This is one of my all time favourite after show gigs. Did anyone on here go to it?
Filmed at Café De Paris, London on 28 August, 1998. This was shown on TV years ago, as a proper programme (so not a bootleg) Was when Mel B. interviewed him for the channel 4 "Beautiful Strange" night.
Would love it to come out on DVD.

[Snip - luv4u]

Do I see bootlegs?

udo said:

Do I see bootlegs?

They accidentally missed the HUGE BOLD HIGHLIGHTED text that reads: "Posting Prince and associated artist videos from sites such as YouTube is also not allowed. Posts of this nature will be deleted and repeat offenders will be first warned, and then banned."

With that said, I'll take posts like this over the shit we see posted in the Prince Music and More forum multiple times a day. Some nonsense about someone Prince might have dated, or the asinine belief that Jay Z owns Prince's masters. Or that Prince looked sad, old, downward spiral, can someone post footage of Prince's dead body being put in an ambulance, or that Mayte is too emotional or not emotional enough, or that Sheila is trying to profit off of Prince's death, etc. You know. The constant absolute horseshit that you'd expect to see on a site like the National Enquirer, rather than talking about what brought at least some of us here in the first place -- his music.

Amazing, if you like Larry, Chaka, Doug E and all that.

[Edited 7/1/16 3:17am]

suomynona said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

Amazing, if you like Larry, Chaka, Doug E and all that.

[Edited 7/1/16 3:17am]

I know right?. I still have it on VHS and got it on CD by Moonraker i think. Never watched it that often.

Larry Graham really rocks at 27:05...

[Edited 7/1/16 5:40am]

I have this on a CD somewhere. NEver new it was filmed. Cool.

4everinmylife said:

This is one of my all time favourite after show gigs.

Favourite aftershow, really ? It seems that you don't hear a lot aftershows, am i wrong ?

God damn that looked like fun.

TheDigitalGardener said:

Amazing, if you like Larry, Chaka, Doug E and all that.

[Edited 7/1/16 3:17am]

Those are my thoughts as well.

2olskool4u said:

It wasnt an aftershow, i got offered tickets but couldnt do it (regret the decision now) i saw him the night after at Brixton (London)

This. Invitation only afaik.

jdcxc said:

Jam of the Year was a truly magical tour...great memories. I prefer the raw, non-pro footage I have seen of this tour. The Vegas version of Face Down is crazy funky...and the move he does with bass between the legs is so physically daring.

This gig was from the US/European club tour did after JOTY had ended.

TheDigitalGardener said:

Marrk said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

Amazing, if you like Larry, Chaka, Doug E and all that.

[Edited 7/1/16 3:17am]

I know right?. I still have it on VHS and got it on CD by Moonraker i think. Never watched it that often.

Yeah that!

If you like Prince not hogging the mic at an aftershow...I suggest "The Sacrifice of Victor"

2olskool4u said:

I dig this show for a few reasons.

The energy is amazing and the funk was thick. The slow numbers and guuest spots don't drag the show to a stop for once. The rap parts are good, even though Doug E. Fresh's voice cracks a lot. There's no hits and the set list is modern and fresh for once.

And I really think it shows how much the NPS material and Larry Graham get unrightly shit upon. Why Prince had such a hard time capturing that live sound on his recordings is still beyond my comprehension (I'm looking at you, "Fury"). Larry is great throughout and you can really feel that bottom end the band brings, especially in "Come On" and "Mad".

I love the drummer up on the balcony too. Took me forever to realize he was up there. Who was it? John Blackwell? Mike B?

This thing crams more into 45 minutes than most modern artists can pull off in two hours. You get to see Prince noodling around on keyboards, busting out the axe, pulling cool moves and delivering really great vocals. Creating space and letting the funk breathe. The sound was really good too and it was shot better than Live at the Alladin, whcih isn't saying much, I know, but they managed to capture the crowd and the different viewing angles and sight lines which really made you feel like you were there. Everyone is smiling, including Prince.

Only thing that bugged me sometimes was the lighting, or lack of it. But that shit looked and sounded like a real party.

I also love Prince's playful banter with the audience and Doug E, watching him subtly call out time changes with the band and things like motioning to the sound guy to turn him up. 'I read the papers today. they said I had gone MAD....Aww....must be CRAZY". "NPG, I aint feeling that. Give me the loop one mo time...2, 3, 4...drop it!" "Doug E Fresh said 'what DJ?'..."

So much great shit up on YouTube ot watch now. Thank god. If there's a silver lining to his death it's that now, finally, the music really is free. I get lost for hours at least once a week watching this guy.

2olskool4u said:

2olskool4u said:

Sorry, dont understand? Are you saying i couldnt?

Cafe de paris was not an aftershow, it was just a one off, and tickets were not advertised for general release, i guess these were invite only possibly, i will re-phrase, i was 'invited' to attend, long story but was from promoters as far as i know

Yes, that's what I meant.

I was at that show. I'm down the front slighty to the right. It was fun, but, like the Sacrifce of Victor show (I went to that too), I don't enjoy them as much when Prince wants to 'share the talent'.

I was there that night. Prince performed at the Hippodrome the night b4 then Cafe De Paris and Brixton Academy the last night. It was a full show that was edited down to the Beautiful Strange video with Mel B and aired on C4 In the uk. I was at the front and managed to grab Prince during the "are u gonna catch me" stage dive. Lots of celebs at the gig too. I remember Natalie Imbruglia giving us the two finger slute just 4 looking up at her. well she's done well 4 herself hasn't she As always it seemed 2 take ages 4 Prince 2 take 2 the stage. And when he did the atmosphere was maybe not as charged as it could have been ?? as Prince states "who died". (That drew some laughs) so we do get in2 the gig nice 2 see chaka and Doud E fresh .

herb4 said:

I love the drummer up on the balcony too. Took me forever to realize he was up there. Who was it? John Blackwell? Mike B?

