Recently, like many of you, I've seen many many videos of Prince in concert lately. I usually just skim over them, pass them over without watching them since I've seen so much and am on overload. The video capture of The Love We make re-visit live was awesome in that "I can't believe he sang that one" feeling and it got me into watching some of the vids again. But the Milan 2010 performance of Purple Rain ? This right here...IT'S PERFECT! I teared up. Maybe I'm a sucker but whatever. During the performance, the camera angle does not move off of him. There is no panning to an adoring audience, no cuts to other band members. It's all one complete take. Director Mark Rydell, who directed one of my top ten films of all time, The Rose, mentioned in the directors commentary that when Midler sang When A Man Loves A Woman, it was rare and remarkable because the camera did not cut away from Bette Midler in the performance as many filmed live performances have previously. Arguably that performance was the showstopper of The Rose. If you get a chance to see this PR Milan performance, watch and listen to the cadence and emotion that Prince uses when he adlibs and sings the lyrics :"It's such a shame...it's such a shame..this freindship had to end" portion.

The way he sings that section is...sublime? That part made me actually made me rewind the video back to the beginning and PAY ATTENTION rather than just brush this off as just another tired (but true) warhorse/signature song live Prince performance on tube. And I am glad that I did.

And he left the usual heavy dogma that he has sometimes slipped into it this past decade out of it. Its almost as if he knew the filming of this one was going to be massed produced and needed it to be generalized for the public instead of beating them over the head as the past decade. Im floored

The emotion that he puts forth during the solo on his face which the camera captures completely? I cried to Purple Rain again. It's akin to the emotional pull of Stevie Ray Vaughn's version of Little Wing emotion-wise.

And that wasn't it. He slays the solo using the Controversy Hohner. You can even see the scratches at the top of the guitar during the solo-ing. And how he places the geetar on the ground in respect to it at the end and he bows? This was a PERFECT performance for ANY artist. Im not even going to say "in my opinion" because if you who've seen it don't agree then you are part of the underworld, have two left feet, eat only asparagus tips sans seasoning, read the endings of books first, spit, and can basically go to hell. I wonder if the audience who was privy to this performance appreciate what they were able to witness. One thing for sure and Ive said it many times --Europe inspires Prince. Some of the best performances Ive seen and heard have been from overseas.

Please please please if there is a god or superior being above, give us peace in the middle east, stop famine and pestulence(sp?..I aint got time to look it up ), make man love his fellow man (republicans calm down I dont mean gay marriage but yes that too, whatever works), but please let this be preserved somewhere and not erased so that I and others can have it for posterity and for when colored boys who have considered suicide when the rainbow isnt enough.

[Edited 11/5/10 15:53pm]

I used to get wee revelations like this when I enjoyed a smoke. Like your emotional neurons are at once perfectly in synch and riding a before-hidden but now glistening flash of otherworldly genius hard.

aaahhhhhh this author reminds on of someone dear..............................

Number23 said:

I used to get wee revelations like this when I enjoyed a smoke. Like your emotional neurons are at once perfectly in synch and riding a before-hidden but now glistening flash of otherworldly genius hard.

I guess I'm on a purple high after having a Prince substantial effort toke.

hunay, believe me I tear up EVERYTIME I listen 2 purple rain! U ain't alone!

pleasure to read such a genuine post, love the way you've expressed yourself here.

good to know there's folk like you who can touch the center of what he does and how he does it.

i agree there's a lot of distraction with lawsuits etc ... but that's to be expected.

the music he makes, and his performances, remain untouched by all that hoo haa, and thats one of the things i really respect him for:

no matter what happens with him offstage, he still delivers, and while so many find it so easy to rip his music down, none of those words have ever damaged his ability to churn up some genuine emotion.

he knows how to slap it back to where it came from. right in the core of what matters.

he's a real fighter, a survivor, and i gotta hand it to him, to have lived such a life and still front up with the pow it takes it worthy of nothing less than deep respect.

i love that this song has moved you to comment on love in the world and how we need so much more of it.

people all over the world can front with their agro as much as they like, but it wont last. thats a promise.

cheers and thanks again for a great post.

That was really a really sweet post, now I have to see it!! I usually get very emotional in Purple Rain and cried during the performance of it in Copenhagen...it was very nice to have the girl next to me crying also and we kind of held on to each other and we both understood exactly what we were both feeling.

Prince is amazing when he is really spot on and this song is absolutely beautiful and one of his all time best. He sings it so well and plays the heck out of that guitar. That's why I said, if ever there was a Prince concert without Purple Rain, I'd feel cheated! This song is a must have at every Prince show...it is amazing!

Although I might not go quite as far as xlr8r in his/her praise, I was lucky enough to catch the rendition in question on YT (I assume it's been taken down by now) and I have to agree that it is one of the best versions I've seen. The solo is breathtaking.

DaphneLovesPR1NCE said:

That's why I said, if ever there was a Prince concert without Purple Rain, I'd feel cheated! This song is a must have at every Prince show...it is amazing!

Ive been to many where PR was played. Though I usually liked the performances, some have been genuine and some have been by the numbers and I usually have a "lets get this over with" vibe....this Milan one thats all over the place is one of those ones where you see him "feeling" it and putting in work and effort. He put his foot in the azz of this one this time, this night. Wow.

toejam said:

Although I might not go quite as far as xlr8r in his/her praise, I was lucky enough to catch the rendition in question on YT (I assume it's been taken down by now) and I have to agree that it is one of the best versions I've seen. The solo is breathtaking.

