If people are asked about their favorite live boot, the 1988 Small Club is almost always mentioned.

I wonder if the estate should release this officially? There are many boots of this show (with even further improved sound quality) circulating, but this is such a good aftershow, shouldn't it be officially released?

Or does the estate not have an official SoundBoard recording of this in the vault?

A nice mid-price double CD, in excellent sound? Could be marketed nicely "the legendary 1988 aftershow"? With some nice photos, I would buy it (even though I already have 2 CD boots...)

What do you think? Good idea or is the market saturated for this already (as most hardcore Prince fans have this...)

It should be officially out there. The problem is, every hardcore fan already has this in excellent quality, and they would be the main market. Morally, anyone with the bootleg should be buying it. But I think it needs to be packaged with something not widely available, maybe a collection of aftershows from that era, or an anthology of aftershows over the years.

I would buy this in a heartbeat.....

leecaldon said:

It should be officially out there. The problem is, every hardcore fan already has this in excellent quality, and they would be the main market. Morally, anyone with the bootleg should be buying it. But I think it needs to be packaged with something not widely available, maybe a collection of aftershows from that era, or an anthology of aftershows over the years.

excellent quality? not really. I listened to about 3 or 4 diferent bootlegs of this and its in need of a really professional mastering engineer. maybe there are even original tapes and you can mix it... the bass is hardly audible, background voices far too loud, drums clattering all around the room... it could get a LOT better. This could be a major relase, not only for hardcore fans. It's much much more interesting like let's say "Originals", "Piano + Microphone 1983" or "Welcome 2 America" which all were really big releases including huge marketing campaigns. You could do this easily with a proper version of this show. It's so good, like we all know!

[Edited 12/6/23 5:33am]

I think he should've released it years ago, thereby making the bootlegs worthless. but they never asked me.

A spruced-up release would be nice, but beyond the hardcore fans, I'm not sure who else would

want to listen to it. But they never asked me.

Maybe it would be good tucked into the Lovesexy SDE, with an Atmos mix and a blu ray of the show that was released on home video. But they never asked me.

There are very clear copies out there. But if a multi-track exists, and why wouldn't it, this is a PRIME opportunity to start a bootleg series from the estate. Start big. There are definitive shows to put out.

First Ave 83

First Ave 85 (Parade rehearsal)

First Ave 84 (birthday show)

First Ave 87

Trojan Horse

Any Lovesexy show (the Japan shows were nice; Nagoya, Sendai, Tokyo)

Parade - Paris @ Le Zenith

That 1980 NYC or Paris show

Brussells 1995 (the Hallowed B Thy Name bootleg)

Bagley's Sept 8, 1993 (Sacrifice of Victor bootleg)

Also, as a sidenote with DVDs: The VH1 Experience, including Love 4 One Another, and The Beautiful Experience.

Chas218 said:

I think he should've released it years ago, thereby making the bootlegs worthless. but they never asked me.

A spruced-up release would be nice, but beyond the hardcore fans, I'm not sure who else would

want to listen to it. But they never asked me.

Maybe it would be good tucked into the Lovesexy SDE, with an Atmos mix and a blu ray of the show that was released on home video. But they never asked me.

An Atmos mix would make this already excellent sounding bootleg into something else entirely. Totally belongs on the Lovesexy SDE we'll get someday, after all the "bigger" albums have been done.

PRNelson said:

Was there ever any information to suggest if this show was filmed? That would be wonderful.

Yes.

All the Trojan Horse boots come from a copy of the original cassette (or a copy of that copy etc.); we've never heard the first generation recording. The story of the origins of the recording are well-known and have been told in public in recent years (there's video of at least one such presentation), we even have a photo of the original tape.

.

It is unsure Paisley Park has a recording of that show, and since there were no reports of a recording truck outside I very much doubt there is a multi-track recording. As for video, from what I gather large sections of the show were done with minimal stage lights and thus a video recording would be mostly useless.

.

The London 1988 aftershow was (at least in part) professionally filmed (notice I said filmed, not videotaped) and we've seen clips of it in several documentaries.

.

this should be part of a lovesexy SDE

i dont think it should be separate

but a lovesexy SDE with this, a recording of a proper show, and outtakes, or rehearsals would be incredible.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

im prob in the minority with this opinion but after reading so much about this and how hyped it was, when i finally got it, i was a bit underwhelmed. def some highlights but as a whole, its not the mindblowing orgasmic experience i was expecting. but id be interested to see it released in better quality. the version i have is quite cleaned up, which is nice, but also kind of thin and a bit weedy sounding. id love highlights from the aftershows on this tour, like camden palace, this one, etc. but i doubt the estate would do curated highlights, they seem to favour full shows or nothing.

[Edited 12/7/23 9:50am]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

this should be part of a lovesexy SDE

i dont think it should be separate

but a lovesexy SDE with this, a recording of a proper show, and outtakes, or rehearsals would be incredible.

Having it as part of Lovesexy SDE would be good. I guess.

