Purple Rain.
Although his vocals arent as good on this song live, the music is almost always breathtaking.
Never Take the Place of your man is has always been better live as well. Especially on his Hit and Run tour in 2000-2001. He would start off with this great solo at the very start then break into the song.
He always rocked bambi pretty hard live as well.

To me, Musicology sounds about 100 times better with the real horns and extra riffs going through the chorus.

3121 was hella cool at BET awards, before will.i.am jumped up. It wasn't better then the studio, but it was freaky and cool.

Recently watched that Tokyo 90 dvd. Was never that interested in the nude tour because it was a 'greatest hits' tour but the arrangements were awesome! Is this the version of When Dover Cry you were referring to? Cause I remembeer that one being particularly impressive.

On the flipside, I've always found that kiss suffers live, because he has to belt out the falsetto, and the horn lines are cheesy.

I didn't like "The Rainbow Children" until I went to ONA.
I came home and put it on, and it was like a new album!

chocolate1 said:

Me 2.

When I first purchased it, I didn't get it at all. It was only after the ONA show that I listened to it with all new ears.

Ronwinter Purple Rain album version is live version from 1983 first avenue gig

I prefer most of Prince's songs live, but with the band that he was with at the time the albums were released. Like the Mountains version he did at Paisley Park in Oct. 2009 did nothing for me, or Anotherlover.

ok now see i thought he played dig u better dead live and got all excited ...
wouldnt that be cool? i like that tune.. one of the better ones off of that record .. i will agree with some of the choices such as rainbow children which is actually a pretty cool song on a really bad record ... but the one that always gets me everytime is erotic city (not lovesexy tour but purple rain era)... as soon as they hit those disonant notes .. u know the ones then they break into a bite of all the critics .. it does not matter what i am doing i am suddenly only listening to prince and nothing else .. i also agree that kiss really hasnt done well live .. its a studio masterpiece ..

i really like when doves cry at times with those harmonies it gets a soul kinda feel i would love to hear prince do a pure club song tour
17 days
erotic city
shockadelica
crystal ball
sign o the times
lemon crush
auto matic
how come u dont call me
new position
mountains
house quake
power fantastic

just pure funk mostly non singles and all fuckin robot funked out none of this npg sounding r n b shit...

nyse said:

I'd say pretty much everything since 1998.

Strange Relationship - I always loved the live arrangement and felt it really brings out the Stevie Wonder qualities of the song.

thebanishedone said:

Not completely, they replaced some lyrics (the dirty verse" and layerd up other ones. I think Ronwinter may have been referring to live versions of Purple Rain overall.

They only edited original 15 minutes version Of
Purple Rain but it is the same performance from 1983 first avenue

motherfunka said:

Dude, that was one of the only moments during the show where I thought "Yes, Prince is still a fucking great live performer."

That show was such a mixed bag.

specdude said:

I'd say pretty much everything since 1978.

It's not just Prince, though. I'm that way with all music. If there's a live version of a song available, I will prefer it over a studio version. Live arrangements almost always sound better to me. I also don't like music that's been perfected in a studio. I find music to be more powerful, soulful, and real when I hear it in the moment, and with the artist feeding off the energy of the audience and band members.

Hatman said:

yeah thats the up-tempo early 90's version i was talking about. but i enjoy the
84-85 rehearsal versions the best...

i dont know why prince hardly plays this live any more... he knows his fans
would love it.

thebanishedone said:

Oh yea...Duh...I feel stupid now
I guess I meant well...you know I meant...i think... lol

Prince's live performances have always been magical and just get better with time

nyse said:

Last year, I listened to the full 30-whatever minutes of IWD4U at the gym during a workout. During most of the song, I was jamming out. By the end, though, I felt like I was in some sort of alternate, David Lynch-ian, nightmare world. It's great for that very reason though.

AND

Do Me Baby: I have three words, and I'm thinking of the Controversy-era boots here: "Allll night longgg" So good. So good.