Now It's On

Album Review: Andy Allo "Superconductor"

@Baron3121 returns to Now It's On with his review of the new album from Andy Allo. Featuring major contributions from Prince, Superconductor is, to my ears, the best record Prince has been involved with since Musicology. Here are Baron3121's thoughts.   

It is a bold move to release an independent album during the busy holiday season that begins in November and ends on December 25^th. Any album that comes out during that time will be competing with sales juggernauts Alicia Keys, Rihanna and many others. Superconductor, the sophomore effort from Sacramento based Andy Allo was released, as promised, on November 20^th to digital download stores around the world, with a physical CD now available as well. She takes the advice, “when a man screams you must learn to whisper” to heart. While there are four upbeat funk jams, the strength in Superconductor lies within the simple acoustic numbers and ballads.

Andy had been a favorite of the coffee house/small club scene in California before she was introduced to her friend and mentor Prince in 2011. The Purple One tries to push her musical boundaries with varying degrees of success. Prince has always obscured the details of his involvement in album credits and on Superconductor, the song remains the same. While only claiming co-writing credit on three of the album’s nine songs, “Superconductor”, “The Calm” and “Long Gone”, it would seem he was much more involved. The entire album is executive produced by Prince, under the moniker NPG, and uses the New Power Generation, including Prince himself, as musicians with guest appearances from horn legends Maceo Parker and Trombone Shorty. It would stand to reason that Andy wrote or co-wrote most lyrics as she did on her first release Unfresh, but when she sings songs in opposite gender as she does on “If I Was King” and “Long Gone”, it does not take a genius to figure out she forgot to reverse the original Prince lyrics. All of these details become irrelevant when you listen to the music. Real music by real musicians is all that matters.

The title track is a love song between two musicians. Andy sings that she wants to “be loved by a Superconductor. Every night another symphony”. It is an upbeat pop/funk burner that, especially towards the second half, is somewhat reminiscent of recent live renditions of “Controversy”. Musical metaphors abound as Michael Bland pounds the drums on this fun introduction to the NEW Version of Andy Allo. The next track is the lead single “People Pleaser”. Featuring the NPG Hornz and solos by Maceo Parker and Trombone Shorty, this song has no shortage of funk. This is a drastically different style from her first record and she is backed by musicians that have played with James Brown, Prince, Lenny Kravitz and George Clinton. It is hard not to bob your head and make that funky face when the horns kick in.

Three tracks in we get to see the real Andy Allo. “Long Gone” is a beautiful and haunting song about finally giving up on a relationship that has run its course and despite still loving each other, there is no fixing the situation. Letting go is a powerful move as she sings, “I always thought I would be your King, welcomed in your home. Now I hear another voice is trying to claim my throne. Please don’t try and find me, whereabouts unknown”. Featuring only Andy and a familiar sounding acoustic guitar, this song touches souls. “The Calm” builds on the strength of the previous song with more production but similar mood. Instead of giving up it speaks more to the side of making things better instead of giving up. With Andy’s soft sultry voice and Prince’s trademark keyboard stabs you will instantly fall in love. The track slowly builds adding more instruments with every verse, each time asking, “How long do you want the calm to be after the storm”.  At the 4:30 mark you can hear in your mind where the screaming guitar solo would go if Prince had kept this one for himself. Maybe the fact that it is missing makes it better. Who is it that said, “expect the unexpected"?

“Yellow Gold” is the song that you cannot help but like. It is the kind of song you sing into your hairbrush in front of the mirror. It is funky, catchy, upbeat and sticks to your ribs. The infectious bass line is heavily influenced by the Mary Jane Girls' “All Night Long”. Is that Prince or Ida on the bass? Either way it is not to be missed. Andy sings that she seems to always like what she can’t have and wishes that she had some “Yellow Gold” because that is the 'kryptonite' of the object of her affection. Great lyrics and hook with vocal harmonies to match. The old school mood of this feel good track makes it a standout and potential single.

“Nothing More” reeks of purple. In the summer of 2011 on his Welcome 2 America Eurotour, Prince and Andy performed a mash-up of his Emancipation track “The Love We Make” with her song “Nothing More”.  Sharing the same music, it is really hard to tell where one song ends and the next one begins. You can look at it as a part two or a tribute, but any way you look at it the song is amazing. Lyrically it contains some of the best moments on the album. “I wonder if I’m the only wisdom that u seek. Open me up I'll be the best book you’ll ever read”. Played almost the same as it was in concert it serves as a reminder to all those lucky enough to witness it live and it creates excitement for anyone yet to see the NPG in concert.

