince fan. 

I am back on board as Prince sings “U Make My Sun Shine.” This is where the quality of the recording comes to the fore, as I can hear Prince's vocals, and the backing singers just beautifully working together. The song has a silky smooth sound to it, and although this smooth sound isn’t my cup of tea, I still appreciate and enjoy it here. There is the classic Prince spoken breakdown midsong, which is fun to listen to, without being outstanding. What is good though is the next minute when Prince asks Mike to play the blues, and there is a minute of very sharp guitar playing from him. It’s nicely paced and has a beautiful clean tone to it. Prince returns for some more spoken lines, but by now I’m a little over it and it’s perhaps a bridge too far for my tastes. Najee gets half a minute to play, and now I am dangerously close to pushing the skip button. There is some Prince playing guitar, which as always I give my attention to, but this portion of the show is a little drawn out for me. 

The next part of the show is very interesting to me and gives a good insight into Prince’s world at that time. Prince tells the crowd that he is happy to be in Oakland because that’s where Larry Graham is from. He then goes on to say “Sometime I think he is my best friend in the whole wide world”. He continues by telling the crowd that Larry Graham asked him if he ever tried a show without cussing, and told him he used those words for effect. Prince tells the crowd that those words from Larry messed with him and he decided that “It isn’t the words that make me funky, it’s the funk that makes me funk”. He then plays some real funky guitar which has me excited. He goes on to shout out some of the celebrities in the crowd that night and is in good humor as he tells the crowd that he told Laurence Fishburne he could have free tickets if he told him the plot of the Matrix 2 and 3. It’s a nice break in the action and he goes on to ask for the house lights to be turned on so he can see the crowd. 

 

Next, we get a nice up-tempo “I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man.” The up-tempo beat gets the show back on track after the lull of the last twenty minutes. It’s not a rocked-out version, but Prince does play a good break, although this is very short before the breakdown. There is absolutely no complaint from my end though, as the breakdown gets played to the hilt, and there is some excellent guitar playing from Prince for the next couple of minutes. The breakdown has some interesting guitar runs from Prince, it’s more sharply and faster than some other breaks I have heard from him. Najee enters for a minute too, and although I have been generally negative towards him so far through the recording, he does redeem himself here as I love the variation from what is traditionally a very rocky song. I am waiting for Prince to return with his guitar coda, but instead, it’s Najee who plays us through to the end of the song. Interesting, but not great. 

We next hear Prince at the piano for the piano medley part of the show. This one follows what we heard at the San Jose show, but it’s a great selection of songs and there is no complaint from me about what we hear next. He begins by playing my long-time favorite “Do Me, Baby.” The piano playing is nicely underpinned by some organ and a soft beat. Prince starts with his trademark “owww” before gently singing the verses that we know so well. He pauses after the line “You want me just as much as I want you” and receives an appreciative cheer from the crowd. The song resumes with Prince singing relatively softly and sounding reserved in his delivery. Even a shriek or two can’t quite shake the feeling that he’s holding a lot back. 

“Scandalous” too has this feeling about it, but that doesn’t prevent me from enjoying it immensely. Prince’s vocals are delicate, and the band provides some nice little stabs behind him. It doesn’t have the seductive power of the original, but it is well played. Again Najee comes on board for a solo, but it’s neither here nor there and comes across as bland rather than inspirational. The drum seems to lack some pop to it, and I wonder if it’s the mix or the performance. 

There is plenty of Najee influence all over “Diamonds and Pearls,” and it begins with him playing before Prince's vocal lines begin. It’s easy to dismiss it as nice but boring, but I do enjoy the half-minute we get here. Prince sings only the first verse before we move on to the next song. 

I was looking forward to hearing “The Beautiful Ones” when I saw it on the setlist, and it doesn’t disappoint. The sound seems to change during the song, and I wonder if it’s the recording, or if my headphones weren’t quite plugged in right earlier. But the recording does take on a deeper fuller sound, and at just the right moment too. Prince’s voice has more strength to it in this song, and he sings the second part of it in his throaty voice. This is some great howls and shrieks near the end and for a minute I am transported back to the 1980s. The song ends, but it seems like the concert has turned a corner, and we have reached a better place. 

