So, I have had this video on my computer for a while now, but I absolutely detest watching videos on my computer, so I skipped through it a bit but it just didn't seem all that impressive ... which says more about the experience of watching a live concert on a tiny computer screen while sitting in an office chair more than it does about the concert itself, it turns out.

Since his new site teased this show as potentially being released, and since I finally figured out how to watch videos that are on my hard drive on my HDTV, this morning I fired up Montreux (second show), honestly not expecting to really be all that into it.

But LORDJESUSIT'SAFAHR I finally get why y'all talk about these concerts the way you do. Full (extended, even) songs ... deep album cuts ... killer guitar solos ... amazing vocals ... and no "put your hands up" or flag waving nonsense (and no, I'm not a Shelby hater, but seriously, is that necessary?). Damn, even the covers are not the same ol' same ol': "Spanish Castle Magic," "Stratus," and "All Shook Up" are welcome replacements for "Everyday People" or that awful Sarah McLachlan song that he plays constantly.

And NO MEDLEYS!!!!

Furthermore, I almost skipped "All the Critics Love U in Montreux" because I find that when he plays this track he usually leaves out my favorite parts, but they are all here ("It's time for new direction, it's time for jazz to die," etc. .... "Look out all you hippies, you ain't as sharp as me, it ain't about the trippin' but the sexuality, turn it up!") - I mean I literally was FORCED to get off the couch and shake my ass. I had no choice in the matter.

And he didn't stop singing any of the words, not to mention entire choruses, so that the crowd could sing them for him. It was like watching Prince in his prime, and for this man I would travel and pay lots of money. For the one that I saw at the Welcome 2... shows I attended (and the footage I've seen from the ones I didn't attend) I will go if he is playing in my town and I can get cheap tickets.

Hopefully one of the young girls in his band likes it when he plays full versions of more obscure songs too, so we get more stuff like this and less of the "I got too many hits (so I'll play a bar or two of a dozen of them in 30 seconds and then play another tired Sly cover)".

Not being negative, in fact quite the opposite. My Prince fandom has been rekindled within the space of 90 minutes, just by watching one of these 2 concerts. I get the need to play more of his "standards" in a stadium show, but there is no reason why more of his concerts aren't full of interesting selections like this.

Shoot, even Renato's keyboard diddling only made me cringe once or twice.

[Edited 2/2/13 15:20pm]

I'll watch mine this weekend . I have it on disc though thank god. From a music store. I dont envy the thought of performances only as digital copies though. I like a tangible product period.

I totally agree with you about the physical copy being a necessity, if I'm paying for it particularly. I would be very interested to see what your thoughts are regarding the concert as a whole, RD. It really blew me away in the most fantastic way.

The second show was way better than the first even though that was awesome too.

rdhull said:

I'll watch mine this weekend . I have it on disc though thank god. From a music store. I dont envy the thought of performances only as digital copies though. I like a tangible product period.

its just a bootleg. If I can download it I don't really care about a tangible product unless it's straight from Prince and I will represent.

SuperFurryAnimal said:

rdhull said:

I'll watch mine this weekend . I have it on disc though thank god. From a music store. I dont envy the thought of performances only as digital copies though. I like a tangible product period.

its just a bootleg. If I can download it I don't really care about a tangible product unless it's straight from Prince and I will represent.

Yes, its a bootleg but it is taken from the source. Prisitne . Its the same thing that is going to be offered form 2013.com sight.

Many fans already have it, yes. My point is some people want a tangible product. And the one we have is straight from Prince. Dont ask me about that but its what he planned/plans to release. Thats fine though that you dont care about tangible product. I do. And another thig for the future, those who claim they dont want or care about tangible product wiill no doubt in my opinion purchase a dvd they can have in their hands.

I self-immolate every time I hear All the Critics from Montreux.

errant said:

I self-immolate every time I hear All the Critics from Montreux.

theblueangel said:

rdhull said:

Does anyone else wish that this was the type of stuff Prince would do at aftershows more regularly? Okay, have the big "Let's Go Crazy"/""Kiss" arena show, and then have an aftershow like this for the people who are into it more for the musicianship than the celebrity, if that makes sense.