Sounding like something lifted from Sly and the Family Stone’s vault, “If I Was King” reminds us of when music was music. Once again pushing the limits of her comfort zone, this song succeeds based on the musicianship alone. Horns are featured heavily once again and Andy has said that it was a great time watching Maceo and Trombone try to outdo each other in the studio. The only puzzling thing about this track is it is sung from a male perspective as a man to a woman. With lines like, 'If I Was King she’d be my Queen and I’d make her mine for this and the next life time' and 'If I was her boy and she was my girl', it would have been easy to flip the lyrics or even change it to third person perspective. Minor details in an ultimately fun and funky track and check out those handclaps!

“The Story Of You & I” begs for a live acoustic performance. Imagine a late night TV appearance with only two people on stage, Andy backed by her mentor Prince on guitar. Again, this is where Andy Allo shines brightest, just her and a guitar. Simple, yet beautiful with lyrics that paint vivid pictures. “Every night you enter me as the sun enters the sea” and “Angels from the starry sky sing to us every night” help set the mood for the album closer.

Take one part Barry White's “Ecstasy”, sprinkle in the “Jam of the Year” lead line and finish with a dose of Macy Gray and you have “When Stars Collide”. If that is not Prince on the bass, then Ida has been learning from her boss. At 3:05 we are teased with some fuzz-tone feedback that usually precedes a wicked bass solo but instead we get a return to the slow churning groove that holds this track together. Running over six minutes, it would take a creative edit to make this a single however the catchy chorus would make that a worthwhile task.

In the middle of all the overproduced, cookie-cutter music that floods the radio now, it is refreshing to hear something so simple and organic. There are moments on this album where Prince, as a producer, takes Andy Allo from a coffee house crooner to a full blown Superconductor. However the best moments of Superconductor come when he lets Andy be Andy. Real music, real soul, real lyrics. Give Andy Allo a chance to prove that despite what she says, she is STILL a “People Pleaser”.

Superconductor was released November 20th as a download only by Allo Evolution and NPG Records. It has now also been released on CD, exclusively through Amazon.com.

Official Website of Andy Allo

Follow Andy Allo on Twitter

Andy Allo on Facebook

Purchase Superconductor from Amazon.com

Album Review: Larry Graham & Graham Central Station "Raise Up"

OK, I'll admit it. The only reason this is even on my radar is because Prince appears on three tracks. And given the abysmal results of the last time Prince contributed to a Larry Graham album, 1998's laughably bad GCS 2000 on his NPG Records label, I was fully prepared to greet this album with a mixture of disdain and laughter.

In reality, Raise Up, Graham's first studio album since the regrettable down to the cheap looking cover GCS 2000, isn't half bad. Sure it is completely out of touch with any current musical trends, old school all the way, but that really should be what you're getting anyways from a 2012 release by Graham Central Station. The last thing you want is a bunch of over-production and guest rappers. In other words, Graham and company are doing exactly what you'd expect this time around and it is the exact opposite of the NPG Records release.

That doesn't mean this is an album essential to your funk collection. There are way too many unnecessary covers, including inexplicable re-workings of their own songs! Did the world really need 2012 updates of GCS songs like "It's Alright" and "Now Do U Wanta Dance"? To be fair, the latter is one of the funkiest things on here, with Graham's bass popping, greasy guitar licks and a groove not far removed from Zapp's "More Bounce To The Ounce". A cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" is lightweight and a waste as well. Even though it is not a true cover, album opener "Throw-N-Down The Funk" is nothing but a re-write of the GCS classic "The Jam", right down to all the band members having their little chance to introduce themselves. Still, it's one of the funkier songs on the album and showcases the legendary musicianship on hand.

As for the Prince collaborations, there is really only one song of note. The title track is passable but sounds more like an outtake from GCS 2000 musically, and its overly simplistic lyrics on deeper issues affecting the world induce chuckles. "Movin'" is also a complete throwaway, by the numbers weak funk and it appears Prince just tossed off a guitar solo as his contribution to this track. But don't sleep on "Shoulda Coulda Woulda", a bluesy slow burner with excellent guitar work and backing vocals provided by the Purple One. The song is so good, Prince shoulda kept it for himself. It's better than the majority of the tripe he has put out under his own name the last few years.

Despite my issues with Larry's religious beliefs, and his influence over Prince for far too long now, I'll never deny the man is a living legend and one of, if not the, greatest bassists of all time. Raise Up is better than what I was anticipating, but an album that will be forgotten pretty quickly when all is said and done.   

Raise Up was released September 25, 2012 on the Razor & Tie label.

