Since things are so quiet on the boot front I have recently found myself raiding my millenial stash of live Prince boot recordings, unsurprisingly resulting in hours and hours of non-stop excitement during the past few days.

I am sure many of you have your own personal favourites, perhaps because of a key moment onstage, maybe even due to the spine-tingling intensity a certain gig generated making for an unrepeatable experience you now treasure and cherish.You need not even have been there for the experience, but you cannot help but to keep revisiting that gig, either on audio or DVD. If so, which ones would you nominate - and why?

Top tens would be welcome.


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1st ave parade warm up show 86'...because IT WAS FUNKY AS HELL !!!!!

1. London Emporium 95 Aftershow (1st Night)
2. London Emporium 95 Aftershow (2nd Night)
3. London Parade hit n run (1st Night...my first time!)
4. London Camden Palace 88
5. London Ultimate Live 95 First Show
6. Holland Sign O The Times Utrect (1st night with Madhouse)
7. Dublin POD Aftershow 95
8. London Lovesexy 88 (3rd Night)
9. Birmingham Act II tour 1993 (First night)
10.London Act II tour Forum Aftershow


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can't help it

11. London Nude tour (16th night)
12. London ONA Marquee Aftershow 2002
13. London ONA tour (1st night)

1. May 1999 MGM Las Vegas (Don't knw name of tour...my 2nd show)
2. Jun 2000 Celebration
3. Jan 2004 HOB Las Vegas both shows
4. Dec 2002 ONA Aftershow @ Studio 54 nside MGM
5. May 2004 Musicology LV & Tiger Jam @ Mandalay Bay
6. Apr 2004 Musicology Columbia, SC
7. Mar 2004 Musicology Reno, NV
8. Mar 2004 Musicology Phoenix, AZ
9. Dec 2000 Hit N Run LV @ the Aladdin
10.Apr 2004 Musicology Raleigh, NC

prettymansson said:

Yup, that's one of my favourite live moments as well.

The circulating DVD footage really brings it home.

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it's been so long since i've watched any of my concert videos i've forgotten which one i should name as my fave...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Do you need me to send you something to refresh your memory?

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giotto said:

i dunno--i'm actually in the midst of a break from listening to/watching prince stuff at the moment. i've had a lotta stuff on my mind so i've actually strayed away from 'prince geek' mode as of late.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

That's cool. Let me know just as soon as you manage to find your way back down the seedy little alleyways of the "Prince world", won't you?


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Still Lovesexy for me I'm afraid !!!!

It's still as fresh today as it was all those years ago.

pepper7 said:

April Fools Day 1985 - Indpls Indiana - Purple Rain Tour

November 7th, 1988 - Lovesexy Tour - Los Angeles

Musicology Tour - All over the place

The day after Valentines Day - The Fillmore in San Francisco

I've seen P many times live and especially early in his career. My fave live show was a day after my birthday on Mar 28, 1983 on his 1999 tour. P went OFF!

I'll agree with the 1999 tour ... my brain chemistry was altered ...

So no takers for Dirty Mind/Controversy eras, then?

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Lovesexy is my all time favourite, I find so many magical moments in that one, closely followed by Parade. My favourite recent one is the Musicology tour, opening night. As for my other 7, I'd have to have a long think about them- too much choice!

1999 tour and musiccology tour!

skipper said:

You mean Reno then, right? It wasn't the official opening night, but it was the first performance of the tour. He got a long standing ovation for "LRC" here too... tears in his eyes after that. It was cool. He was SO happy all night. (Little known fact -- he performed at the Reno Hilton earlier that week).

vegascleopatra said:

Yay, Reno!

My all-time favs are pretty much any of the Lovesexy dates and aftershows, and the Fillmore 2001 (San Francisco) Hit N Run aftershow. Fun night -- lots of special people there. Oh yeah, and anything from '82-'84 featuring "Electric Intercourse" or "Something In The Water" with Prince going crazy on guitar.

pepper7 said:

It would be nice to read your views as to why you found a certain gig either special or an unforgettable experience.

Just saying Lovesexy or Purple Rain does not make for an enjoyable or entertaining thread

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giotto said:

Well for me Lovesxy is just that bit more special because at the time I didn't know that much about Prince. (Gets all misty eyed.....)

I had a bit of a whirlwind introduction to him. I started to like him around the time he released Lovesexy so I was working backwards...

Lovesexy introduced me to so many more aspects of Prince and his music.

It just totally wowed me.

I remember him performing Erotic City and I Wanna Be Your Lover and I was like...I must get those songs...where do they come from....?

It also introduced me to the songs from Dirty Minds like When You Were Mine, Head and Sister. And again I was blown away !