I don't know, I guess I had gotten to the point where I felt like the last area in which he still dominated (live shows) had finally slipped over the last few years, but shows like Montreux confirm that he can still be amazing live, when he wants to put the effort into it.

Maybe everyone digested the Montreux shows years back when they came out and I'm just too late to get in on the discussion...? For me, I find it hard to believe that a mere 15 months later I saw him at 2 of the "Welcome 2 NYC" shows, where the setlist, the energy, and the overall musicianship was just so......blah. Not bad, per se, but definitely watered down to the extreme.

After seeing most of the two shows I have to state off the bat that the version of Empty Room is just about equal to that of the Milan 2010 performance of Purple Rain. That guitar solo is something else. The weirdest thing about it is that the song comes in at around song 11, basically half-way through the concert and if he had ended it with the cresendo performance of Empty Room it would have been satisfying enough to do so. The one thing that makes Empty Room performance a degree under Purple Rain, is the familiarity that Rain has over it..and that may be all. They have the same structure in quiet verse and raised chorus with epic geetar endings....not typical geetar endings but in these live performances, geetar endings that are better than many other artists career. They are that bold. I never really cared for Empty Room as much as others have but this one shook me. Now if I ever hear him do it live, he needs to bring the pain as he did on this Montreux performance or I just will not be satisfied.

Another thing of note is that I sort of saw the preview of these shows when he did that triple threat tour at just the Los Angeles area the night in 2009 as promotion for Lotusfodder (I must be jaded as others as Im now changing offical album website names etc to mocking satirical jokes...whoo boy). These concerts and the last one I attended where he did mostly these songs here..the rare and unreleased..such as the Unicorn Large Room No Light, When I Lay My Hands On You and such, brought so much excitement to me, an o.g. fan who knew all of the material. It was like B-side night for those who were tired of the hits. I can see that this material, and type of sort of quiet performances, was what he was going for with the LF Project...touring wise. It seems like the setlist and project was not meant to be on a grand enough scale but at the clubs and Montreux etc. The dvd evidentally would take care of the world tour as SOTT movie did for the USA that he didnt get to. Why he never released it then, I have no fricken idea. But then again, Led Zeppelin only just released theirl0 London 02 2007 performance late last year as well.

These shows are basically no to little frills, with Prince just depending on the guitar, a mic stand, and his band. Of course it isnt enough to take on a grand scale...NOT. If he is going to be Dylan, to me, I love for these type of shows to be full on and take it on the road. One year do the grand scale flag waving tour..then next time do these Montreux type tour performances..just him at the mic and his axe and band. Its just as arrestng as the big spectacle imo.

Lastly, for now as I havent really given these the proper attention as I was watching some of it while doing certain projects..his reworking of Little Red Corvette is brilliant . He took a song that was already untouchable and made it just as good as the original version in my book. And he must think so too as he has been doing it this version the past few years.

I was clowning initially at this being teased for release on the new website as its already widely avalable but then again it appears that many many others do not have this. Even though this should have been released for the LF project, its that essential for it to be relased now as it is still fresh/badass enough to make you drunk more than that one drink made with orange juice and vodka.....I think it's called a SCREWDRIVER.

.

[Edited 2/5/13 19:07pm]

Mindflux said:

Hmm, pretty much all the aftershows I've been to have been as you desire the blueangel. The Montreux shows are amazing - on of the highlights being "In A Large Room With No Light" and the wonderful outro (which, if I remember right, is in a fantastic 9/8 time signature).IF this gets an official release, I pray its on Blu-Ray with a tasty DTS Master HD audio soundtrack - it deserves it.

The only aftershows I've been to were at the House of Blues in Chicago and at Paisley Park, both in 2004 ... and both of them were quite disappointing, I hate to say. Lots of covers (No Diggity, Everyday People, Brick House) and very little Prince on vocals at the House of Blues, and lots of medleys and "karaoke" versions of his hits at Paisley.

