Prince #SAB 062-063 Late Night Shows Part 4

Late Night Shows Part 4

2 CD
Label : Sabotage Records
Catalogue : #SAB 062-063
Disc Length : 59:42 / 62:19
Source : Audience Recordings
Sound Quality : VG+ / EX
Year Of Release : 1999

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Disc 1

Jam Of The Year Tour Aftershow - Millennium Club, Tampa : 14th January 1998 (am)

1. Play Time   2. You Got The Love   3. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)   4. Instrumental Jam   5. Flash Light (instrumental) (including Everybody's Got A Little Light Under The Sun)   6. 777-9311 (instrumental)   7. Days Of Wild

Disc 2

Jam Of The Year Tour Aftershow - Townsend Club, Oakland : 23rd January 1998 (am) (VG+)

1. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)   2. Blues   3. The Ride   4. I'll Take You There   5. I Got The Feelin' - Oakland Jam   6. The Way You Do The Things You Do   7. 18 & Over   8. 777-9311   9. Baby Let's Go - Play Time   10. Johnny   11. The Jam

COMMENT

Two aftershows played within the space of 10 days and two entirely different shows. The Tampa aftershow is a strange affair and it isn't until 40 minutes into the show before P steps up to the mic. He's is present throughout on various instruments, but vocally you have to wait a while to hear him. The show begins with Marva King on 'Play Time' and 'You Got The Love' before Larry Graham takes over proceedings for a very lengthy 20 minute jam based around 'Thank You'. It does get slightly monotonous halfway through, however he does hand the mic to various crowd members asking them what they are thankful for, and gets the fantastic response from one lucky lady "I'm thankful for seeing The Artist tonight after he left me hanging in Jacksonville", and from a scary sounding dude who claims to be P's biggest fan, "I got all your records, man". The highlight of the show comes in the form of a cheesy 70's porno instrumental with a very heavy synth line running throughout which is unlike the tedious jams played on many other aftershows from the tour. An instrumental performance of 'Flashlight' follows with additional lyrics from 'Everybody's Got A Little Light'. P grabs the bass for a brief instrumental '777-9311' before the show closes with an extended (and admittedly rather weak) 'Days Of Wild'. The quality of the Tampa recording is superb however it is slightly flat and lacking any depth. There appear to be some problems during 'Thank You' and the sound is a little wavy, however on the whole it is excellent. Disc 2 contains the final aftershow of the tour played after the tour finale in Oakland. Whilst the show is far superior to the Tampa show, it's fair to say the recording is nowhere near as impressive. It is very tinny, is audibly gritty and there is a constant hiss throughout. The crowd level is also slightly higher and at any loud volume it can be a little painful on the ears. Out of all the recordings contained in this "Late Night Shows" series the Oakland recording is probably the weakest. The opening of the recording is missing and 'Thank You' fades in during the performance. Larry Graham makes his exit from the stage and P begins his set with a bluesy extended 'The Ride'. The mid section of the show features a great, very funky 'The Way You Do The Things You Do'. Undoubtedly the high point of the show occurs with a performance of '777-9311' which is one of the few version which includes the lyrics. The show closes with Larry Graham back onstage for 'The Jam' which is incomplete and fades out during Larry's bass solo. Both shows are enjoyable, however the quality of the Oakland recording is very disappointing and let's down what could have been an excellent volume of this series. The accompanying 8 page booklet contains brief reviews of the shows by people in attendance and a few rare pictures from the tour. As it is this is good, but far from great.

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