It's still there, I just watched it. Whomever filmed it was superclose. Solo was good, he changed up it a bit, probably feeling the crowd.

[Spammy snip - luv4u]

I was there and I was blown away. It was my first Prince concert, the solo took me to tears, people were smiling in awe, a friend that came with me to the concert and almost never listened before to Prince had eyes bright with tears too, and that was a real prove of Prince power, it was ecstatic, nobody could top that.

Sometimes as fans I think we get used to Prince's genius and kind of take him for granted....when I watched Purple Rain in Milan footage...it reminded me how great he is and why I'm such a fan of him and his work. It is quite moving watching him put his heart and soul into performing his signature tune. I'm so glad I'm a Prince fan.

Its been taken down!

Killer performance. WHAT a solo!

Wow, nice find, but I did see a few take down notices from NPG as well

xlr8r said:

And that wasn't it. He slays the solo using the Controversy Hohner.

well then it may very well be the same guitar he played when he originally recorded the song!

Yeah, wow: Shame it has been taken down.

the video was really amazing.

Thanks to God I managed to save this, before it went off.

Nice to read from posters so well articulated.

Wonder who he was referring to

[Edited 11/5/10 20:13pm]

xlr8r said:

If you get a chance to see this PR Milan performance, watch and listen to the cadence and emotion that Prince uses when he adlibs and sings the lyrics :"It's such a shame...it's such a shame..this freindship had to end" portion.

xlrr8r...great post- thank you, i was truly touched. and i allowed myself to wonder.......ahhhh....is forgiveness far behind? it was and still is a shame but there's still time to make amends...

.

[Edited 11/5/10 15:53pm]

xlr8r said:

DaphneLovesPR1NCE said:

That's why I said, if ever there was a Prince concert without Purple Rain, I'd feel cheated! This song is a must have at every Prince show...it is amazing!

Ive been to many where PR was played. Though I usually liked the performances, some have been genuine and some have been by the numbers and I usually have a "lets get this over with" vibe....this Milan one thats all over the place is one of those ones where you see him "feeling" it and putting in work and effort. He put his foot in the azz of this one this time, this night. Wow.

Hoping to have that same experience at the Prince shows in December!

thedance said:

Yeah, wow: Shame it has been taken down.

the video was really amazing.

Thanks to God I managed to save this, before it went off.

And I just watched this amazing performance. I didn't cry like the OP, but I sure dug the hell out of the solo. Although it was really dry sounding due most likely to the Hohner, it brought new life to a song that was getting pretty repetitive over the years.

I saw it too. As close up to Prince as you'll ever get and it was subliminal.

I'm not that into PR (song) anymore, but that one gave me goosebumps.

I suppose it's true, Prince's PR is equivalent to MJ's Billy Jean.

Number23 said:

I used to get wee revelations like this when I enjoyed a smoke. Like your emotional neurons are at once perfectly in synch and riding a before-hidden but now glistening flash of otherworldly genius hard.

Ahhh, memories.

Thanks for this great post! You said it like I could never find the words to express my feelings. Only this: I was in Milan and during Purple Rain tears came to my eyes. I have always loved that song and especially the guitar solo and for me it has always sounded great live. But the performance in Milan just left me breathless ... so emotional, so much passion!! I'm glad there was that great video which captured this and when I watched it I cried again. There cannot be a better performance, Prince is simply awesome - and this is one performance that proves it! WOW!!!

xlr8r said:

And how he places the geetar on the ground in respect to it at the end and he bows? This was a PERFECT performance for ANY artist.

I wonder if the audience who was privy to this performance appreciate what they were able to witness. One thing for sure and Ive said it many times --Europe inspires Prince. Some of the best performances Ive seen and heard have been from overseas.

I also loved that moment ... perfect ending to a perfect performance!

Well, I think most of us at Milan were absolutely impressed. And I don't know if Europe inspires Prince or whatever else it is, but for me these concerts this year have been some of the best he has ever done! Prince is in great form, his energy and passion on stage are awesome, and it is great to see that he clearly loves to perform! I'm so happy to have had the chance to experience him twice this year and can only hope that he will continue like this for a very long time to come!

Forsight said:

Nice to read from posters so well articulated.

Wonder who he was referring to

[Edited 11/5/10 20:13pm]

Who would be your first guess?

Its such a shame...its such a shame this show won't be on DVD... D V D D V D. why won't Prince put out a D V D

That performance of Purple Rain was quite simply stunning.

Some people just play an instrument... Prince becomes the physical/bodily extension of the guitar in this performance. He and it are one... every pluck of the string and every sustain triggers his face. It's as though the guitar is looking for a human face to perform an act of ventriloquism and P readily obliges as his whole body becomes the guitar's puppet. Instead of playing the guitar, he submits and lets the guitar play him. Instrument and player have swapped roles. Truly amazing.

thanks so much, what a fab description... & thankyou so much to the original person who was thoughtful enough to upload the clip.

it was a stunning performance, when u know u are witnessing something very special.

i know i had binoculars trained on him .. i knew something special was gonna go down, something happens in his eyes like they become souless, like he's tranformed to another place, he's channelling angels!

i love that when he zones out & he did that 4 sure at milan.

i think the shirt did it to him.

Serena said:

Forsight said:

Nice to read from posters so well articulated.

Wonder who he was referring to

[Edited 11/5/10 20:13pm]

Who would be your first guess?