What is the WORST Prince rehearsal or performance (in YOUR opinion)? Mine would have to be the "DataBank" (before he gave it to The Time) rehearsal and "A Place In Heaven" outtake with Lisa singing lead from the Dream Factory bootleg. On Databank, Brownmark is playing in another key from the band and Prince starts laughin and says "Mark! You in the wrong key cousin! No, dawg wait!". The horns come in when he didn't ask and he says "I didn't call the horns!" Then Lisa does a solo that is atrocious (even Fink admits she can't solo). Then on "A Place In Heaven" Lisa sounds terrible. Susan Rogers state that Lisa "is not a good lead singer but is an excellent background singer".

So the DataBank song is just a rehearsal? and i thought the mistakes were on purpose.

Emancipation Concert in 1996 where he lip synched the songs for VH1, BET, and MTV

illriddles said:

lol I thought it was supposed to be this way. I love this version of Databank.

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[Edited 12/4/09 18:03pm]

I don't know. I could have sworn that more than one person said it was a rehearsal. I still think it was the worst due to Lisa's solo. Lol.. Her improvisations (as far as chords and melodies) are amazing though. Did you hear her improv at the end of "Uptown (live)".

@ tollyc, I thought that sucked also. Also, the Erotic City rehearsal when Wendy and Lisa are sooo off key. It starts off terrible, then the second half of the song (where they are jammin), THAT was cool.

tollyc said:

No, he didn't. His backing vocals were on tape (the same arrangements he used on the Jam of the Year tour), but he was singing live. There was too much adlibbing for it not to be live.

The Purple Rain @ the Omni concert disappointed me. He tripped! Prince doesn't trip! He stays on his feet! He stays on his feet like a kitty kat! lol anyway other parts made me feel bad, I still haven't finished watching it yet.

But anyways all people make mistakes , just seeing that for the first time made me realize he was 'human' like the rest of us

ernestsewell said:

Agreed. Watch it again and look at the performances for Get Yo Groove On, Joy in Repetition, and One of Us. There was plenty of adlibbing. Even on Oprah a few weeks later, he performed Sleep Around and it was live too.

illriddles said:

I think it was purposeful. I think her solo on it is a great. Its so seperate but compliments the frenzied jam.

HIs worst performance was the American Idol trainwreck. He sang live, but Lolita sounded rushed and the Twinz just didn't mesh with the performance.

illriddles said:

I know tastes vary, but I gotta say, I'm astounded by this! The bootleg version of "Databank" is incredible. It's fantastic. It's everything I love about Prince in the '80s. (And he's joking about the missed cues and such.)

What happened to that song after it was given to the Time is an abomination.

Efan said:

co sign

some of his rehearsals or live performances might be a little bit dull
or uneventful, but i've yet to hear a really bad or "worst" performance
from him.

on record, in recent years, he's released some dubious stuff that i'm
just not into at all but live he's always interesting at the very least.

I do agree with you guys when The Time did Databank. It was watered down (the only songs I like on that album is Jerk Out and Chocolate).

illriddles said:

how can u not like BLONDIE?

Efan said:

Yes, the original "Databank" is not a rehearsal. In fact it's purposefully funny! All the miscues are hilarious. It's just Prince having fun! It's very tongue in cheek. Even Lisa's "solo" is purposefully over the top. It's like the band has taken over! Prince finally says "I quit. Susan fade the shit out". Pure awesomeness. One of my favorite boots.

To Hell with the Time's version.

It has a similar beat of I Just Want To Be from Cameo imo.

For me his most disappointing performance- I am talking live shows- was at what I think was called the Empire Ballroom in Vegas about 4 years ago or so. P seemed to be in bad mood, sound man really iritated him to point of him declaring "if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourseslf" during the pre-show (where he graciously let in many fans). This was around the time his split from Manuela was news to the lay person (P fans had known this for a while). P looked uncomfortable, mad, and just didnt have the usual smile and joy he seems to have when he normally plays. I don't recall him even smiling during the show until a good 2/3 of the way in to the show. He just seemed to be mad, in a mood or in his own head with whatever, and unable to shake the negative vibe despite doing what he loves best- playing. Maybe he could have shaken whatever was troubling him that day, but the sound people/man got him further upset and the entire night seemed like work- like he didnt want to be there, his mind was totally elsewhere, and he never connected w/ the crowd like he normally does. I really felt bad for P that show, he was clearly upset and stuck in his own head that day, and all the fan love in the world didnt seem to help... he really seemed alone and trapped in his own head.

I love the version of the song that surfaced.

A better quality version surfaced a few years ago In much clearer sound but was a bit slower and had a longer running time.

I always wondered if the first version was at the wrong speed after hearing the better quality version. In the first verson Prince's vocals sound almost like camille.

Whatever the first circulating version is the best.

The Time's version pale's incomparsion.

Landonfunkmonkey said:

yah, the shorter "camille" sounding voice version is my favorite too . don't care if it's not the correct speed or whatever . the longer princey version (which i'm actually bumpin' right now ) just kinda drags in comparison. the time's version just = . same with their version of chocolate.

"one two, buckle my shoe!" the dumbest shit princey says makes me laugh. rehearsals and thangs . bumpin' one of the sex of it rehearsal takes now

illriddles said:

oh come on, everybody can hear its a joke..after he says 'i didn't call the horns!', you hear the horns again..they are just fooling around..shouldn;t take it that seriously, don't you think they would have stopped playing if it was really that bad?

ecstasy said:

I saw that one. I couldn't help but laugh and repeat it again and again. This shows he's human and everybody trips at times.

Oh. You have to add the When The Saints Go Marching In rehearsal. They were soooo off key. Lol

micknme said:

For me the Cologne 27 December 1998 show was similar, he seemed in a really bad mood, he looked pissed, was annoyed that the people in the hall didn't sing along, it seemed they didn't know the lyrics. Nobody stood also. It was weird and he was also annoyed at some technicians. He left after an hour of playing... I was flabbergasted.
But funny thing is that some people who witnessed this concert say it was a great concert and he was in a good mood... crazy. I saw the 23 and 28 December shows also and especially the 28 Dec. show was smoking and long and he was in such an opposite mood, he even stood at the side, in the dark for 15 minutes, leaning on his cane listening to the crowd go absolutely nuts for him to give an encore.

illriddles said:

And that one I wanted to mention! I couldn't remember the cd name. Wendy and Lisa, especially Wendy, are really acting as if it's their first time on a guitar and synthesizer. Prince is constantly tutoring them, they have a hard time following what he wants to be played. They rehearse so many times. But it's actually very fun to listen to and to me, points out what a great musician he is because he was young too but he's so focused but also very patient and friendly with them, at least, that's what it sounded like on the cd. They all sound amicable.

Wow, I checked in here to see if anybody would actually say that prince gave a busted performance.