Official Website of Larry Graham

Larry Graham on Facebook

Purchase Raise Up from Amazon.com

Music News: Prince Unveils Another Musical Answer To An Old Friend

Early this morning on the day his Welcome 2 Chicago shows get underway, Prince released yet another track exclusively at Dr. Funkenberry's site. This one will be instantly recognizable to long-time fans, a new rehearsal version of "Old Friends 4 Sale". Drenched in live horns and featuring the NPG lineup he'll be joined by in Chi-Town, this is to my knowledge the first time a live recording of the track has surfaced. Could it make the setlist of one of the Chicago shows? We shall see.  

This song has had one of the more frustrating paths in Prince history. Originally recorded in 1985 as a response to some of the turmoil in his life after the massive success of Purple Rain, the first version of "Old Friends 4 Sale" was one of the most personal lyrics Prince had recorded. Referencing former associates, band members and managers, Prince opened up like he rarely does with a look into his world and those he felt stabbed him in the back after he made it big. Sadly, this version of the song was never released, although thankfully it is widely circulating in perfect quality amongst collectors. It is one of the best lyrics Prince has ever written and it is an absolute shame it was never officially released in this form. 

"Old Friends 4 Sale" was re-worked in 1991 and offered to Joe Cocker, but Prince changed the lyrics making them less personal and completely taking the emotional power out of the song. It was finally released, unfortunately in this inferior form, on the 1999 contract filler album The Vault...Old Friends 4 Sale. So on the surface, it is cool to see it reappear again, and it is easy to look at it as just a surprise and gift for the fans right before the Chicago craziness starts. But this is Prince we are talking about, we need to dig deeper.

If you remember, before his Welcome 2 Australia tour earlier this year, Prince shared another rehearsal jam with Dr. Funkenberry. There were rumblings that Terry Lewis of The Time, now The Original 7ven, and representatives for fDeluxe, formerly The Family, had contacted Prince about opening for him during the Australian run of shows. Prince's response came in the form of a jam on both The Time's "Ice Cream Castles" and The Family's "Mutiny".

Listening to the re-done lyrics of "Mutiny, taking back the ship. Mutiny, should have been a little more hip", it's obvious this was Prince's way of telling both bands, 'I don't need you to open for me playing songs I wrote, produced and played on for you anyways.' Yes, Prince's sly sense of humor may be incorporated in there, but there is no question this was also a well placed shot at both bands. St. Paul Peterson of fDeluxe responded less than a week later with "Hot Summer At Menards", a take-off on Prince's less than stellar track "Hot Summer", turning it into a radio commercial for the hardware chain Menards. In other words, 'your song is little better than and sounds like a crappy radio jingle'. There has been no public response from Terry Lewis, but I am sure he was less than thrilled with Prince's dig at his band.

So what does all this have to do with this new "Old Friends 4 Sale"? On September 17th Sheila E. sent a number of Tweets responding to fans on Twitter on whether she would join Prince for the shows in Chicago. Although she hints it is because of something Prince did, she leaves a vague response that certainly suggests something is wrong between the two, without revealing exactly what that is.

After this Tweet, Sheila sent another one that just said 'Because Prince...'. Followers of the situation know that something went down between Prince and Sheila back in May of last year during the California leg of his Welcome 2 America tour. Sheila Tweeted, "I will not be performing with Prince anymore. I thank u 4 ur support", on May 30th, 2011 and that has led to much speculation amongst fans about what went down as she had been joining him during the shows. Suddenly on May 29th, it was Nikka Costa joining him onstage for "A Love Bizarre" and not Sheila. Then the next day she dropped the bomb she would no longer be performing with Prince. Her recent Tweets about Chicago got the rumor mill swirling again about exactly what happened.

Now it is not for me to speculate or dish exactly why these two old friends are suddenly on the outs. But is it REALLY a coincidence that less than a week after Sheila Tweets she will not be performing in Chicago with Prince and hints it is because of something he did, Prince puts out a new version of "Old Friends 4 Sale", a song he has NEVER performed live before? We all know Prince does not like former associates talking about him in this way. Even though Sheila did not come out and state any specifics, her Tweets are a public comment that something DID go down, she blames Prince, without saying exactly what it is. She got her message out there. So now, in my opinion, Prince is getting HIS message out there through the words of this song. 

You truly have to understand how the man thinks to make this connection. Check the recent interview in the Chicago Tribune. Prince hints at writer Greg Kot that criticism, especially from former band members and employees, stings and that hurt stays with him, often pushing him to prove them wrong and respond. Do you really think Prince is going to let Sheila's public comments go unanswered? He'll answer them in his own way and, I believe, has done so by releasing this version of "Old Friends 4 Sale". It's a perfect Princely response. A bit of a dick move buried under a gorgeous arrangement that makes it easy to slip by those not paying attention. Can I prove it? Not unless the man grants me an interview and we know that is not happening. But does his track record make it feasible, even likely? I believe so. Put your SCUBA gear on, get deep and think about it.  