On the other hand, the sound quality on all versions of "Small Club" might not be perfect, but it's excellent, so I don't think it would make a huge difference to hear it on an official release. I mean, we probably wouldn't "rediscover" the recording. It wouldn't be a revelation or anything.

So my vote would go to another aftershow. Camden Palace or pretty much anything else, actually.

FrankieCoco1 said:

Isn’t there often some rights issue with the concert promoter/venue having some kind of ownership that, a) allows bootlegs to be released with no come back, or b) means the venue owns the sound and blocks or asks for extortionate amounts for it. Bizzie/ Bort or someone who knows this sort of thing would know for sure, and I’d be happy to be corrected if I’m wrong. The live shows I’d definitely like a proper release with background details, Atmos sound (if possible or a Chris James-type remaster), would include: 8 March 1982 First Avenue full show, including the The Time - https://princevault.com/i...March_1982 3 August 1983 First Avenue, i.e. Wendy’s first show and try outs of the Purple Rain songs - https://princevault.com/i...ugust_1983 1984 birthday show (7 June 1984) again at First Avenue - why not a First Avenue box set then? - https://princevault.com/i..._June_1984 Both the aftershows in London from August 1986, with Ronnie Wood and Sting guesting one night and Eric Clapton the next. U4 gig in Vienna, Austria in 1987, including the Madhouse set. Obviously the Trojan Horse set from 1988. Also from 1988, the Roseland Ballroom set, from 3 October 1988 - https://princevault.com/i...er_1988-am DNA Lounge from April 1993, Prince’s vocal even with a cold is so fine - https://princevault.com/i...il_1993-am That’ll do for next year’s releases in the first quarter! Then onto some unheard shows later in the year 🤞

one and the same

[Edited 12/8/23 0:45am]

Yes. Because the audio sounds like a good soundboard recording should. And the music ranges from B thru A to A*.

On a side note, why do the various D&P live vid recordings sound so bad? Like they're recorded in a swimming pool center, then thru a wall, b4 finally bouncing off the bottom of a rat infested sewer. Yet in spite of this fact some people are still like 'Alhamdulillah!', blown away by the quality?


It's also somewhat a surprise P rated Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic so much. Never a great song, he debuted it at the small club 88 concert and then decided to usher P fans into the new millennium with it opening the Rave album.

[Edited 12/8/23 2:35am]

fortuneandserendipity said:

Yes. Because the audio sounds like a good soundboard recording should. And the music ranges from B thru A to A*.

On a side note, why do the various D&P live vid recordings sound so bad? Like they're recorded in a swimming pool center, then thru a wall, b4 finally bouncing off the bottom of a rat infested sewer. Yet in spite of this fact some people are still like 'Alhamdulillah!', blown away by the quality?


It's also somewhat a surprise P rated Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic so much. Never a great song, he debuted it at the small club 88 concert and then decided to usher P fans into the new millennium with it opening the Rave album.

[Edited 12/8/23 2:35am]

I have to say, I love the studio version of Rave Un2.

fortuneandserendipity said:

Yes. Because the audio sounds like a good soundboard recording should. And the music ranges from B thru A to A*.

On a side note, why do the various D&P live vid recordings sound so bad? Like they're recorded in a swimming pool center, then thru a wall, b4 finally bouncing off the bottom of a rat infested sewer. Yet in spite of this fact some people are still like 'Alhamdulillah!', blown away by the quality?


It's also somewhat a surprise P rated Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic so much. Never a great song, he debuted it at the small club 88 concert and then decided to usher P fans into the new millennium with it opening the Rave album.

[Edited 12/8/23 2:35am]

in 88 i guess it was new so he thought it was good. he usually thought his latest stuff was the best stuff.

in 99, i wonder if there were certain things he just never let go of so thought they should finally get an outlet. like how he released a triple in 96 after being denied the chance in 87. then another, with crystal ball (and same title even). and then how he was talking about releasing roadhouse garden too. it was like 'ha! now i can do all the things i couldnt do as WB wouldnt let me release more than one album per year'. maybe he was pissed that he had to do/felt he had to do the batman OST instead of the rave album.

leecaldon said:

fortuneandserendipity said:

Yes. Because the audio sounds like a good soundboard recording should. And the music ranges from B thru A to A*.

On a side note, why do the various D&P live vid recordings sound so bad? Like they're recorded in a swimming pool center, then thru a wall, b4 finally bouncing off the bottom of a rat infested sewer. Yet in spite of this fact some people are still like 'Alhamdulillah!', blown away by the quality?


It's also somewhat a surprise P rated Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic so much. Never a great song, he debuted it at the small club 88 concert and then decided to usher P fans into the new millennium with it opening the Rave album.

[Edited 12/8/23 2:35am]

I have to say, I love the studio version of Rave Un2.

If I had to guess, Prince came up with the the song title of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic first, then kinda shoehorned a song into the title. He might have just been enamored with the title as it's reverential.

A few other artists (Lenny Kravitz and Ben Harper come to mind) do this quite a bit . . . come up with catchy song titles but somewhat trite lyrics. Sloganeering.

Would love for there to be a series of Aftershow releases and/or Paisley Park performance releases, just amazing stuff that really seperated Prince from all others, and cemented his legacy as an amazing performer.

Small Club would be fantastic, if video exists, even better.

The aftershow at Camden, I know video exists for this, seen some of it, would love to see all of it, since some of my favorite Prince moments are him playing "Just My Imagination" / "Noon Rendezvous"

Then the Paisley Park shows in 95', just amazing, and on and on we could go.

years ago, id have also been in the 'people just dont know what prince could do as a musician!' and think 'you need to listen to this snippet from the camden 88 show to know!' but after the george harrison RRHOF performance which most ppl are familiar with now, i think ppl know now.

to hear him in a relaxed setting though would be a bit diff, but were only JUST starting to get out releases of prince as a live performer on the SDEs (and the 84 tour, separately). itd be great to get some better shows released from the other tours. i mean, for me, the dortmund 88 show when i first had it and played it to death, blew my mind. more than the small club bootleg tbh. hopefully one day the estate will do a good program of live shows and include some aftershows on there. but i think i might prefer some aftershow highlights tbh. i really enjoyed seeing him do the london hippodrome in 97 or 98 for instance, but do i wanna hear the whole thing regularly? idk. they were really loose and informal things. but thats just my own personal prefernce these days where i have less time and prefer listening to stuff where i know its gonna be tight.

It would be nice, but there are so many more things in the vault I'd rather hear first.

They're sitting on Evolsidog!

I never understood how folks wish for an official release of readily availlable material. You already have it!

There's a vault (allegedly) full of stuff we all never even imagined, and we're running out of time.

psyche2 said:

psyche2 said:

I never understood how folks wish for an official release of readily availlable material. You already have it!

There's a vault (allegedly) full of stuff we all never even imagined, and we're running out of time.

It doesn't mean it's not a viable option for official release. We have substandard quality items. The estate likely has the original recordings. (eg: Syracuse).

It's fine to release more than 2 things a year. They've missed an opportunity to release a Piano and a Microphone series. Doesn't have to be forever, but a trilogy would be fun. Or 5 albums worth.

Same for live stuff. There are some popular and classic shows bootlegged that we could easily have and they'd clean up a bootleg market. Make it a Prince: On The Mic, On The Stage series. Anything would be nice.

HOwever, that said we are getting live stuff. There's Syracuse, plus videos for the Glam Slam Show for D&P, a 1999-era DVD. They really missed releasing the Ultrecht DVD with SOTT. The NYE show is fine and all, but why not release a real SOTT show that had full staging separately (but at the same time), and put the Ultrecht show in SOTT? Who the hell knows at this point.

I'm just waiting on Parade SDE. AND speaking of that, I almost suspect they could - and they probably won't - do a Revolution series. The Purple Rain remaster (proper) seems inevitable next year, then ATWIAD and Parade after. Boom, boom, boom. 18 month campaign starting next spring, get 'er done. We know there are some Parade era shows that could be put on either of the latter two disks, OR if there's good footage of the First Ave '85 show for ATWIAD, then something like Paris for Parade (because - that's where IGBABN was recorded - makes 110% sense).

TrivialPursuit said:

psyche2 said:

I never understood how folks wish for an official release of readily availlable material. You already have it!

There's a vault (allegedly) full of stuff we all never even imagined, and we're running out of time.

It doesn't mean it's not a viable option for official release. We have substandard quality items. The estate likely has the original recordings. (eg: Syracuse).

It's fine to release more than 2 things a year. They've missed an opportunity to release a Piano and a Microphone series. Doesn't have to be forever, but a trilogy would be fun. Or 5 albums worth.

Same for live stuff. There are some popular and classic shows bootlegged that we could easily have and they'd clean up a bootleg market. Make it a Prince: On The Mic, On The Stage series. Anything would be nice.

HOwever, that said we are getting live stuff. There's Syracuse, plus videos for the Glam Slam Show for D&P, a 1999-era DVD. They really missed releasing the Ultrecht DVD with SOTT. The NYE show is fine and all, but why not release a real SOTT show that had full staging separately (but at the same time), and put the Ultrecht show in SOTT? Who the hell knows at this point.

I'm just waiting on Parade SDE. AND speaking of that, I almost suspect they could - and they probably won't - do a Revolution series. The Purple Rain remaster (proper) seems inevitable next year, then ATWIAD and Parade after. Boom, boom, boom. 18 month campaign starting next spring, get 'er done. We know there are some Parade era shows that could be put on either of the latter two disks, OR if there's good footage of the First Ave '85 show for ATWIAD, then something like Paris for Parade (because - that's where IGBABN was recorded - makes 110% sense).

The 86 Paris Zenith show is a must! Video snippets of the show are going aroound for years so it was proshot filmed plus Prince announcing during the show that it's being recorded for release.

I truly hope for First Avenue 83 video on the Purple Rain SDE and First Avenue 84 as a standalone bluray