just heard anotheer exc version..... richnmond 2000

Milan 2010. The best.

rdhull said:

Yup, Milan was special! Was there, great show!

I like the Milan 2010 version,

Syracuse 1985 is beautiful,

and I really like the one he did in Montreux (2009 ? ) where he started with the singalong part first (that is usually at the end).

The version during the Diamonds and Pearls tour was also very beautiful.

This is a song that I never get tired of.

Its such a shame...its such a shame"-Purple Rain (Milan 2010)

[Edited 11/19/18 20:15pm]

I like the one on the album. I do like the short energy driven versions on the Arsenio Hall Show and the Lovesexy broadcast live show (Although, those are short versions.).

I Freakin love the August 1983 version with all its distortions

But the 1985 American Music Awards show was bad assed

rdhull said:

Its such a shame...its such a shame"-Purple Rain (Milan 2010)

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.

fer sure...something got in him that night and he felt it like he hadn't in a long time. he was on some other world shit.

Superbowl halftime.

Dallas, Reunion Arena 12/31/84

- AMA's 1985. Maybe the best ever, the vocals are even better than 8/3/1983

- Montreux 2009. Gorgeous version.

- Milan 2010. Best post-1980s' version for sure. Soaring, transcendent, otherworldly.

- Chicago 9/25/2012. Not as long as some others but Prince plays some absolutely beautiful, fluid licks in the climactic solo that really moved me.

August 18, 1986 / Ahoy, Rotterdam (Parade Tour)

rdhull said:

Milan 2010. The best.

I miss that vid on YT.

Marrk said:

rdhull said:

Milan 2010. The best.

I miss that vid on YT.

Theres one with another angle up there, they changed the year to 2011 tho

Wlcm2thdwn3 said:

Superbowl halftime.

Yes.