I'm half loving "In A Large Room" and half thinking it's about the strangest thing I've ever heard (and yes, I've heard the original) but that right there to me is proof that it's equal to one of his best tunes, since I used to get that conflicted feeling very often.

Have you been to aftershows in the last 10 years or so, Mindflux? Which ones? Did he do full versions of songs and sing all the verses and choruses like he does at Montreux? If so, then you are a lucky so-and-so.

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts, RD. I totally agree with you on the powerful nature of "Empty Room" here .. although I have always been partial to the C-NOTE version, primarily because I heard him play it at the Lakeland, Florida soundcheck for the ONA tour in the front row and it absolutely blew me away. I still get goosebumps just thinking about it...that being said, I've never liked other renditions of that song quite as much as how he was playing it in 2002, but I really adore this version.

And of course, I totally agree with you about LRC ... a great example of how he can make a "tired" song completely rejuvenated without changing it in a way that it loses the feel of the original. This version was probably the highlight of the "Welcome 2 America" show I saw a few years ago, along with "Eye Love U, but Eye Don't Trust U Anymore," which kills me every time, period.

For some reason, I am absolutely loving "All Shook Up" and "All The Critics" - just so damn fun.

theblueangel said:

Does anyone else wish that this was the type of stuff Prince would do at aftershows more regularly? Okay, have the big "Let's Go Crazy"/""Kiss" arena show, and then have an aftershow like this for the people who are into it more for the musicianship than the celebrity, if that makes sense.

I don't know, I guess I had gotten to the point where I felt like the last area in which he still dominated (live shows) had finally slipped over the last few years, but shows like Montreux confirm that he can still be amazing live, when he wants to put the effort into it.

Maybe everyone digested the Montreux shows years back when they came out and I'm just too late to get in on the discussion...? For me, I find it hard to believe that a mere 15 months later I saw him at 2 of the "Welcome 2 NYC" shows, where the setlist, the energy, and the overall musicianship was just so......blah. Not bad, per se, but definitely watered down to the extreme.

The 21 Nights in London aftershows had everything you could possibly want.

leecaldon said:

The 21 Nights in London aftershows had everything you could possibly want.

That's cool (and I agree, the setlists looked pretty amazing). Sadly, I can't afford to spend thousands of dollars to fly overseas and see Prince with the hopes that he will play a good aftershow. It seems like he usually plays better aftershows when he's not in the US, and I always wonder why that is.

I think it's a real shame that some of these aftershows at Indigo weren't released in their entirety (especially the "rock" one with Chaos & Disorder, etc.) - I am definitely in agreement with the majority on here who feel that the live CD that "documented" that residency is amazingly poor in terms of the song selection. Shockingly, dismally poor.

As I asked before,did Rhonda Smith ever have a solo spot at Montreux?

As I asked before,did Rhonda Smith ever have a solo spot at Montreux?

[Edited 2/5/13 17:03pm]

[Edited 2/5/13 17:03pm]

rdhull said:

After seeing most of the two shows I have to state off the bat that the version of Empty Room is just about equal to that of the Milan 2010 performance of Purple Rain. That guitar solo is something else. The weirdest thing about it is that the song comes ini at around song 11, basically half-way through the concert and if he had ended it with the cresendo performance of Empty Room it would have been satisfying enough to do so. The one thing that makes Empty Room performance a degree under Purple Rain, is the familiarity that Rain has over it..and that may be all. They have the same structure in quiet verse and raised chorus with epic geetar endings....not typical geetar endings but in these live performances, geetar endings that are better than many other artists career. They are that bold. I never really cared for Empty Room as much as other shave but this one shook me. Now if I ever hear him do it live, he needs to bring the pain as he did on this Montreux performance or I just will not be satisfied.

That version of Empty Room is amazing... there are points where he just goes full on in with I dont give a fugg what key I'm in cuz I'm so hurt/angry/frustrated emotionally. Notes are out, in, sharp, flat, it's a possession.

I was only upset that the camera man was zooming all over the damn place and missed some key shots, like when Prince apparently kicks over the mic stand in one final act of release. Don't they know when P gets into solo mode all eyes on P!

DarylB said: