dawntreader said:

i thought it was horrible to look at. she was not in the moment at all, not moving, looking around her if she was scared, she seemed to miss the cues in the song.

it made me sad actually.

How did U expect her 2 act being on stage with a superstar like Prince 4 the very first time? U people r so critical....

McD said:

That’s MY VIDEO FOOTAGE on Dr F’s website!!! Wow, great to see how these things get out there and stay out there. It’s my dulcet tones at 1:11 asking ‘Any bouncers watching me’?

As for the night itself, ‘twas a great one. At the beginning of the day I didn’t have tickets for either show. Thanks to ‘ellieadore’ (a big hello if you’re still around these parts!) I got a balcony ticket for the aftershow, and managed to get a ‘return’ from the box office just before the main show started. Oddly enough the guy I was next to at the main show I met again at Hop Farm.

At Indigo2, the girl I’d plonked myself next to (and ended up dating for the next 2 months) assured me that the purple curtain being down meant Prince was in da house. I had only a 2 out of 4 record at that point of seeing him in Indigo2, so wasn’t being too optimistic.

As a few have mentioned, Love is a Losing Game opened the show but the curtain was still down. I didn’t think it was anything other than Shelby J at that point. I’d seen her perform it already at both a main show and an aftershow. Then the curtains opened and it was Amy! I’d spent the lead up both drinking myself senseless and showing off the video quality on my futuristic Nokia N95. So the girl suggested I try to video Amy. Which is why I missed the first verse and guitar spot. It was tough videoing at Indigo2, and sure enough at the end I got grabbed by the bouncers who asked for my phone. I said I’d only taken a photo (which I had earlier), and they demanded that they watch me delete it in front of them. I obliged like the good boy I was and enjoyed the rest of what was a simply fantastic night. I listened to the audio bootleg in full again last week.

It would be great to have proper video footage of the event. Princey, sort it out! Can’t believe it didn’t even merit a space on Indigo Nights! I’ll even allow him some post production work to get rid of the horrid feedback which spoils part of the opening (not on the video).

An incredible performance by both. Prince’s guitar work is sublime. And just look at the classy way be hands back the floor to Amy at 1:46. Definitely a night to remember.

now that's is incredible!. Thank God for the girl next to you!.

i recall prince saying something along the lines of we all need to look after amy or words to that effect that night, i just remember she seemed to be swaying a little too much and was ever so small and didn't look with it, prince was loving her and everyone was raving about her but beverley knight was by far the stronger and more charismatic, she (besides prince!) made my 21 nights. i found it sad at the time and its even sadder to look back on now. amy winehouse was clearly a very troubled girl, i hope she finds peace now.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

dawntreader said:

i thought it was horrible to look at. she was not in the moment at all, not moving, looking around her if she was scared, she seemed to miss the cues in the song.

it made me sad actually.

How did U expect her 2 act being on stage with a superstar like Prince 4 the very first time? U people r so critical....

Maybe like Beverly Knight and give an amazing performance?

dawntreader I was there that night and I totaly agree with you, I thought that she looked out of it and performed really badly. I think Prince said the take care of it line cause he knew she was so wasted.

I think if Prince was really impressed with her performance she would be on Indigo Nights CD and not Beverly Knight.

Sadly enough the performance sucked She started mumbling and gradually became a bit better but she looked more like a gerbal caught in the headlights than a singer on stage. Everyone was thrilled during those first seconds when they realised it was Amy singing, until they started listening to that wavering vocal. A missed opportunity for a magical moment.

The live recording has been circulating for ages now, so for those claiming this to be such a waw-moment - have a listen first.

And prince tried to rally some support for her in the end, something along the lines of "she's really special, take good care of her..." Unfortunately, the only one who could do that was herself.

chopingard said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

How did U expect her 2 act being on stage with a superstar like Prince 4 the very first time? U people r so critical....

