ufoclub said:

During "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night". Prince & Cat move downstage to do a little synchronized dance step while person(s) in the audience pull the mic & stand down from the stage. Next, Prince shouts "A train", steps center stage, but the mic & stand are gone. He looks around, then under his jacket for them.



The next cut puts it back into place.

Seriously Beautiful Night on this is probably my favorite Prince live moment I've seen on tape. Truly a master at the peak of his powers.

Honey said:

Honey said:

Funny, I remember him doing that, but never knew it was because of the mic stand... I just thought he was doing more pantomime shit.

yankem said:

I saw it at the movie theatre several times for a period of at least 5 years I think as some cinemas in my hometown always played it in the summer time as a special program.

Definitely my favorite... i first saw the film at the Dominion Theater, in Tottenham Court Road, im not sure if it was a premier but they were handing out goodies like this...


the atmosphere was electric with all the lifesize cardboard images of Prince everywhere....why the hell didn't i take any photographs

TheKid94 said:

ALL of it. Except for a few audience shots, ALL of it is lipsynced. And U Got The Look is the video.

BartVanHemelen said:

There are a few shots (I know there is one when he is soloing with the guitar during the break in Never Take Place your Man) where you can spot real concert footage of him. It looks grainier and more rough (pushed from underexposure).

Also there is defintely a shot panning away from him to the huge arena/hall during Beautiful Night that is real. That is not the Paisley Park soundstage.

Genesia said:

Sure did !!!

yankem said:

I still remember the theater I saw it in (it was torn down a couple years ago) - and approximately where in the theater we sat.

will always luv it; highlights 2 me are:

opening track playing guitar alone
play in the sunshine
guitar on ICNTTPOYM
Housequake
and yes...the Cross

The best moment in that whole thing is when he slides across the stage and between Cat's legs - and comes up with her skirt in his teeth.

Genesia said:

yea, that move is up there with when he did that slide on his back thang then up into a split during housequake...

/_____
\

Genesia said:

HAHAHA! Right on Genesia!! One of my favorite little bits! Very playful!! I also love the entire playful and energetic vibe with Prince, Sheila E and Kat during "It's Going 2 Be a Beautiful Night". LOVE IT!

Joyinrepatition said:

FREAKIN' SHA-WEET!

TikiColadas said:

If I'm not mistaken, someone made a gif of that...

ufoclub said:

Wasn't there a problem with the original mix of the "real" concert footage that made it necessary to supplement with Paisley Park soundstage performance. I didn't think it was "lipsynced" but re-recorded.

emesem said:

I SO agree with that...in fact I prefer the dvd version of It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night over the album version
[Edited 4/26/10 15:39pm]
[Edited 4/26/10 15:40pm]

jdcxc said:

The audio performances were re-recorded and then lip-synced at Paisley Park (as UFO and Bart pointed out, some actual tour footage was used and so was the U Got The Look videotape - which had film grain added). I don't remember the actual reasoning behind doing it that way, other than Prince wanting perfection.

A great boot of the SOTT film audio...

squirrelgrease said:

My favorite filmed concert performance is the SOTT (Valium) rehearsal footage. That was pure brilliance. His band was at peak form. Now that would make a great proper release.

Genesia said:

Poetry in motion.

squirrelgrease said:

It's surprising that the original concert footage was in such bad shape that Prince couldn't use most of it.I wonder if this was a case of Prince going on tour,then quickly deciding that a few shows should be filmed for a concert film? Maybe the cameramen weren't properly prepared? Everything was hastily arranged? I know that Prince was originally planning to tour the States in the fall of '87,but when the album didn't do as well as he had hoped,he decided to do the film instead.

jdcxc said:

My favorite SOTT filmed concert performance is the New Years Eve Paisley Park show. Quality is EX and Prince is having a blast, even though the first few numbers are not circulating.

squirrelgrease said:

IIRC, they had a problem with the sound on the original concert video.

Genesia said:

The footage was not of great quality according to some info I read (underexposed film, and rushed equipment preparation for shoots). It wouldn't make sense for the sound to be bad... Prince records soundboards of all his performances, and the whole point of the concert is the sound, which is miked, mixed, EQ'd pre-concert and put through live for the audience at the time of performance! Unless something went terribly wrong with microphones and the reel to reel at multiple shows... or DAT. Did they use DAT back then? How funny is looking back on DAT!

U Got the Look video also shows what I believe is real concert footage in the dissolves at the beginning.

ufoclub said:

DAT? In 1987? Given that it was only introduced that year, my guess is "no."

I'm 90% sure that Per Nilsen documented the SOTT sound issue in DMSR. I don't have the book at work, however - so can't look it up at the moment.

Genesia said:

I definitely don't take Per Nilsen's documentation as 100% accurate! (But maybe he was around for that part of the tour and the hiring of the film crew?) I have read his (and other's) accounts of things I personally witnessed back in '85 and '88 and so on (like after the Houston Lovesexy concert at Ocean Club), and it's not completely accurate! More like a writer's broad strokes of impression pieced from articles, interviews, research, etc. Kind of like all the Beatles bios that have been published.

The way to find out clearly would be to ask Levi Seacer or Sheila E, or the tour manager Alan Leeds (this might be the best way). Or his brother who seems very open to interviews.

Sure it could be some unexpected sound problems, but how odd would that be for a concert by Prince that is in the middle of a planned million dollar tour to have critical sound problems at an indoor venue? Didn't they also try to film a few performances, not just one?

ufoclub said:

Okay, Einstein - then why do you think he'd go to all the time, trouble and expense to do a lip-synched version if there weren't any problems with the original concert footage?

SoulAlive said:

The Ahoy shows were added at the last moment, because the shows in Utrecht were about to be cenceled by rain. I remember the speaker saying we had to keep hold of the tickets, as arrangements for the show to be rescheduled had been taken (we where already in the statdium).
The filming must have been decided on the same or shorter notice (< 1 week).