4 CD
Label : “Eye” Records
Catalogue : #07-08-09-10
4Disc Length : 73:07 / 79:49 / 79:17 / 73:21
Source : Audience Recordings
Sound Quality : EX
Year Of Release : 2007
Rating 4.5/5.0
Track Listing
3121 @ Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, 3rd December 2006 (am)
Disc 1
1. Intro 2. Spirituality 3. Johnny B. Goode 4. Girls And Boys 5. There Was A Time (instrumental) 6. The Sun's Gonna Shine Again 7. Lolita 8. Black Sweat 9. Kiss 10. Shhh 11. Musicology 12. Tighten Up 13. Pass The Peas 14. Shake Everything You've Got 15. Joy In Repetition 16. Anotherloverholenyohead 17. Rock Lobster (instrumental) 18. If I Was Your Girlfriend
Disc 2
1. Pink Cashmere 2. Do Me, Baby - Interlude 3. 3121 4. Partyman 5. Play That Funky Music 6. Start Me Up 7. What Have You Done For Me Lately 8. (I Like) Funky Music (chant) 9. Sexy Dancer (instrumental) (including 777-9311) 10. Give It To Me Baby 11. Brick House (instrumental) 12. (I Like) Funky Music (chant) 13. It's Alright 14. What A Wonderful World (instrumental) 15. A Case Of U 16. Purple Rain
Club 3121 - 3121 @ Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas : 2nd December 2006 (am) (Part 1)
17. 3121 18. Get On The Boat 19. Love Rollercoaster - Las Vegas Jam - Get On The Boat
Disc 3
Club 3121 Aftershow - 3121 Jazz Cuisine : Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas : 3rd December 2006 (am)
1. Straight, No Chaser (including The Flintstones Theme) 2. Gotta Broken Heart Again (instrumental) 3. So What 4. The Chicken 5. The Munsters Theme 6. Who Is He (And What Is He To You) (including One Nation Under A Groove) 7. More Bounce To The Ounce (including Atomic Dog) 8. Sing A Simple Song (instrumental) 9. Gotta Broken Heart Again (instrumental)
Disc 4
1. When You Were Mine (snippet) - Heaven (snippet) 2. Brick House 3. Skin Tight 4. Love Rollercoaster 5. What Is Hip
Club 3121 - 3121 @ Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas : 2nd December 2006 (am) (Part 2)
6. Musicology 7. Tighten Up 8. Play That Funky Music 9. Pass The Peas 10. Shake Everything You've Got 11. Forever In My Life (instrumental) 12. 777-9311 (instrumental) 13. Everyday People (instrumental) (including Forever In My life) 14. 7 15. Anotherloverholenyohead 16. Rock Lobster (instrumental) 17. If I Was Your Girlfriend 18. If I Was Your Girlfriend 19. Let's Go Crazy
Comments
Fink's Comments (rates this release 4.5/5.0)
The main show featured here is the 3rd December 2006 (am) and it's one of the most schizophrenic shows I have heard in a long time. The recording is very impressive with barely an audible whisper from the audience. Sure, some cock shouting "Play Let's Go Crazy" towards the end is unavoidable, but excusable. It's certainly (currently) the best quality audience recording circulating in terms of depth and clarity, and free of any problems. The opening half of the show is mundane, lifeless and bland in the extreme. Prince adds the "Happiness in a sunken form.." lazy rap to 'Girls And Boys' which is something of a rarity, however the remainder of the 73 minutes isn't worthy of mention. Disc 2 however, is almost like a completely different performer and Prince manages to really impress with a mid-section which is extraordinarily funky.
The second half of the show begins with a routine performance of 'Pink Cashmere' which segues into 'Do Me, Baby', although admittedly it is a mere few lines and not an actual "performance" of the track. Rhonda joins the band for '3121' and it's from this moment the show takes on a new lease of life. 'Partyman' is played in a slightly different arrangement and is followed by the usual 'Play That Funky Music'. This in turn is followed by a cover of the Rolling Stone's 'Start Me Up' with an audience member taking over the vocals. The Twinz grab some mic action for a cover of 'What Have You Done For Me Lately' which is pretty horrific in terms of vocal delivery. Prince picks up the bass for the remaining few songs and it's a whirlwind of funk as he instructs the band through 'Sexy Dancer' (including a portion of '777-9311'), Rick James 'Give It To Me Baby' (including a few vocals), and 'Brick House' before closing the main set with a storming 'It's Alright'. Maceo launches the encore section with 'What A Wonderful World' before Prince delivers an (admittedly impressive) 'A Case Of U' with the show closing with 'Purple Rain'. I have to say, if it hadn't been for the funky bass section on Disc 2, this show would be amongst the worst from the currently circulating Las Vegas shows - as it is, it makes it far better, but overall the show is still not worthy of great praise.
Disc 2 also includes 16 minutes from the previous nights show with the remainder being on Disc 4. Disc 3 and the opening half of Disc 4 contain the 93 (ish) minute Jazz Cuisine aftershow which took place in the early hours of Sunday 3rd December morning. The show is very enjoyable, and has a number of nice performances, but overall (especially Disc 3) it lacks the "punch" of many other Jazz Cuisine aftershows and I find my mind wandering. The instrumental performances of 'Gotta Broken Heart Again' are nice, unusual choices, but they are prone to one too many horn solo's which detract from the song itself. The only real highlight of the aftershow for me is the closing jam on 'What Is Hip?' where the band really come to a climatic ending. The aftershow recording is sublime and when one considers the circumstances it was recorded in, it's really very impressive that there is so little audience noise. The band are clear and upfront, but what I like best is that you can hear the horn volume increase/decrease as they wander around the intimate room. Disc 4 ends with an hour from the 2nd December main show, and whilst the recording is again of excellent quality, the content is very similar to countless other 3121 Las Vegas shows and not really worth any great mention. The packaging for this release is rather impressive with a 16 page booklet containing detailed tracklisting and an in-depth review spanning 4 pages. The quality of the recordings on here really cannot be faulted, however the only thing that lets down this release slightly is the fact the main show and the aftershow are rather tame in comparison to many others. That said, this is still an extremely good release, but by no means an essential release.
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Really appreciated.Many thanks.
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