One-
Grand Palais & La Cigale, Paris
11th & 12th October 2009
6 CD
Label: Sabotage Records
Cat No: #SAB 374-
Running Time: 77:49 / 72:22 / 77:48 / 74:51 / 69:01 / 76:12
Source: Audience Recording
Quality: EX-
Released: November 2009
*Review*
Sabotage’s take on the recent Paris shows finally lands and it’s a monster of a set. Encompassing all 3 main performances (with show #1 featuring in its entirety for the first time) as well as various interviews and TV slots from Prince’s 2 week stay. As far as the performances themselves, I shall only be commenting on Show #1 as I don’t wish to repeat myself, having covered this already for Eye Records release All Day, All Night, All Week
As mentioned above, Disc 1 kicks off with the only complete, currently circulating version of the first performance at Grand Palais. We all should know by now about the various acoustic problems that occurred that day so for any taper to get a half decent recording is something to be thankful for. This one I would rate as probably one of the better one’s I have heard so far, including the recordings of the other performances, and it’s certainly the best of the bunch on here. It’s very clear, bass rich and the vocals are sharp (albeit a little distant sounding) so remains an admirable effort. The show is pretty much the same as show #2, content wise, although I tend to favour the latter out of the two. Only the encores offer any real changes with renditions of Uptown, Let’s Work and Cool being the the most notable differences. I may sound a little low on enthusiasm for these shows and maybe it’s down to having heard it all before from Prince this year....hard to call really, maybe I’m just getting grumpy in my old age.
So, we have a quality comparison to make as we progress through Discs 2 and 3 which cover the second show from Grand Palais. I’ll cut to the chase and state that, in my opinion, Eye Records version is better. This recording, for me, seems much duller and lifeless than Eye’s effort and although it’s not a bad recording by any means, I’m struggling to rate it better than I have. I also get the feeling that this could have been better but for whatever reason, it just isn’t.
Disc 4 & 5 cover the 3rd show at La Cigale and I should state now that this recording
is taken from Free Boot Generation’s More Free Candy 4 U albeit with some unnecessary
tweaking at the high-
The final disc gathers together all of the various TV spots and interviews from Prince’s stay in Paris and rounds off the package nicely. On the whole, this is (despite my mutterings) a very solid release for Sabotage and one of their best efforts in sometime. As a document of Prince’s visit to Paris, I can’t fault it and despite my feelings that Eye Records hold the better version of show #2, if you’re going to part with your hard earned cash then it is this set that I would suggest you go for. The accompanying booklet is extremely well put together and thorough in its content containing in depth reports and some great pictures. It certainly adds to the whole appeal of the set but I’m sure Sabotage won’t thank me for pointing out that they have incorrectly dated the La Cigale show as the 14th on the back cover. Other than that, I think this would make a fine addition to your collection and after some mediocre releases of late from the pressed fraternity it’s stands as a rare return to form for Sabotage.
Disc 1
Show #1, Grand Palais, Paris -
01. No Photos Allowed! 02. Intro 03. All Day, All Night 04. 1999 05. I Feel For
You 06. Controversy Pt.1 (incl. All Day, All Night) 07. I Like Funky Music 08.
Sexy Dancer -
11. Take Me With U 12. Anotherloverholenyohead 13. Guitar 14. Raspberry Beret 15. Girl* 16. All Day, All Night* 17. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man* 18. The One U Wanna C* 19. Sometimes It Snows In April* 20. Mountains (incl. Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)) 21. Everyday People (incl. I Wanna Take You Higher) 22. Long Train Runnin’
23. Play That Funky Music 24. What Have You Done For Me Lately 25. Partyman 26. Thunderstorm 27. Uptown 28. Let’s Work 29. Cool
Disc 2
01. Prince Speaks 02. Kiss (incl. All Day, All Night) 03. All The Critics Love U In Paris 04. Thunderstorm 05. Cream 06. U Got The Look 07. Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? (instr. soundcheck edit)
Show #2, Grand Palais, Paris -
08. Intro 09. 1999 10. I Feel For You 11. Controversy (part 1) 12. Sexy Dancer
-
18. Raspberry Beret 19. All Day, All Night* 20. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man* 21. The One U Wanna C*
22. Sometimes It Snows In April*
*acoustic set
Disc 3
01. Mountains (incl. Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)) 02. Everyday People (incl.
I Wanna Take You Higher) 03. Long Train Runnin’ 04. Play That Funky Music 05.
Purple Rain 06. Prince Speaks 07. Kiss (incl. Miss You -
Press Conference, Paris -
12. Interview
Disc 4
La Cigale, Paris -
01. Ol’ Skool Company incl. Purple Rain Intro -
10. Stratus 11. Girl 12. Forever In My Life incl. Single Ladies (Out A Ring On
It) 13. Baby Love 14. Peach 15. Sexy Dancer -
Disc 5
01. I Want To Be Free 02. Sing A Simple Song 03. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice
Elf Agin) 04. Be Happy 05. 7 06. Come Together 07. Dreamer 08. The Bird 09.
Jungle Love 10. The Glamorous Life 11. 3121 -
Disc 6
Show #2, Grand Palais, Paris -
01. Thunderstorm Intro 02. 1999 03. I feel For U (edit) 04. Thunderstorms 05. Raspberry Beret (edit) 06. Thunderstorm (segue)
Rehearsal, Paisley Park -
08. Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?
Le Grand Studio RTL, Paris -
09. Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful 10. Mountains -
Le Grand Journal Canal+, Paris -
11. Dance 4 Me 12. No More Candy 4 U 13. 1999 14. I Feel For U (aborted) 15. Controversy 16. Thunderstorm (segue)
Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux -
17. Eye Love U But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore (show #1) 18. Little Red Corvette (show #1) 19. When Eye Lay My Hands On U (show #2) 20. Peach (show #2) 21. Eye Love U But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore (show #2)
Le Grand Studio RTL, Paris -
22. Interview
Press Conference, Paris -
23. Interview
NRJ Radio, Paris -
24. Interview