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Moonraker Catalog # 057/58 Release Year 1996 2CD Length 53:58 | 51:28 Date/Venue Hawaii 2/19/1996 Source Audience Quality VG+ / EX- |
Fink's
Comments (rates this release 3.25/5.0)
By no means a classic concert, this is still a very enjoyable
show from Prince's short 3 date mini-tour of Hawaii in 1996 a few days after his
marriage to Mayte. The show is in a similar vein to the January 1996 Japanese
leg of the Gold/Ultimate Live Experience with a few slight set list changes. '
Sometimes It Snows In April' has been added as has 'Take Me With U' and the Gold
Experience tracks are played in much more abridged, shorter versions. The
version of 'Purple Medley' performed is bizarre and flows directly in to 'Purple
Rain' which is amongst the worst, least inspired I've heard played - no matter
the rarity of the performance at this stage of Prince's "non-Prince" career. The
show closes with '7', but doesn't include the usual oriental intro normally
proceeding the song.
The show is noteworthy for the fact this was the last concert where Prince's
band included the fantastic "Paisley Trio" of Michael Bland, Sonny Thompson and
Tommy Barbarella - the end of an era. The quality of the recording is slightly
thin and lacks much depth or substance. The crowd are audible throughout, but at
no point do they distract from the concert and are not detrimental to the
recording. There appears to be a little distortion towards the end of 'The
Ride', but it is very minimal and hardly worthy of mention.
The accompanying packaging and artwork utilise the wedding program which was
posted on-line days before the Hawaiian shows and is visually stunning, although
lacking any real info. A decent release? Absolutely. An essential release? I'd
say not.