Maybe like Beverly Knight and give an amazing performance?

dawntreader I was there that night and I totaly agree with you, I thought that she looked out of it and performed really badly. I think Prince said the take care of it line cause he knew she was so wasted.

I think if Prince was really impressed with her performance she would be on Indigo Nights CD and not Beverly Knight.

Well she sounded way better to me in those few bars she sung, than Whitney did on her whole last tour...Far as not being included on Indigo Nights. There is a lot with clearing & getting licenses to clear a song like that 2 b included. Its not as easy as U think.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

chopingard said:

Maybe like Beverly Knight and give an amazing performance?

dawntreader I was there that night and I totaly agree with you, I thought that she looked out of it and performed really badly. I think Prince said the take care of it line cause he knew she was so wasted.

I think if Prince was really impressed with her performance she would be on Indigo Nights CD and not Beverly Knight.

Well she sounded way better to me in those few bars she sung, than Whitney did on her whole last tour.. .Far as not being included on Indigo Nights. There is a lot with clearing & getting licenses to clear a song like that 2 b included. Its not as easy as U think.

Well post crack Whitney is not really a high standard to be aiming at but ..... Ok i'll give you that one

But realy in all honesty she was the worst performer on that stage that night (which in all fairness most people would be).

As for clearance if he had tried to get it cleared and she refused then we would have heard about it. It would have been on some trashy mag/blog/newspaper as most of her life was.

I'm inclined to belive that he listened back to it knew instantly that it was more about the moment and the suprise than the actual performance and moved on to the next track.

Personally I found Beverly Knights performance all the more touching cause we all know she's as big a fan as any of us and she was just beaming up on that stage. She looked tearfull at just being there but still kept her performance in check and brung the goods

chopingard said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Well she sounded way better to me in those few bars she sung, than Whitney did on her whole last tour.. .Far as not being included on Indigo Nights. There is a lot with clearing & getting licenses to clear a song like that 2 b included. Its not as easy as U think.

Well post crack Whitney is not really a high standard to be aiming at but ..... Ok i'll give you that one

But realy in all honesty she was the worst performer on that stage that night (which in all fairness most people would be).

As for clearance if he had tried to get it cleared and she refused then we would have heard about it. It would have been on some trashy mag/blog/newspaper as most of her life was.

I'm inclined to belive that he listened back to it knew instantly that it was more about the moment and the suprise than the actual performance and moved on to the next track.

Personally I found Beverly Knights performance all the more touching cause we all know she's as big a fan as any of us and she was just beaming up on that stage. She looked tearfull at just being there but still kept her performance in check and brung the goods

unique said:

funkyhead said:

imagine that P had this pro-shot. I can't believe that the only clip around is the one from DR. F's website shot high up in the balcony.

they weren't videotaping the indigo2 shows, but on the final night they were filming it (with a single hand held camera) and taking photographic stills. there were a few taken with prince with his back to the audience and arms outstretched to show him in front of the audience. they were mostly filming from the left side of the stage. i can't remember if they shot amy or not, but hopefully they did. there was some plan to make a documentary of backstage footage. there was also a plan to pro film the second last nights concert with extra cameramen but that was also scrapped. of course there is the main gig footage shot from the set cameras

I definitely remember pictures being taken by the person on stage during the 'Love is a Losing Game' performance - from the left as you describe - I remember thinking about it at the time, quite vividly, that it looked to me like Prince leaned back to make sure he was in one of the shots with Amy! I was expecting to see it in the Indigo book and was disappointed when there wasn't one there.