Make sure to check out this new rehearsal version of "Old Friends 4 Sale", exclusively at DrFunkenberry.com , always the first site with Prince exclusives.

Music News: Prince Kicks Off His Welcome 2 Chicago Stay Monday

Prince's Welcome 2 Chicago shows start tomorrow and what better time to introduce @Baron3121 as a new contributor to Now It's On. Here is his take on the Chicago shows and make sure to follow this legend on both Twitter and Instagram for all things funky. And for all things Prince and NPG, be sure to check out DrFunkenberry.com, always the first with Prince exclusives.     

Are you ready for the Greatest Show On Earth?

Tomorrow is the official kick-off of Prince's Welcome 2 Chicago residency. Are you ready for a 20 piece NPG? In counting band members, there are some smoke and mirrors involved as well as some creative NPG Math. There are basically TWO BANDS. The Andy Allo Band and the NPG. They are separate yet ONE. Prince will ultimately STEAL who he wants for his final band, but there are TWO bands for a few reasons. Andy may need to do some playing / promoting while Prince is not available. Also, since she will be the opening act, it is tough to ask a band to play a soundcheck /rehearsal, show and then aftershow.

Most likely we will see the Andy Allo Band open for Prince and then A LOT OF THOSE MEMBERS will jump on and off stage with Prince during his main set. The "Purple After Jam" will be a pot luck of anybody's guess with loads of guest musicians and friends including Janelle Monae and others. Prince's power house trio of backing singers Liv Warfield, Shelby J and Elisa Dease, all with projects of their own in the works, will surely be in the house as well. Prince and the band have rehearsed new songs on top of the 300+ they already learned for the previous incarnations of the "Welcome 2" Tours. You never know what he might pull from the vault or add to the set.

While the 11 piece horn section is going to blow most people away, he has a few more secret weapons to look out for. Hannah Ford is the Sheila E of 2012 and Andrew Gouche is the funkiest bass this side of big brother Larry Graham. Throw in former NPG members DJ Dudley D and guitarist Mike Scott and what you have is a full blown Purple Party. This is one for the ages!! Any way you slice this purple cake, two things we know. It's going 2 b loud and it's going 2 b funky. As Prince has warned many times in the past, 'Please don't come 2 the concert' unless you are ready for all the funk about to be unleashed. Chicago, are you ready?

Let's Start Counting:

John Blackwell Jr.

Rev. Mike Scott

Ida Nielsen

Cassandra O'Neal

Morris Hayes

Liv Warfield

Shelby J

Elisa Dease

Hannah Ford

Andrew Gouche

Dj Dudley D

Question Marks?

Are the Twinz involved?

11 Horns?

It seems the horns are new to the NPG camp.

Maceo is involved to some extent. Some Shows? All Shows? I don't know.

Trombone Shorty? Is he on anything except for the Andy Allo recording?

The Hornheads? Have they been confirmed? They are only four or five members correct?

The Horn Members at Bunkers MPLS (at least in the pictures I saw) don't seem to be any of these people.

Finally, Are we supposed to count Prince and Andy as "Members"?

We will find out starting tomorrow in Chicago. 

@Baron3121

Bootleg Review: Sheila E. & fDeluxe "A Family Affair At BB Kings"

Things have gone fairly quiet on the bootleg front in Princeland, although that will surely change once his upcoming Welcome 2 Chicago residency starts up. But in the meantime, Akashic Records is keeping the funk rolling with this double disc set of two of Prince's finest proteges who teamed up recently in New York. A Family Affair at BB Kings documents the double bill of fDeluxe, formerly The Family, and Sheila E., recorded August 29, 2012 at the B.B. King Blues Club & Grill.

fDeluxe opens things up with a nearly hour long set that splits things right down the middle, six songs from their lone 1985 self-titled Paisley Park Records classic and six tunes they've recorded over the last few years as fDeluxe. Their set opens the way their debut album did with "High Fashion", though this is a rather sloppy version. The title track from last year's Gaslight and "Sanctified" from that same album are next. The set starts out a little slow but things start to heat up with their lone 'hit', "The Screams Of Passion". The audience reaction to that drum pattern makes it obvious there are a lot of Purpleheads in the crowd and their response to the set picks up from here as well.