The only way I can describe it was that it was so entertaining and there is just so much to it.

Nowadays who could put on a show like that ?

Prince really entertained you. You couldn't take your eyes off him and he made you feel that you were part of the experience.

He really worked hard to put on that show. You can see that he's really enjoying it as it's infectious to watch someone like that.

Also there is nothing pretentious about him. He sings about love, religion and sex. At the time I thought that was pretty cool.

Couldn't do a Top 10 really, but recent favorites are the 1982 gig at 1st Ave (Sexuality, Party Up, Head!), 1st Ave on August 3rd 1983 of course, Parade warm-up gig 03/03/86, Aftershow in Paris 1987, Emporium 1995...

...and of course Bataclan and Nighttown 2002, Camden Palace in London 1988, Hamburg 1988...

Musicology San Antonio, June 9 2004 - Daughter got onstage with Prince and sang
Musicology Dallas, June 11, 2004 - Daughter did not get onstage but got autographed cymbal from John B.
Musicology Houston, August 6, 2004 - Daughter got onstage again and sang two songs
Lovesexy Houston, November 1988 - Wife's first Prince concert. She got to see why I was such a big fan. Doubtful at first, she was waving arms with the best of them during "Purple Rain"
One Night Alone Houston, April 2002 - Son's second Prince concert. Got third row, middle. The guitar work on "Other Side of the Pillow" was unbelievable. Son not into Prince but digs classic rock, so he can stay
Purple Rain Houston, 1985 - First Prince concert. Liked it so much I saw it three more times. Won tickets from R&B radio station. Look on receptionist's face when uptight white dork in suit (me) picked up tix was priceless

1. Aug 3, 1983-- First Ave.... Prince was ready to take over the world

2. June 7th 1984-- First Ave.... So many rare and exciting songs performed, including some never heard again ("Our Destiny"/"Roadhouse Garden")... and The Revolution was in fine form

3. May 23, 1986 San Francisco Parade show.... (To quote Wendy: "YEEEAAAH!!! Wasn't that GRRREAT??")... 2 and a half hours with Mutiny/Dream Factory, The Dance Electric, "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!"


4. Atlanta 1980-- opening act for Rick James-- just listening to Andre Cymone's bass playing on this ONE gig is enough to make him my favorite Prince bass player. Love the extended jams on "Feel For You", "Sexy Dancer," Just As Long As We're Together...

PARADISO AFTERSHOW 1995 AMSTERDAM HOLLAND.

TIVOLI AFTERSHOW 1998 UTRECHT HOLLAND
[Edited 1/16/06 12:23pm]

Antwerpen Lovesexy 1988
Brussel Vorst Nationaal 1998

The 2nd of his 3 shows in St. Paul (the only one I've seen).

My mom said I couldn't see the aftershow.

Im listening to Atlanta 85 and that plus syracuse are my faves...

Probably not got as many as some folks, but I do like a lot of the Musicology ones.

Haven't got any Lovesexy shows, which is a real bummer as I love that Tour - I tried pulling the Music from my Video player through the PC but it doesnt want to play at the moment

Lovesexy Nassau Coliseum in 1988 was Great, Jam OF The Year Tour cause he did soo Many shows in NY and 2002 and 2004 Aftershows were To Die For.... He Always did Wonderful shows in NY and 2002 Celebration was Amazing that whole week was AMAZING.

pepper7 said:

Thanks for that. I can see it's often a generational thing for most people and I definitelty relate with your sentiments regarding Lovesexy since I feel the same way about the Parade era gigs.

I have consigned the Wembley dates to my list of favourite concerts ever since Parade was the first Prince tour I witnessed. Those performances will forever remain indelibly etched in my subconscious as an unmatched bravura showcase full of astonishing surprises and peerless virtuosity.


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calldapplwondery83 said:

Hey, I'm definitely feeling you on the 1982 gig at First Avenue. It was about time somebody mentioned a Controversy era concert and what better introduction to Prince's obscure one-off performances than this one?

It has everything a Prince one-off gig ought to be: raw, nasty, sweaty, unpredictable and above all funky as hell. The first live performance of "All The Critics Love U In New York" and a version that makes the album cut sound lame by comparison. Lasting almost 12 minutes it features a searing guitar solo throughout that threatened to set First Avenue alight in its intensity. Sue Ann Carwell joins P onstage for "Still Waiting" and P's screams just send shivers down your spine.
Personal highlight: Morris Day and members of The Time joining P onstage for rousing versions of "The Stick" and a tremendous "Partyup" finale, again with P tearing it up on guitar.

A real classic which definitely belongs in every serious Prince record collection.

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