“Nothing Compares 2 U” keeps to the love's lost theme, and Prince plays the part of the victim well. His voice is suitably sad and mournful when it needs to be, without ever being over the top. There is a moment when midsong he introduces Najee for a break, but it is kept short and we return quickly to the main body of the song. The song fades out with Najee playing while Prince speaks to the crowd about love, before the final coda with Najee. I enjoy him much more at this point, this seems like a much better fit for him here. 

There is then a break with what sounds like electronic movie music. It doesn’t do much for me, and it certainly doesn’t seem very Prince-like. But it does nicely fill the break while we wait for the encore. 

 

The encore begins with the long keyboard intro of “Let’s Go Crazy.” There is no spoken piece as you may expect with it, but it does run for a good minute before Prince can be heard with “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life” and the classic guitar riff begins. The drums sound good, the bass sounds good, and the guitar sounds good, but once again it’s missing the Xfactor. I can’t fault the song in any way, but it never quite grabs me. Prince’s guitar solo is nice, but not much more, and the song ends before it feels like it has even begun. Here it is just a shadow of its former self. 

“Take Me with U” begins, but it too feels like it is just plodding along. Prince sings a little, and then leaves the crowd to sing the chorus before we move quickly on to…….. 

“Raspberry Beret.” Not much surprise there. Prince does speak to the crowd briefly about God and Christ before the song begins proper with the crowd singing along. Prices guitar does chug along nicely, and the crowd does sound like they enjoy it. And it is good to hear a bit of pure pop and joy in the evening, which has sounded like a Prince concert by the numbers. 

“Darling Nikki” is a funny and cool arrangement. The rolling snare sounds sharp, and the keyboard has a fun dainty sound to it. Prince cleverly avoids singing the lurid lyrics by having the crowd sing some of the more risqué lyrics. The latter part is also a bit of fun, with the bass rumbling well in the speakers while the keyboards provide some thrills and excitement. They even play it right through to the end, complete with the backward finish, which is a treat. 

The start of “When Doves Cry” is pure purple Prince, with the cold passionless Prince singing the main lines while the keyboard plays in the background. It briefly raises my hopes that this too will be played in full, but after a brief drum and keyboard refrain we move on. 

“Fathers Song” is great, although short. Najee plays most of it, and he does a fine job of it. There isn’t too much more to say about it, although it does end with a few moments of him playing Computer Blue, which too is a tease and a treat. 

As with the San Jose concert, the arrangement of “The One,” mixed with “I Would Die 4 U” and “Baby I’m A Star” is outstanding. Over the somber music of “The One” Prince sings one line of “Baby I’m a Star,” and “I Would Die 4 U.” I couldn’t have imagined it working before I first heard it, but it is truly excellent. It runs for two minutes, and that is mostly the music alone before Prince sings his lines near the end. In my view, the concert is worth it just for these couple of minutes. 

Over the music of “God,” Prince works his way through the band introductions before he ends and hands the song over to Najee. Najee seems in his comfort zone here, and he gets a good four minutes to do what he does best. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea- it’s certainly not mine, but it does sound good, he does what he does well. It does feel like the show is coming near the end with this type of song and that’s proved correct as the next song is the final Purple Rain. 

 

There is very little in way of introduction for “Purple Rain,” Prince starts singing almost right from the start. The recording sounded good all the way through, and in this song, you can hear the nice echo of Prince's vocals. You can also pick up some seconds of sweet guitar playing throughout as he sings his lines. Later the more heavy guitar enters and it is here that for the first time in the show it sounds as if Prince is expressing himself. After the initial intro to the guitar that I am used to he goes into his longer improvised section, and it’s now that I listen more carefully and get a lot more out of this show. It’s not fiery, but it is impassioned. The crowd does have its moment near the end, but the recording doesn’t pick them up very well, either they weren’t into it, or the mics just didn’t pick them up. 

This show should have been more to me. It’s a great recording, and it’s got some top songs, and the band is faultless. And yet, as I said time and time again, it was lacking that magic to it. Something was missing, which left the songs sounding ‘nice’ but not great. Prince is in a holding pattern here, the next stage of his career, The Rainbow Children and ONA is very interesting for me, but here he is not quite there yet. He has moved on from his symbol era but hasn’t found his next place yet. But this is a great recording of a decent show, and I can’t fault it for that. A nice listen, but not essential.