As for the performance, before that show I wasn't that fussed about Amy Winehouse, but I was very impressed indeed - given the female vocal talents also present that night (I love Beverly Knight and was well impressed with Shelby throughout those shows, particularly Baby Love) I thought Amy voice sounded the best in a natural talent sort of a way - not sure to describe it, on rare occassions when I hear someone open their mouth to sing occassonally I think 'shit, you just have some kind of gift, without even working at it, your voice just has something rare/special'

With regards to the 'off cue' comments - I wondered about that at the time, my conclusion was that that was probably just how she sang, regardless of being straight or wasted - 'a little bit behind the beat, I mean just enough to turn you on'...erm, maybe - this was the only performance I ever saw her do though, so I don't know if i'm correct.

cloudguitar said:

unique said:

they weren't videotaping the indigo2 shows, but on the final night they were filming it (with a single hand held camera) and taking photographic stills. there were a few taken with prince with his back to the audience and arms outstretched to show him in front of the audience. they were mostly filming from the left side of the stage. i can't remember if they shot amy or not, but hopefully they did. there was some plan to make a documentary of backstage footage. there was also a plan to pro film the second last nights concert with extra cameramen but that was also scrapped. of course there is the main gig footage shot from the set cameras

I definitely remember pictures being taken by the person on stage during the 'Love is a Losing Game' performance - from the left as you describe - I remember thinking about it at the time, quite vividly, that it looked to me like Prince leaned back to make sure he was in one of the shots with Amy! I was expecting to see it in the Indigo book and was disappointed when there wasn't one there.

As for the performance, before that show I wasn't that fussed about Amy Winehouse, but I was very impressed indeed - given the female vocal talents also present that night (I love Beverly Knight and was well impressed with Shelby throughout those shows, particularly Baby Love) I thought Amy voice sounded the best in a natural talent sort of a way - not sure to describe it, on rare occassions when I hear someone open their mouth to sing occassonally I think 'shit, you just have some kind of gift, without even working at it, your voice just has something rare/special'

With regards to the 'off cue' comments - I wondered about that at the time, my conclusion was that that was probably just how she sang, regardless of being straight or wasted - 'a little bit behind the beat, I mean just enough to turn you on'...erm, maybe - this was the only performance I ever saw her do though, so I don't know if i'm correct.

The 21Nights book was a let-down on multiple levels, not in the least for totally missing the mark on what fans would like to have as a book on the London residence. Thank God for the CD.

Nobody's claiming that Amy has no talent - I love her stuff - but the performance wasn't good. And as someone stated before, it wasn't just Amy but also the combination with the rock-opera arrangement prince had for a wailing shelby that didn't work with Amy's more fragile approach.

cloudguitar said:

With regards to the 'off cue' comments - I wondered about that at the time, my conclusion was that that was probably just how she sang, regardless of being straight or wasted - 'a little bit behind the beat, I mean just enough to turn you on'...erm, maybe - this was the only performance I ever saw her do though, so I don't know if i'm correct.

This is true. If you listen to her version of "Cupid", "To Know Him Is To Love Him", and "It's My Party" you hear she is off the beat of the original in all of them. She had a very jazzy, improv type style and Prince performs the song differently from her. She coulda scatted her way thru it if she was that confused. Seems like she was just vibing to it.

unique said:

nice one. shame you didn't get more footage. any footage at all from indigo2 is rare and the quality of what i've seen is garbage. i remember showing people that clip years ago and they were surprised it existed as they hadn't seen it before. i posted it to another site just after she died and i think it might have reminded people of it's existance and brought it to drfb's attention (as he's an orger)

Ah, so it's you that's been keeping the clip circulating. Great stuff. I remember speaking to you that night about 7.30pm - you were queueing already for Indigo2. I saw you from the balcony in your front row spot.

I took a bunch of footage from near the front a few gigs earlier when he was dressed in an all-red get-up complete with top hat. But yes, it's godawful, just short bursts, not whole songs, and camerwork that makes the Winehouse footage look like it was filmed by Stanley Kubrick. Still can't believe there isn't better footage of Amy out there though.

unique said:

there is another full audience recording of the show in even better quality than the one most people have (i think there are two circulating, one has a screamer), but just not circulating. shame we only got a partial soundboard on the official cd and not the full show

The one I have is pretty decent as these things go, although the overlapping tracks from Indigo Nights do remind you that you're listening to an audience boot. It includes a girl shouting out 'Amy Winehouse!!' as the curtains open which actually adds something to it (certainly for those that were there and remember the excitement of the moment).

