Germanegro said:

DEPENDS.

I prefer studio Prince.

I do enjoy soundboard recordings of concerts, though.

"Live" Prince comes out swinging with hits and new material, but then the 1/2 half of the show devolves into Sly Stone and MJ covers. Oversimplification, but I don't always want to hear those other songs.

"Studio" Prince . . . the last handful of albums has been hit-or-miss with lyrics, but musically they're still pretty interesting. I like the idea of Prince tinkering in the studio adding little bits. In the Paisley Park tour, they play different versions of Rock And Roll Love Affiar . . . from concept through to final release. Each version was interesting and could have been released as-is!

Se7en said:

Always.

KoolEaze said:

It depends on the song , and sometimes on the band, too.

Some songs sound better as a studio version, for example When Doves Cry, some songs sound better live, and some sound best as a rehearsal version, for example Noon Rendezvous. And some songs sound great in any version, for example Somethign in the Water.

It all depends and it´s all very relative and subjective.

Agreed.

In general, studio is my preference. Every once in a while there's a song that doesn't really have a great studio version, but seems to work best in live performance (Days of Wild is one example that comes to mind), but those are the exception. Live Prince is great, and I enjoy having such a large collection of live recordings and videos--but the core for me is the studio work.

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The only live recordings i heard over and over are :

"Paard Van Troje''

and of course

"It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night'' from SOTT,

And that's about it tbh.

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Vannormal said:

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The only live recordings i heard over and over are :

"Paard Van Troje''

and of course

"It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night'' from SOTT,

And that's about it tbh.

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I mean, technically "I Would Die 4 U," "Baby I'm A Star," "Nothing Compares 2 U," and "Purple Rain" are live recordings, in addition to the aforementioned IGBABN.

Speaking of "Adore," has anyone ever heard the beginning without the audience from IGBABN segued into it?

Some live versions end up being a lot better than studio ("Fury" and "Days of Wild", for example), but I usually listen mostly studio, because Live concerts have tons of hits and medleys, and although I love them, lots of times they are edited (Prince only played a long version of Little Red Corvette in the 2000s, as far as I know).

.

Having said that, I love aftershows and different concerts like Montreux 2009 and the mid 90s non-hits era.

[Edited 8/12/21 22:13pm]

When the music in question has been produced in a manner I don't like, I prefer the live versions of ELUBEDTUA (from raveun2thejoyfantastic) or When eye Lay My Hands on U. Studio works normally have more development and layers than a live version. Sometimes I like the "hits" live-just to get a different version of the songs.

[Edited 8/12/21 22:57pm]

[Edited 8/12/21 22:58pm]

TrivialPursuit said:

Vannormal said:

-

The only live recordings i heard over and over are :

"Paard Van Troje''

and of course

"It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night'' from SOTT,

And that's about it tbh.

-

I mean, technically "I Would Die 4 U," "Baby I'm A Star," "Nothing Compares 2 U," and "Purple Rain" are live recordings, in addition to the aforementioned IGBABN.

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Technically.

But we al only know them as album versions, redone, changed, added and re arranged for the PR album. So absolutely not live versions to me.

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The live Prince ifrom 2007 onwards was not so interesting (in general) but still enjoyable in the normal concerts.

His aftershows of the same period could be better.

udo said:

The live Prince ifrom 2007 onwards was not so interesting (in general) but still enjoyable in the normal concerts.

His aftershows of the same period could be better.

Both 2009 Montreux shows and the Live Out Loud Tour shows where brilliant.

kewlschool said:

udo said:

The live Prince ifrom 2007 onwards was not so interesting (in general) but still enjoyable in the normal concerts.

His aftershows of the same period could be better.

Both 2009 Montreux shows and the Live Out Loud Tour shows where brilliant.

.

I guess you did not actually visit Montreux.

You forgot about the similar sets?

Later I had other things happending...

Yes.

udo said:

kewlschool said:

Both 2009 Montreux shows and the Live Out Loud Tour shows where brilliant.

.

I guess you did not actually visit Montreux.

You forgot about the similar sets?

Later I had other things happending...

So, your complaint is that both Montreux shows had similar set lists? Similar set list but both very good. Nobody told you that each show was going to be different. And most acts do the same show night after night when on tour. Prince normally mixed his set list up a bit.

It depends on the gig. I tend to care less for his later live stuff. Musicology might have been the last live stuff I general prefer to the studio stuff. Emancipation tour shows were pretty meh to me, though the aftershow I saw was amazing.

kewlschool said:

udo said:

.

I guess you did not actually visit Montreux.

You forgot about the similar sets?

Later I had other things happending...

So, your complaint is that both Montreux shows had similar set lists? Similar set list but both very good. Nobody told you that each show was going to be different.

.

So?

What is the agument here?

.

And most acts do the same show night after night when on tour. Prince normally mixed his set list up a bit.

.

Whatever the rest of the world does, does not have to have meaning for whatever I should do.

It just seems a bit captious.

udo said:

kewlschool said:

.

So?

What is the agument here?

.

And most acts do the same show night after night when on tour. Prince normally mixed his set list up a bit.

.

Whatever the rest of the world does, does not have to have meaning for whatever I should do.

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I have to say, lately i listened to his pre 1989 concerts again.

Because i dug out the City Lights CD box once more.

I have so much bootlegs, like most of us, remained untouched after all these years.

So I'm planning to go through them and get rid of most.

(My future is now focused on less instead of overload of untouched stuff.)

That got me listening to live performances of his first tour up to some Lovesexy concerts (& aftershows).

Honestly. Nothing compares to the young Prince Live !

Nothing !

He was so fierce and full of unpredictable energy. Truely and rightfully uncomparable!

And i now come to understand why the whole Purple Rain Tour was actually very difficult to digest.

The screaming girls, the incoherent setlist, the loads of stop and go moments, directionless, (too long?) Purple rain solo's, too many musicians on stage, etc. It even sounded messy at some point, but likable messy.

Still, he is such a outstanding performer, dancer performer whatever.

And for that we need to see the live shows.

And he all fully unfolded that limitless talent in up to those famous 1984-85 top-star-period and fame.

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Thanks to this subject i finally got to listen to Prince's live music again.

Even watched two shows on video (youtube is such a great help these days).

And I'm enjoying it.

Let's hope i can keep up till the late 2010's. There's along winter ahead.

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Studio preferred. Lots of cool live stuff though

i prefer threads that arent pulled becasue rare videos r discussed

There was an energy in his live gigs that never quite translated into the respective recordings... I attended 11 shows (1990-2014), two of them aftershows, and they were just transcendent, they reached a whole other level. Hard to put in words. The odd bootleg gives us a glimpse...

So yes, live Prince anytime. IMHO he tended to become too much of a perfectionist in the studio (especially post-WB) and squeeze the "punch" out of the songs...