Indigo Chronicles Chapter 5, The 3CD

Sabotage Catalog # SAB 344-345-346 Release Year 2008   2CD Length 74:45 / 79:55 / 79:08 Date/Venue IndigoO2 13th, 14th &17th Sept. 2008 Source Audience Recordings Quality EX

Rating 5.0/5.0

Track Listing
Disc 1
3121 Aftershow - IndigO2, The O2, London : 14th September 2007 (am) (Part 1)
1. THE DANCE (INSTRUMENTAL) 2. AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY 3. BEAUTIFUL STRANGE 4. WHOLE LOTTA LOVE 5. PAISLEY PARK (INSTRUMENTAL) 6. PARTYUP 7. ROCK STEADY 8. 7 9. COME TOGETHER (Including HOUSEQUAKE) 10. WHO IS HE (AND WHAT IS HE TO YOU)

Disc 2
3121 Aftershow - IndigO2, The O2, London : 17th September 2007 (am) (Part 1)
1. THANK YOU FOR TALKING TO ME AFRICA 2. 3121 (Including ALEXANDER'S RAGTIME BAND - MUSIC! MUSIC! MUSIC! - THE ENTERTAINER) - D.M.S.R. 3. GIRLS AND BOYS - DELIRIOUS - THE SONG OF THE HEART 4. SATISFIED - BLUES (BEGGING WOMAN) 5. LOLITA 6. BLACK SWEAT 7. IT'S ECSTASY WHEN YOU LAY DOWN NEXT TO ME - BE HAPPY - YOU BRING ME JOY (Including TOM'S DINER) 8. SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW (INSTRUMENTAL) - NINE MILLION BICYCLES 9. GOTTA BROKEN HEART AGAIN

Disc 3
3121 Aftershow - IndigO2, The O2, London : 14th September 2007 (am) (Part 2)
1. THE QUESTION OF U (INSTRUMENTAL) (Including THE ONE - FALLIN') 2. MISTY BLUE 3. BABY I LOVE YOU 4. WHAT YOU NEED 5. MUSICOLOGY (Including PRINCE AND THE BAND)
3121 Aftershow - IndigO2, The O2, London : 17th September 2007 (am) (Part 2)
6. SING A SIMPLE SONG 7. EVERYDAY PEOPLE
3121 Aftershow - IndigO2, The O2, London : 13th September 2007 (am) (Raiyne) (Highlights)
8. FUNKIN' FOR JAMAICA (Including MISS YOU) 9. HIGHER GROUND)

Comments
Fink's Comments(rates this release 5.0/5.0)
Concentrating on the Prince aftershows from 14th (am) & 17th (am) with a little smattering of the 13th (am) September Raiyne aftershow, this is another stunning release from Sabotage in their "The Indigo Chronicles" box set. Opening with the fantastic 14th (am) September show, the quality of the recording is superb. It has a more audible crowd level than the O2verload release (listed HERE), but has none of the glitches which affected the O2verload release - the end result simply being a better recording.

The downside to this is the crowd can be heard chatting in the background in places - nothing major, but when Prince is mid-solo on 'Whole Lotta Love' and people are talking in your earhole, it's slightly pisses you off. Our chattering friends aside (and a few "wooh" or "aiiieeee" screams throughout), there's little to be critical of regarding the recording as it has zero noticeable flaws and nice depth and solidity (yeah, I said it). The show itself is a phenomenal aftershow and one of the best from the London residency with an opening 50 minutes (from the beautiful 'The Dance' through to the frantic 'Rock Steady') which never lets up and ranks as one of the best song sequences I've had the pleasure of hearing (you can guess I dig this show, right?).

Rarities in the form of 'Around The World In A Day', 'Beautiful Strange', 'Paisley Park' and 'Partyup' are nestled alongside more regular inclusions such as 'Whole Lotta Love', '7' and 'Come Together' with Prince in fine form throughout. The second half of the show can be found on Disc 3 and whilst it doesn't match the dizzying heights of excellence of the first half of the show, it's still a beauty. Shelby takes over main vocals for 'Misty Blue' before Prince, Shelby and Marva duet alone with an extremely rare performance of Aretha Franklin's 'Baby I Love You'. The funk returns in the form of a cover of INXS 'What You Need' before the show is brought to a close with a lengthy 18+ minute 'Musicology'. The crowd noise slightly increases towards the end of 'Musicology' with a few whistles, screams and handclapping (not in time with the music, I may add), but I only mention it as the rest of the recording is so excellent - normally I wouldn't comment on it as it's minor. Disc 2 contains the majority of the 17th (am) September aftershow and again is a rather sexy recording - perhaps not as sexy overall, but still worthy of great praise. Superior to the O2verload release (listed HERE), the recording is a little harsh to begin with and the opening 'Thank You For Talking To Me Africa' also has some slight movement. Rather annoyingly there is also some audience tambourine noise and talking throughout the opening few minutes which thankfully subsides quickly - and while we are on the subject of the opening few minutes, the roar which greets Prince's arrival onstage is deafening and I'd advise anyone listening to turn the volume down as it's ear-shattering for 30 seconds.

Other than this my only other gripe is a dude singing/shouting along to 'Lolita' and 'Black Sweat' - that said, it's more humorous than annoying. The remainder of the recording is of an extremely high quality and the 'You Bring Me Joy' - 'Nine Million Bicycles' - 'Gotta Broken Heart Again' portion of the show is particularly impressive. Content-wise it's another one of the better aftershows and another spirited performance above the norm. The opening hypnotic groove of 'Thank You For Talking To Me Africa' gives way to a a pounding '3121' with Prince dropping the first verse and chorus of 'D.M.S.R.' in prior returning to the second verse of '3121'. A far lengthier portion than normal of 'The Song Of The Heart' is added to an enjoyable enough 'Girls And Boys' which is followed by the excellent seemingly-made up "I used to be like you" speech added to 'Satisfied'. Our drunken dude friend then lightens what would have been an otherwise staid performance of both 'Lolita' and 'Black Sweat' (complete with a rare-ish appearance by The Twinz during an aftershow). 'Nine Million Bicycles' is always a pleasure to hear live and is sandwiched into an instrumental 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' played by Renato. The show concludes on Disc 3 with two Sly covers, 'Sing A Simple Song' and 'Everyday People' - normally these are tired, lifeless old jams, but props to the bass on 'Sing A Simple Song' and a nod goes out to Prince's wandering guitar on 'Everyday People'. Disc 3 ends with 2 tracks from Raiyne's performance at the 3121 Aftershow on 13th (am) September - zero Prince involvement, but a decent recording.

Overall I enjoy this release immensely due to both the extremely high quality of the recordings, and the fact these are amongst the best aftershows of the London stay and really can't find fault other than the minor points I have made reference to already. Added to the shows and the recordings excellence is the extremely professional artwork and packaging which once again shows Sabotage to be more than capable of releasing a product which is second to none. Quite simply, a stunning release.

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