McD said:

unique said:

nice one. shame you didn't get more footage. any footage at all from indigo2 is rare and the quality of what i've seen is garbage. i remember showing people that clip years ago and they were surprised it existed as they hadn't seen it before. i posted it to another site just after she died and i think it might have reminded people of it's existance and brought it to drfb's attention (as he's an orger)

Ah, so it's you that's been keeping the clip circulating. Great stuff. I remember speaking to you that night about 7.30pm - you were queueing already for Indigo2. I saw you from the balcony in your front row spot.

I took a bunch of footage from near the front a few gigs earlier when he was dressed in an all-red get-up complete with top hat. But yes, it's godawful, just short bursts, not whole songs, and camerwork that makes the Winehouse footage look like it was filmed by Stanley Kubrick. Still can't believe there isn't better footage of Amy out there though.

unique said:

there is another full audience recording of the show in even better quality than the one most people have (i think there are two circulating, one has a screamer), but just not circulating. shame we only got a partial soundboard on the official cd and not the full show

The one I have is pretty decent as these things go, although the overlapping tracks from Indigo Nights do remind you that you're listening to an audience boot. It includes a girl shouting out 'Amy Winehouse!!' as the curtains open which actually adds something to it (certainly for those that were there and remember the excitement of the moment).

on that day i woke up in the travelodge near the o2. having breakfast in the morning with sky news on saying that this was the last time that prince was going to play his hits, and if you looked just past the tv screen outside the massive windows you saw the o2 in the distance. they were saying that part of the show was being broadcast live on tv, so from the minute you woke up after the previous nights aftershow you had the prince hype for the final show

i didn't have a hotel booked for that night as the prices jumped up that night and as there was an aftershow and others were having parties in rooms afterwards i though i would blag it and get the early train back, which in the end i did. by the time i got my bags that i left at the hotel and got back to the o2 the tubes started up and i got the first train back home so i could sleep on the train. but the trains were all fucked up so i had to swap once but wasn't so bad

anways after checking out the hotel we went straight to the o2 and got there about 2pm and i thought i'd just wait outside the indigo2. as i was waiting other people came a couple of hours later and started queing. i later found they didn't even have tickets! so i kept waiting for a bit and the line got quite big early on so i was in two minds about leaving the line for the main show as i really wanted to be front row at the aftershow as i was every other night. i got talking to a lot of people as usual and helped people get tickets for the shows and get rid of spares and stuff and those at the start of the line all ended up getting tickets. then it got closer to show time and i thought fuck it i'm not going to leave my front row spot so i sold my main show ticket. in fact i did a swap at face value plus the difference (as main show was a few quid more) for my decent main show gig for a aftershow ticket (that was selling on ebay for up to £500!), and i gave that ticket to a friend who was waiting with faith that i'd get them a ticket, and that night i got almost everyone a ticket to the shows they wanted, except for two people who got let in to the aftershow anyways (i had an idea they would)

so here i was for the first time outside a prince gig without a ticket. i'd just given away my bloody ticket to a prince concert! am i fucking mental or what? i was about to miss a prince gig whilst standing right outside after having a ticket!

anyways one of the security guys asked me why i wasn't going to the main show, as he saw me every night go from one gig to the other, and i told him i gave away my ticket as i wanted to be front row to the aftershow. he then pulled me aside and said, i have a spare VIP ticket worth £250 or £1000 or whatever it was, do you want it? and i said no, i wasn't going to miss front row at the aftershow as i'd been waiting since 2pm. he then said i'll let you back in if you want to go, so i said sure, took the ticket and noticed he had a few more spares, so i pointed out a few people in line who were regulars and die hards and suggested he does the same to them, as i ran like fucking forrest gump with my VIP ticket into the main arena, breaking all land speed records in the process

