Eye Records 2 CD Label : “Eye” Records Catalogue : #03-04 2Disc Length : 79:18 / 79:00 Source : Audience Recordings Sound Quality : EX Year Of Release : 2007 |
Comments
Fink's
Comments (rates this release 4.75/5.0)
One look at the set-list may suggest yet another run-of-the-mill Las Vegas
routine, however don’t be fooled – this is one of the better performances from
any of the 2006 shows. The performance is matched by the quality of the
recording and it contains far more depth than NPG’s ‘3121 Las Vegas Vol. 1’
release. The audience are more vocal and audible on this recording than the
previous weekend which is no bad thing as they do not detract from the recording
in any way. This is only the second weekend of Club 3121 Las Vegas and it’s
obvious Prince is still experimenting with the set-list as he makes numerous
changes from the previous weekend. The show begins with the “tribute” recorded
for Prince and the acceptance speech made by Prince at the UK Music Hall Of Fame
the Tuesday previous to this concert (14th November) followed by a lengthy (too
lengthy) “thunderstorm” intro before the show begins with ‘3121’ followed
(unusually) by ‘Get On The Boat’ which flows into a jam containing the usual
portion of ‘Love Rollercoaster’ (and a tiny vocal snippet of ‘Fire’ – 2 Ohio
Players tracks back-to-back). The Las Vegas boredom sets in with the deadly trio
of ‘Lolita / Black Sweat / Kiss’. ‘Black Sweat’ begins with a funky, lengthy
keyboard intro and has Prince adding a line from ‘The Message’ by Grandmaster
Flash, “Don’t push me cuz I’m close to the edge” has become, “Don’t push me cuz
I’m close to yo’ mom” – cute. Unfortunately the remainder of the shows
mid-section has pretty much Prince on autopilot.
The show really gets going once again when the loop for ‘Forever In My Life’
begins and Prince sets himself down at the keyboard for a fantastic version,
along with ‘Everyday People’ and ‘Adore’ in quick succession.
‘Anotherloverholenyohead’ picks up the pace of the show once again (after the
slightly subdued ‘Adore’) and closes with a stunning, extended, ferocious guitar
climax. The show is brought to an end with ‘All The Critics Love U In Las Vegas’
which is approx 7:30(ish) and has Mike Phillips and his vocoder adding various
vocals snippets from ‘One Nation Under A Groove’ amongst others – considering
the excellent show which proceeded it, it comes as something of an anti-climax
(for me). Disc 2 also includes around 50 minutes from the previous nights
concert which again is a very similar recording to the 19th November (am)
audience recording – in fact it benefits from having slightly more “bite” to it.
One downside to this is the slightly increased audience level, and during the
extended ‘One Kiss At A Time / Heaven Must Be Like This’ an obnoxious (and I
presume drunk) bitch screams obscenities such as “Play Little Red
Cor-fucking-vette”, “I think he should play it” and “I’m from the 80’s – he has
to do it” – I’m amazed the person recording (who sounds close) didn’t ram his
recorder up her fishbox to shut her up. Moving on. ‘Sexy Dancer’ is nothing more
than a brief instrumental portion with Prince repeating “Sexy Dancer” over
guitar flourishes from the song – can hardly be classed as a performance of the
track.
This show also includes a great version of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ which
evolves into The Beatles ‘Come Together’ before ‘3121’ (strangely the first time
the track was played at Club 3121) closes the show on a real high. My complaint
about this (and the other volumes) is that the tracks are indexed separately
when they really don’t need to be – having “Musicology (Including Tighten Up)”
would have been far more appropriate, and why ‘3121’ has been split into two
tracks on the 18th November (am) show is beyond comprehension. The packaging
differs slightly to the other two volumes as it is a quad fold-out “poster”
(their term, not mine) as opposed to a booklet. Overall an impressive document
of the second weekend of Club 3121 with a number of rare inclusions sitting
alongside the regular tracks, all presented in excellent quality.