St. Paul Peterson introduces the next song by saying, "We let somebody borrow this song for awhile but we're taking it back", as they go into "Nothing Compares 2 U". Their new single "You Got What You Wanted", a cover of an Ike and Tina Turner song follows, and I really like their rendition. Things slow down a bit with "Desire" and "Lover" played back to back but their set closes out in truly funky fashion. After a brief portion of "River Run Dry" they go into two of my favorites off Gaslight. First up is "@8" featuring Eric Leeds' masterful work on sax. That is followed with an over eight minute jam on "Drummers And Healers" and by this point the band is truly smoking onstage, very tight and in a groove musically. Things come to a close with the fantastic "Mutiny" with Leeds again shining on the sax. This man is simply a funk legend on the saxophone, what a shame Prince no longer has Eric's talents gracing his music.

Sheila E.'s set starts with a near five minute samba jazz intro before she goes into a run of Prince written tracks that have you thinking this show is going to be hot. It starts off with "Holly Rock" and, after a brief segue, goes into "The Belle Of St. Mark". Prince wouldn't dare touch "Erotic City" these days but Sheila pulls it out for a couple minutes before heading into "Koo Koo". On paper this looks like a great setlist but the problem is Sheila is now living in the same 'Medley-land' Prince is, only playing these songs in shortened two minute bursts before moving on to the next one. Just when the crowd is really into a song, she's on to the next one. It becomes maddening, especially because Sheila doesn't have nearly the amount of hits Prince does.

Of course the one Prince penned song you probably care to hear in full the least, "Leader Of The Band" is given the full six minute treatment. This is an obscure, Latin jazz flavored track from an EP Sheila sold at a couple shows in 2010 that Prince wrote uncredited. The second half of the show seems to drag between gospel covers and a laborious cover of the Mary Jane Girls "All Night Long" performed by her backing singer Sy Smith aka Sy Boogie. "A Love Bizarre" is sandwiched in the middle of all of this but, frustratingly, after playing the single version of the song it deteriorates into twelve minutes of free-form jazz. The only real 'fun' part of the second half of Sheila's set is the closing "The Glamorous Life".

I'm not saying Sheila E. has to play nothing but the songs Prince wrote for her to put on a good show. Where was "Hold Me" for example? I've seen her put on tremendous concerts focusing on jazz, her shows with the E. Train back in the day were outstanding. This particular set here just suffers from rather dull songs about how great Jesus is and doesn't keep things upbeat enough for me. The true winner of the night is fDeluxe. Their new material blends very well with the more well known Prince penned tracks, there is very little fall off in the flow of their set between new and old material. With Sheila E., as soon as she wanders from the Prince material, this becomes a snooze fest. 

As for the quality of the audio, this is clearly an audience recording, but as I have stated before, in this day and age it is hard to get a truly crappy audience recording with the technology available to those who 'do the work'. The sound quality here gets a solid B and all credit and thanks again goes out to the tapers and those bringing us these completely free, first rate releases. Big thanks to Akashic Records for sharing this one.  

Single Review: Prince "Rock & Roll Love Affair" (aka "RNR Affair")

Much like he did before he opened his Welcome 2 Canada tour by releasing a new track, albeit an awful re-make of the classic outtake "Extraloveable", Prince has surprised us with another new track a week before he starts his set of Welcome 2 Chicago shows. Thankfully, this time it is a much better song, although being the long time fan I am, I am not about to declare it any kind of a masterpiece either.

We all know Prince has nothing but disdain for critics of his music. If you don't make music, he has no use for your opinion on what he produces, especially when the review is negative. So here is an opinion Prince likely won't care about on this new track, being referred to as "RNR Affair" on the radio but Dr. Funkenberry has revealed on his site the correct, full title is "Rock & Roll Love Affair".

So this isn't an actual single you can buy, at least not yet, although it may be as Dr. Funkenberry also mentions a video for this was recently shot at Paisley Park. My thoughts on the song? It's basically typical of Prince's recent output. It's not earth shaking by any means, rather light weight and unessential in his overall catalog, but not without its charm. It calls to mind a number of other songs from his past including "Take Me With U", "The One U Wanna C" and "Willing And Able". It's a pure pop track, with some country-fied guitar in there too. The little keyboard hook is borderline cheesy and I really wish he'd get back to using real horns instead of this fake horn synth stuff. 

RNR Affair

It's a breezy little tune however, and very easy to interpret as about current muse/protege/whatever Andy Allo. He even drops a "When Stars Collide" reference in the lyrics, which just so happens to be a track on Allo's forthcoming NPG Records release Superconductor. And speaking of lyrics, it amazes me how a 'devout' Jehovah's Witness as Prince claims to be, can get away with such an obvious double entendre as 'If there's some room I'd like 2 sit at UR table, she said it's tight but I think I can fit U in'. It's a decent enough song, much better than pap like "Hot Summer" and "Rich Friends", but the days of being floored by a new Prince track appear long gone. I'd love to still be proven wrong and I'd also love to hear other fan opinion on the song.