A young Kirk I think?
There is a keyboard player I don't recognise at all though...

Noodled24 said:

herb4 said:

I love the drummer up on the balcony too. Took me forever to realize he was up there. Who was it? John Blackwell? Mike B?

A young Kirk I think?
There is a keyboard player I don't recognise at all though...

Yes, it's Kirk, the keyboard player is Morris Hayes.

TheDigitalGardener said:

Noodled24 said:

A young Kirk I think?
There is a keyboard player I don't recognise at all though...

Yes, it's Kirk, the keyboard player is Morris Hayes.

Morris is there of course. There is a second keyboard player; white guy with a moustache. I think Prince mentions bringing up a couple of friends on Keyboards and Horns but I don't know who they are.

I was there, front row to the right, and actually managed to feature on a 3-second close-up on the video for "Come On"

Some details on how the gig came to be... It was a secret gig, announced via internet to the subscribers of the Paisley Park Mailing List as "a surprise", no details at all... Prince was in town but only 2 official gigs were confirmed (Wembley and Brixton), so we had a hunch on what the surprise might be... On this email we were invited to send our postal address to an email address if we lived in London (which I did at the time). Two days later I got a letter saying somthing like: "Secret gig supporting Love4oneanother Charity + TV special shooting. Call this number from tomorrow 9AM to buy tickets, max 2".

The day after, at 9AM I began re-dialling the number literally over a hundred times in a row until I got through, maybe an hour later... The gentleman asked me to answer a random question regarding some detail of the letter's content, to ensure I did indeed have it. I got the two tickets and called my best mate, we were on!

Day of the gig, we queued up at the artists entrance of Cafe de Paris. We had to sign authorisations to be featured in the video footage. We made new friends and traded tapes of "The War", the hot product at the time.

The gig was good, not as wild and funky as the aftershow the day before at the Hippodrome. The fact that it was being made into a TV special smoothed out the edges, I think... Personally the thrill was mostly being able to watch Prince play for two hours close to arms length, watching every detail...

I don't recall a second keyboard player, but maybe it was Jerry Martini from Graham Central Station? He was definitely around as a horn player, maybe he doubled as a keyboardist?

hyperpessimist said:

I was there, front row to the right, and actually managed to feature on a 3-second close-up on the video for "Come On"

Some details on how the gig came to be... It was a secret gig, announced via internet to the subscribers of the Paisley Park Mailing List as "a surprise", no details at all... Prince was in town but only 2 official gigs were confirmed (Wembley and Brixton), so we had a hunch on what the surprise might be... On this email we were invited to send our postal address to an email address if we lived in London (which I did at the time). Two days later I got a letter saying somthing like: "Secret gig supporting Love4oneanother Charity + TV special shooting. Call this number from tomorrow 9AM to buy tickets, max 2".

The day after, at 9AM I began re-dialling the number literally over a hundred times in a row until I got through, maybe an hour later... The gentleman asked me to answer a random question regarding some detail of the letter's content, to ensure I did indeed have it. I got the two tickets and called my best mate, we were on!

Day of the gig, we queued up at the artists entrance of Cafe de Paris. We had to sign authorisations to be featured in the video footage. We made new friends and traded tapes of "The War", the hot product at the time.

The gig was good, not as wild and funky as the aftershow the day before at the Hippodrome. The fact that it was being made into a TV special smoothed out the edges, I think... Personally the thrill was mostly being able to watch Prince play for two hours close to arms length, watching every detail...

I don't recall a second keyboard player, but maybe it was Jerry Martini from Graham Central Station? He was definitely around as a horn player, maybe he doubled as a keyboardist?

That's him.

hyperpessimist said:

BillieBalloon said:

hyperpessimist said:

I was there, front row to the right, and actually managed to feature on a 3-second close-up on the video for "Come On"

Some details on how the gig came to be... It was a secret gig, announced via internet to the subscribers of the Paisley Park Mailing List as "a surprise", no details at all... Prince was in town but only 2 official gigs were confirmed (Wembley and Brixton), so we had a hunch on what the surprise might be... On this email we were invited to send our postal address to an email address if we lived in London (which I did at the time). Two days later I got a letter saying somthing like: "Secret gig supporting Love4oneanother Charity + TV special shooting. Call this number from tomorrow 9AM to buy tickets, max 2".

The day after, at 9AM I began re-dialling the number literally over a hundred times in a row until I got through, maybe an hour later... The gentleman asked me to answer a random question regarding some detail of the letter's content, to ensure I did indeed have it. I got the two tickets and called my best mate, we were on!

Day of the gig, we queued up at the artists entrance of Cafe de Paris. We had to sign authorisations to be featured in the video footage. We made new friends and traded tapes of "The War", the hot product at the time.

The gig was good, not as wild and funky as the aftershow the day before at the Hippodrome. The fact that it was being made into a TV special smoothed out the edges, I think... Personally the thrill was mostly being able to watch Prince play for two hours close to arms length, watching every detail...

I don't recall a second keyboard player, but maybe it was Jerry Martini from Graham Central Station? He was definitely around as a horn player, maybe he doubled as a keyboardist?

Two days later you got a letter through the post. Thanks for sharing your info but just one thing, it seems like if you didn't live in London you couldn't go? Was that a requirement?

No, I know a Scottish guy who was at the show. No idea how he got a ticket though.