as i got in, the place was pitch black and every fucker had a fucking purple glowstick which took me back. i was thinking, surely they all can't be fucking orgers who followed the idea of a dude online to use glowsticks. i later found out that everyone was given them so the arena would be lit up for sky news who broadcast the start of the show on live telly. so as everyone else was in the arena already i was escorted to the front area on the floor to watch the show. and this time instead of leaving early and running out like a motherfucker to the aftershow i just took my time back as i knew my spot was saved. just in case prince ran back out like he did on the opening night

so i got back to the indigo and was let back in the front as promised, and no-one complained as i'd basically helped almost everyone at the front either get a ticket or get rid of a ticket either than night or a previous night. a few minutes later the girls i pointed out to get free tickets also arrived back with massive beamers on their faces, and every generally thought i was the nice guy for getting them all tickets, so i was in a stoked up mood. one of prince's security came to the indigo and said hi and gave me some chocolates that were left for prince in his dressing room and i handed them out (he had a massive box like 5 reams of paper, full of sweeties)

so then it was showtime and we all made our way in for the last time, and made our way to the usual spots down the front. seriously the line was so organised that people had the same regular spots front front in the exact same spot. one of the security guys commented on it, saying it's the same at morrissey gigs except they all dress exactly the same too

so the curtain was down when they started playing and when i heard the notes to love is a losing game i said "imagine if amy was onstage" and literally just after saying that the curtain opened and she was directly in front of us about 3 meters away, as if she had heard me say that and thought she'd stand right in front of me to shock me (of course it was coincidence)

i think the only other time they started playing with the curtain down was the night they opened with let's go by the cars, and again prince was standing right in front of me and just walked straight forwards, didn't stop, and stepped off the stage and onto the speaker i was leaning on so i had to move my arms and hands away, and then he started bending his legs and crouching down so i had to do the same to avoid getting a guitar in my face. i'm pretty certain he did that on purpose. one other night he was touching hands with people in the audience and came to my bit and turned his back when he was touching peoples hands and then fell back on the audience on purpose (like the rock n roll hall of fame moment), and then we just pushed him back onstage

it was weird after the show had ended. that was it. 21 nights, 42 shows if you include aftershows, over two months, and it was all over, but not without a fucking tremendous bang

it was weird as then i had to go back to the hotel and get my bag and then straight back on the tube then train back home and sleep. it took a bit of time to get back to normal after all that

btw the tangerine suit night was one of my favourite aftershows. it was a fucking classic one with him on the keyboards playing superstition, keep on running, ballad of dorothy parker etc. with the mad fucking hatters hat on with a big fuck off feather

i have some other footage from indigo shows but the quality is so bad it could literally be anyone onstage at any gig in the world. you just see bits of colour. im sure one he is wearing something reddish so maybe was your footage again

Unique, didn’t know you’d made the main show that night! Just assumed you’d sacrificed it for top spot at the aftershow. Walking in to those glowsticks was awesome... until they started getting chucked all over the place.

Didn’t know either that it wasn’t the first to start with the curtains still drawn (or down – can’t remember if they went from side to side or top to bottom). I was never sure if that opening was something to do with Winehouse, her nerves, or whatever. I guess not. But I remember someone saying that Prince had NOT appeared at his final Vegas aftershow. And I always wondered if Prince's final night intentions were shaped around Winehouse who may have been pencilled in much earlier but had postponed and postponed until she could postpone no more. Who knows.

Sad to hear that she looked out of it. I wasn’t close enough to tell. But I certainly didn’t pick that up from her vocal performance, which I thought was wonderful. You need to hear the entire audio track to get full appreciation, although the beginning is marred by sound problems. Prince’s 2^nd solo is very much a sequel to the first (not on the video recording). The song was the highlight of the entire tour for me for sure (from 11 main and 5 aftershows).

the curtains went from side to side. they had the curtains down a few times but mostly open, but i think it was just twice they played before they opened them. i think it was to show the surprise with amy who looked really nervous and unsure of herself, i think prince's different arrangement of her track threw her which is why she sounded out a bit

they took the glowsticks off people at the indigo2 because people were throwing them about and at the stage. i think one nearly hit prince, but luckily he kept on performing

i also remember asking the indigo2 manager if prince was playing and he didn't know, and i said there would be a riot if he didn't play the final night

prince rehearsed for longer than normal that day, i think the band were called in 2 hours earlier than normal for rehearsals, but i'm not sure if amy was part of that. i met the twins in between rehearsals.

unique said:

the curtains went from side to side. they had the curtains down a few times but mostly open, but i think it was just twice they played before they opened them. i think it was to show the surprise with amy who looked really nervous and unsure of herself, i think prince's different arrangement of her track threw her which is why she sounded out a bit

they took the glowsticks off people at the indigo2 because people were throwing them about and at the stage. i think one nearly hit prince, but luckily he kept on performing

i also remember asking the indigo2 manager if prince was playing and he didn't know, and i said there would be a riot if he didn't play the final night

prince rehearsed for longer than normal that day, i think the band were called in 2 hours earlier than normal for rehearsals, but i'm not sure if amy was part of that. i met the twins in between rehearsals.

wow, you have some great stories about the last night. As for the friggin' glowstix. I remember being front row at the main show and it was like being in a war zone seeing these things flying all over from high up and all around. What a fucking disgrace. However I cannot belive that during the solo Piano section when P was singing the 'beautiful ones' one hit him right in the back- i was disgusted and ashamed BUT the man just carried on.

I stopped at the Travel lodge as well - was a swine of a place to find when driving!

as i stayed at that (and others) travelodge a few times i knew how to get there. i can't remember if it was that night we got the bus and it was jam packed so tight it was crazy, or if onecrush gave us a lift. it was all crazy at the end with people standing about waiting on something to happen, or hanging about for the first tube back or going to the hotel for the afterpartyafterparty

i remember when we got the first tube when it re-opened at 5am or whenever and it was full of regular orgers and stuff and it was sad to walk off the tube at kings cross and leave everyone behind

and it was a saturday so it was weird starting your weekend on the way home from london and sleeping through most of it and going back to work when everyone was asking about it and you were in a weird low zone cuz the party was over. at least we had all the recordings to keep us reminded of it

unique said:

as i stayed at that (and others) travelodge a few times i knew how to get there. i can't remember if it was that night we got the bus and it was jam packed so tight it was crazy, or if onecrush gave us a lift. it was all crazy at the end with people standing about waiting on something to happen, or hanging about for the first tube back or going to the hotel for the afterpartyafterparty

i remember when we got the first tube when it re-opened at 5am or whenever and it was full of regular orgers and stuff and it was sad to walk off the tube at kings cross and leave everyone behind

and it was a saturday so it was weird starting your weekend on the way home from london and sleeping through most of it and going back to work when everyone was asking about it and you were in a weird low zone cuz the party was over. at least we had all the recordings to keep us reminded of it

Well wriiten, brings it all back to me. Anyone think he will announce another mini residancy in london soon? I think it's very possible, he seems to be enjoying himself in europe.

Rorywan said:

Well wriiten, brings it all back to me. Anyone think he will announce another mini residancy in london soon? I think it's very possible, he seems to be enjoying himself in europe.

i very much doubt it. he's done it once and got away with it. LA didn't come off as well as expected so i think that's the end of that. some thought he might do one in paris but he's played there a few times in the last 3 years so i don't think it's as opportune as it may have been before

this time he's stepped up his game by playing to much larger audiences in europe. he's then got the south american shows. he might do canada after that, maybe japan etc as he's not played the hits for the last time over there in a while

unique said:

Rorywan said:

Well wriiten, brings it all back to me. Anyone think he will announce another mini residancy in london soon? I think it's very possible, he seems to be enjoying himself in europe.

i very much doubt it. he's done it once and got away with it. LA didn't come off as well as expected so i think that's the end of that. some thought he might do one in paris but he's played there a few times in the last 3 years so i don't think it's as opportune as it may have been before

this time he's stepped up his game by playing to much larger audiences in europe. he's then got the south american shows. he might do canada after that, maybe japan etc as he's not played the hits for the last time over there in a while

Says U!

I think he is going to play London.

Thats all.

I can feel it.

Yes Back to Black was exceptional but let's face it, two albums in ten years. Not exactly focused on her music was she...

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

unique said:

i very much doubt it. he's done it once and got away with it. LA didn't come off as well as expected so i think that's the end of that. some thought he might do one in paris but he's played there a few times in the last 3 years so i don't think it's as opportune as it may have been before

this time he's stepped up his game by playing to much larger audiences in europe. he's then got the south american shows. he might do canada after that, maybe japan etc as he's not played the hits for the last time over there in a while

Says U!

says the punters

he didn't even play 21 nites in LA and some nights it was far from sold out. putting tickets on sale a couple of days before an arena gig didn't help

surely there must be more orgers who were there on that night. Thanks to all who shared so far. I am sure the curtains were red though and not purple!.

cloudguitar said:

unique said:

they weren't videotaping the indigo2 shows, but on the final night they were filming it (with a single hand held camera) and taking photographic stills. there were a few taken with prince with his back to the audience and arms outstretched to show him in front of the audience. they were mostly filming from the left side of the stage. i can't remember if they shot amy or not, but hopefully they did. there was some plan to make a documentary of backstage footage. there was also a plan to pro film the second last nights concert with extra cameramen but that was also scrapped. of course there is the main gig footage shot from the set cameras

I definitely remember pictures being taken by the person on stage during the 'Love is a Losing Game' performance - from the left as you describe - I remember thinking about it at the time, quite vividly, that it looked to me like Prince leaned back to make sure he was in one of the shots with Amy! I was expecting to see it in the Indigo book and was disappointed when there wasn't one there.

As for the performance, before that show I wasn't that fussed about Amy Winehouse, but I was very impressed indeed - given the female vocal talents also present that night (I love Beverly Knight and was well impressed with Shelby throughout those shows, particularly Baby Love) I thought Amy voice sounded the best in a natural talent sort of a way - not sure to describe it, on rare occassions when I hear someone open their mouth to sing occassonally I think 'shit, you just have some kind of gift, without even working at it, your voice just has something rare/special'

With regards to the 'off cue' comments - I wondered about that at the time, my conclusion was that that was probably just how she sang, regardless of being straight or wasted - 'a little bit behind the beat, I mean just enough to turn you on'...erm, maybe - this was the only performance I ever saw her do though, so I don't know if i'm correct.

Sorry but I dont care if you were there or just listening..Anyone who thinks THIS performance was bad nears to understand when Amy Winehouse is off and when she is on..She adored prince and wasnt going to give a wasted performance because she knew about his expectations.

She has always been uncertain with her cues and when to sing on the beat..She sometimes sings off the beat and does wonders..But Amy has never been somebody who was bang on the cues..Even when sober.

She is ANYTHING BUT bad here..The people who says she wasn't need their ears checked and I'm not just saying that..She was very much in tune and hitting some somewonderful notes..Her style is to not always have clear diction so just because you think she is mumling don't mean she is giving a bad performance..And from the looks of her she don't seem wasted, she seems very much in control. Check out her performance with Mick Jagger, she seems a bit more wasted and out of touch with the duet there.

Reason I think prince says to ' take care of this one' is also because he saw the natural talent and realised that was a great performance and therefore we should all treasure this natural talent and take care of it.

Just check out the verse at 1.50...She really views and flows and definately wouldn't hit a note at 2.05 if she wasn't feeling her performance and comfortable and focused

Trust me..this was a very good performance

Just listened to the 11 min version..

Without a doubt a wonderful vocal performance of that song by amy..Would even go so far as to say one of her strongest and most hearfelt once nerves died down..And I have seen and heard alot of her.

Prince even says at the end ' I got tears, ima have to ut my shades on.'

If this was a bad performance would prince of said that?...He knew right then and there..He knew..

and once prince knows, you gotta understand something special is there musically

I have to agree. There may have been some nerves and the arrangement / curtain thing may have initially thrown her, but the performance was extraordinary.

The 11 minutes referred to above includes about 4:19 of an intro / soundcheck broken off in some boots, including mine, and a minute or so of silence after the song which includes Prince's 'shades' comment.

Prince's later comments about taking care of her coz she's special come at 15:02 of 15:46 on Play That Funky Music, again dependent on the configuration of the bootleg you listen to. Based on comments above about how long she spent on King's Row watching the show, she'd have been long gone by the time he said it.

Onthe1jb said:

cloudguitar said:

I definitely remember pictures being taken by the person on stage during the 'Love is a Losing Game' performance - from the left as you describe - I remember thinking about it at the time, quite vividly, that it looked to me like Prince leaned back to make sure he was in one of the shots with Amy! I was expecting to see it in the Indigo book and was disappointed when there wasn't one there.

As for the performance, before that show I wasn't that fussed about Amy Winehouse, but I was very impressed indeed - given the female vocal talents also present that night (I love Beverly Knight and was well impressed with Shelby throughout those shows, particularly Baby Love) I thought Amy voice sounded the best in a natural talent sort of a way - not sure to describe it, on rare occassions when I hear someone open their mouth to sing occassonally I think 'shit, you just have some kind of gift, without even working at it, your voice just has something rare/special'

With regards to the 'off cue' comments - I wondered about that at the time, my conclusion was that that was probably just how she sang, regardless of being straight or wasted - 'a little bit behind the beat, I mean just enough to turn you on'...erm, maybe - this was the only performance I ever saw her do though, so I don't know if i'm correct.

Sorry but I dont care if you were there or just listening..Anyone who thinks THIS performance was bad nears to understand when Amy Winehouse is off and when she is on..She adored prince and wasnt going to give a wasted performance because she knew about his expectations.

She has always been uncertain with her cues and when to sing on the beat..She sometimes sings off the beat and does wonders..But Amy has never been somebody who was bang on the cues..Even when sober.

She is ANYTHING BUT bad here..The people who says she wasn't need their ears checked and I'm not just saying that..She was very much in tune and hitting some somewonderful notes..Her style is to not always have clear diction so just because you think she is mumling don't mean she is giving a bad performance..And from the looks of her she don't seem wasted, she seems very much in control. Check out her performance with Mick Jagger, she seems a bit more wasted and out of touch with the duet there.

Reason I think prince says to ' take care of this one' is also because he saw the natural talent and realised that was a great performance and therefore we should all treasure this natural talent and take care of it.

Just check out the verse at 1.50...She really views and flows and definately wouldn't hit a note at 2.05 if she wasn't feeling her performance and comfortable and focused

Trust me..this was a very good performance

what the fuck are you on about? i've not seen anyone say it was a bad performance. and whether she was on cue or not or on time or not, and i'm certain she wasn't. i was standing 2 metres in front of her and remember it very clearly, it was a fucking amazing moment

btw, there isn't an 11 minute version of the track, renato played an instrumental version of the dance with the curtain down before they started love is a losing game

and for the record, i also saw amy winehouse in 2004 in a small club, again front row, long before most people had heard of her, and along with all the official stuff i have shitloads of live recordings so i know when she's on or off. your whole summary is based on a crappy quality part clip cameraphone video and an audience bootleg recording to which you didn't even know that it was a different track played beforehand

when did you first see amy winehouse live, and when was the last time?

funkyhead said:

surely there must be more orgers who were there on that night. Thanks to all who shared so far. I am sure the curtains were red though and not purple!.

the curtains on stage were black

one other thing that hasn't been mentioned was that max beesley the co-star of glitter with mariah carey was sitting at the back of the stage for half the show. fuck knows why, he didn't interact at all