Once again, thanks and credit to Dr. Funkenberry for the information on the new song.

Bootleg Review: Prince "Welcome 2 Sydney: Night 2"

After opening his Welcome 2 Australia Tour at Sydney's Allphones Arena May 11, 2012, Prince was back the next night with a show filled with enough changes to the setlist to keep things from getting too repetitive. Once again, FT Records brings us the recording of this show on "Welcome 2 Sydney: Night 2". As was the case with the first show, the audience recording here is wonderful. Clear vocals, nicely mixed and another solid B+ recording.

The opening of this show is drastically different from the first night. Things kick off with "D.M.S.R.", one of my favorite purple funk jams, but I simply despise the butchering Prince has done to the lyrics of this song. His no cursing policy to please the Jehovah's Witnesses is one thing, but the lyrical changes here are nonsensical and asinine. You can't say 'screw the masses'? "Wear lingerie 2 a restaurant' is a problem but changing it to "get busy in the middle of a restaurant" which is easy to take as people fucking on the floor at Applebees is cool? 'Strip right down 2 your underwear' becomes 'shake that body 2 the early light, c'mon now if U dare', I mean this is fucking ridiculous. Yes, if Prince won't swear I will because that is what it is. I'd prefer he NOT play this song anymore, the lyrical crimes bother me so much.

"This is not a Lionel Richie concert! You're in this too!" Prince announces as the band starts "Pop Life". Once again, his banter from the stage alone makes it worth checking out these shows. He is very talkative on this tour and a lot of it is damn funny. Prince is starting to sound even kookier than normal if you can believe it. "Musicology" is turned into an extended jam that incorporates the unreleased "Prince And The Band" before the run of songs not played on the first night continues with a near seven minute version of the guitar heavy "Shhh". Prince then addresses the crowd by expressing how much he loves their country then says, "I have the most beautiful view... of my bathroom mirror. I'm kidding...sort of."

Prince and The NPG then run through a number of his hits with "Take Me With U", "Raspberry Beret" and "Cream" all bunched together. Of note, they incorporate the chant from AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" into "Take Me With U", showing some love for the rock legends from Australia. One of my favorite parts of the show follows with another long jam on The Time's "Cool" mixed with some of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". During the call and response part at the end of "Cool" Prince cracks on his backing singers, asking Shelby J. "Shelby, are ya hot? Do you know why? Cuz you ain't got no hair!" before turning his attention to Elisa Dease with "Elisa, are ya hot girl? Do you know why? Cuz you got somebody else's hair on." The old school funk-fest continues with "Let's Work" which Prince precedes by saying, "It's Saturday night. We're not gonna leave the 80's. Prince, you ain't funky no more. I don't have to be cuz I was funky then. If it was good then it's still good."

Disc One closes with a rather messy "U Got The Look" before the mash-up of "The Question Of U" and "The One" that was often played on the Musicology Tour. This is a jazzier, piano heavy version and is lacking the emotion and fire he played it with in the past. The same can be said for the next song, the incredible funk monster that is "Days Of Wild". Of course all the cursing is gone, and this song suffers more than most because of it. It represents a certain time in Prince's career, an angry time and it is just stripped of its raw energy playing it this way. Again, a nice addition to the setlist but the true Days Of Wild are long gone with Prince.

The second half of the show and Disc Two opens with a piano medley. The highlight here is a full performance of "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore" where the 'old Prince' makes an appearance, saying towards the end, "So what I got baptized. I still like, I still like a fire between your thighs."  I doubt Larry Graham would approve. After "Nothing Compares 2 U" and "Controversy", another long version of "Purple Rain" has the crowd singing along, this time topping 15 minutes in length.

Prince is in full on brag mode at this point. "Didn't your parents warn you about me? I got too many hits. We could be here till tomorrow. Didn't they warn you about me? Too. Many. Hits." In typical Prince fashion, his threat to play all night means the concert is about to come to an end, all Prince-heads should know this by now. A funky version of "Kiss" gives way to the Sampler Set and this truly is just a sampler, as nothing is played very long. Of note are brief instrumental portions of "Pheromone" and "Shockadelica". The show then ends with that short, awful medley of "Let's Go Crazy" and "Delirious" that I griped about on the Night One review. So that was about twenty more minutes of show, mostly just the Sampler Set, after vowing they could be there 'till tomorrow', all part of the hilarity of being a diehard fan.

Although the first show of the tour is the better of the two, I still enjoyed the second night. Prince's comments from the stage are priceless, if a little 'out there', and there were plenty of changes to the setlist. The opening of this show is head and shoulders better than the mess of night one. It's always my preference to listen to concert recordings chronologically, especially on smaller tours like this, to hear the progression and changes on a nightly basis. Hopefully the recordings from the rest of this tour match the sound quality of the first two nights in Sydney.

Bootleg Review: Prince "Welcome 2 Sydney: Night 1"

I've made it no secret I am not a big fan of Prince's most recent tours. The whole series of 'Welcome 2' dates have been amongst the least exciting of his career. Oh, I am sure if you are there they are still highly entertaining, but if you've followed Prince through most of his career, it's obvious dude is in full-on coast mode. Despite that, I was anxious to hear the recordings from his May travels Down Under on his Welcome 2 Australia tour. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, it wasn't long before shows were easily obtainable and FT Records has covered the Sydney leg of the tour with their "Welcome 2 Sydney" releases. 

So let's start with Night One, recorded May 11, 2012 at the Allphones Arena. Before I get into the show itself, it has to be said the quality of the recording is wonderful. Even though this was recorded from the audience, Prince's vocals are amazingly clear and the mix on the music is of high quality as well. I'd give the overall recording a B+, if anything the occasional audience member overheard adds to the experience of 'being there' while listening. There are times I enjoy these high quality audience recordings as much as a soundboard as they just give you the feeling of what it would have been like to be in attendance. High marks to those responsible for recording the first two nights in Sydney. 

Opening with an acoustic guitar performance of "Purple Rain" by special guest Andy McKee, the first segment of the show is nothing short of a mess. Normally I'd get excited to see "Gold" in the setlist, and it is nice to hear, but this is a pretty tame version, no guitar solo but a lot of calls for the audience to sing along. From there, things deteriorate into one of those long medleys of a bunch of songs you'd prefer to hear played completely or not played at all. I know Prince has a gazillion songs to play, I do not envy his task of coming up with a setlist that pleases everyone, it is IMPOSSIBLE. But I'd much rather hear "Jam Of The Year" in complete form then have it lead into a disjointed portion of "$" from "Lotusflow3r" before that suddenly turns into the truly cheesy "Song Of The Heart".

Things don't get much better with "Let's Go Crazy" mixed with "Delirious". These are truly the worst live versions of these two songs Prince has ever performed. They sound like some awful renditions a Vegas cover act would play, complete travesties both of them. Maybe Prince has to pay some karmic debt for these putrid arrangements as his guitar completely fails him when it comes time for the famous guitar solo in "Let's Go Crazy". Let that be a lesson to you Prince, these songs deserve better treatment than these tossed off show-tune versions. 

Somewhat surprisingly, the show starts to pick up with "1999". Yes, we've heard this song performed a ton of times, but at least this is a mostly complete version and puts an end to the silly medleys. Prince's guitar is still failing him for "Little Red Corvette", and I'm sure someone had hell to pay for that, but it makes for a unique performance as he has to fill the time usually spent on guitar improvising vocally. The new, slowed down, bluesy arrangement of this classic continues to be a highlight of Prince's recent shows. The other real highlight of the first half captured on Disc One is the over twelve minute version of The Time's "Cool" with some of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" mixed in. Old school funk at it's finest. A lovely version of "Sometimes It Snows In April", with Andy McKee on guitar, closes out the first disc. 

The second half of the show, and Disc Two of this set, starts with some rarities. An over eight minute version of "Love...Thy Will Be Done" is a pleasant surprise, even though Prince screws up a few of the lyrics. His stage banter on this tour is equal parts funny and strange. During this song, Prince explains how music has the power to unite then throws out the question "What other reason would we be here tonight? Free pizza?" HUH??? The highlight of the night follows as Prince and the NPG start things off with "Mountains" which already has the drum pattern from "The Dance Electric" running underneath it. The song then segues right into a nine minute version of "The Dance Electric" and it is fantastic that Prince has pulled this song out to perform again. This is among my favorite tracks Prince gave away back in the 80's, in this case to old friend Andre Cymone. 

"Somebody slap your neighbor and tell 'em how many hits Prince got" he boasts as the introduction to the Sampler Set portion of the show. I'm really torn on this whole segment. I hate the medleys, I hate him playing backing tracks on a sampler, but it is actually fun to hear some of these tracks with him singing live over them, especially "Hot Thing". It is hilarious though to hear Prince say "Y'all hear that funk? This cannot be reproduced by a band, because I am that band", when the 1987 Sign 'o' The Times band seemed to have no problem performing this live.

The night starts to come to a close with some of Prince's biggest hits starting with "Kiss". An epic 25 minute version of "Purple Rain" may sound cool, but it is a bit too much given the near nine minute instrumental opening. The always funky "Controversy" closes the main set with another of the night's funny moments as drummer John Blackwell starts the song off tapping on a cowbell way off beat and too slow It almost sounds like he is doing the opening tempo to "Cream". He catches on but Prince doesn't miss a thing as he tells him, "Just leave it John, you're already docked!" before chuckling. The band eventually makes it back out for one last song, the rocking "Peach".

The first night of this tour had its technical problems and the band still needed to work out some kinks to be sure. I actually do like the musicians in Prince's band. Blackwell is a fantastic drummer, I adore Ida Nielsen on bass and Cassandra O'Neal and longtime NPG member Morris Hayes hold things down on piano and keys. But this current version of the NPG is the difference between Prince having a real BAND behind him and a group of hired musicians. And there is no need for me to continue emphasizing how much I dislike the trio of backing singers. This is a fairly enjoyable listen, but it's still hard for me to get past the whole Vegas act feel of Prince's concerts these days. I will say the Australian Tour was an upgrade over the previous Welcome 2 gigs, with the inclusion of some rarer material, but these shows are one and done listens for me.  

Bootleg Review: Prince "Slave At The Garage"

 

It's a sign of the high regard I hold this era of Prince's career that I made it through this disc. "Slave At The Garage" is a major upgrade from the previously available recording of this show, but that does not make it any less rough of a listen. This is a throwback to the old days of trading cassette tapes of Prince's latest shows through the mail, sound quality be damned.

Confusion Records is to be credited for making this show at least listenable, but it still falls at about a C-/D+ range in the sound department. It was obviously recorded in the middle of the small crowd at the tiny Garage in Glasgow back in the wee hours of the morning of March 15, 1995. Talking in the audience is audible throughout, but Prince's vocals are at least relatively clear, if not muddy. In fact muddy is a good description of most of the mix, the bass and vocals especially. Again, this was a previously unlistenable show so at least for the completists among us, and giant fans of this era, we can enjoy this show at least once, then add it to the collection. 

This is what I like to call Prince and the Real NPG. Sonny T, Michael Bland, Tommy Barbarella, Morris Hayes, just one of my all-time favorite Prince bands. So many epic aftershows, shows at Paisley Park, etc. The aftershow captured here is about 50 minutes long and features a lot of the standard stuff played during this time, from originals like "Race", "Days Of Wild" and "Dark" to covers of "Babies Makin' Babies" and "Funky". Prince also tears shit up on guitar during "The Ride", some blazing guitar work on this one. 

"Slave At The Garage" is another 2012 release that is strictly for completists only. If you're as fond of this time in Prince's career as I am, you'll still want it for the collection, but there are countless shows from 1994-95 with far superior quality, so it's unlikely to be revisited often.

Bootleg Review: Prince "Days Of Soundboard Volume 3: The Facebook Edition"

Free Boot Generation has been responsible for some of the finest Prince releases of the last few years, from stunning soundboard concert and rehearsal recordings to perfect quality studio outtakes. Not every release can be as exciting as "Box O' Chocolates" or "From The Soundboard: 1984 Birthday Show" and this one certainly falls in that category.

"Days Of Soundboard Volume 3: The Facebook Edition" captures all the tracks posted on NPG member Andy Allo's Facebook page of various performances from Prince and the NPG's 2011 tour. They were often posted the day after the show, so Prince must have obviously approved of the practice. So for completists, this is a nice collection of all of the tracks on one CD. And yes, they're all soundboard and in fine quality. Once again, it's not the quality of the release that is in question, Free Boot Generation do a great job as always bringing you the best sound quality possible. Material-wise, there simply isn't much here I'll re-visit.

There is a killer version of "Little Red Corvette" worth your time, taken from a show in Rotterdam. I love the way Prince has re-worked this song, with sexy, slowed down bluesy guitar, and this is a near eight minute version that is by far the best thing on the CD. An over 12 minute jam on "Alphabet St." recorded in Oslo, Norway is worthwhile and "Stratus" is always cool to hear Prince perform, but this is just a snippet that cuts off after a couple minutes.

A near ten minute jam on The Beatles "Come Together" is torturous having to endure the shouting and yapping of the always insufferable Shelby J., as is the NPG Girls cover of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel". It's easy to enjoy the performance of "Hot Thing" here as it comes from Prince's 'sampler set'. Essentially he is just singing over the pre-recorded backing track which he manipulates during this segment of the show. Hilariously, he has the gall to ask the crowd in Sweden where this was recorded, 'Do you like REAL music??' as he plays the music from "Hot Thing" on tape. Only Prince.   

I've never been a big fan of these compilation discs, they serve their purpose, but I grab them for completists sake only. That is my recommendation here, if you simply have to have everything, you can do a lot worse than a collection of live soundboard clips and tracks from one of the best labels out there right now.