Sabotage Records Catalog # SAB70/71 Release Year 2001   2CD Length 61:39 | 67:22 Date/Venue 2 April 1983 Fresno & Rehearsal Source Soundboard Quality EX

Comments
Deane's Comments(rates ths release 5.0/5.0)
Disc 1 features a complete soundboard recording from the 1999 tour, and whilst it doesn't include the opening sets by The Time or Vanity 6, this is one of the better shows in terms of quality and content. Up until 'D.M.S.R' things are pretty straightforwardly funky. There appears to be a malfunction with either the sampled intro, or the keyboards and the show has to be momentarily stopped whilst this is fixed, and Prince has to improvise with the crowd before the show resumes. For rarity value the piano segment is pretty unbeatable as Prince adds a few lines from 'Gotta Broken Heart Again' to an already rare performance of 'Still Waiting' before proceeding with the usual 'How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore'. The remainder of the show is free of surprises, but is one of the best concerts circulating from the tour. The quality of the soundboard recording is above criticism and is certainly a match for the phenomenally clear 1999 shows on the 'City Lights - Detroit / Providence' release.

Disc 2 contains the only widely circulating rehearsal for the 1999 tour supposedly dating from early 1983 in preparation for the 2nd leg. The rehearsal is interesting in the respect that many of the tracks rehearsed differ from the actual version played live on tour. For instance, 'Delirious' was only played as an encore on the tour, however it is rehearsed in the middle of the set here and flows directly in to 'Do Me, Baby'. Likewise 'Head' segues in to 'Lady Cab Driver' which proceeds the piano segment - 'Lady Cab Driver' was always played after the piano segment on the tour. 'When You Were Mine' is rehearsed as a duet with Dez sharing lead vocals with Prince. The undoubted highlight is a fantastic lengthy version of 'D.M.S.R.' which begins with a cry of "Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Root Beer, Pussy" in place of the usual "Dance, Music, Sex, Romance". The recording is slightly incomplete and the last three songs have a number of drop-outs. The sound quality for the first half of the show is crisp, clear and highly impressive. The second half of the rehearsal suffers from some hiss, and is slightly thinner than the first half, however it is still very high quality. I'd question the running order that Sabotage have placed this in and am not entirely convinced that what we have here IS the order the tracks were rehearsed, however due to the sound quality and content being so good that's minor.

The accompanying packaging and artwork are impressive, however there are a few Purple Rain photographs in there (I'm a sucker for the person behind the artwork getting that kind of thing correct), and the text has been lifted directly from Uptown's 'Turn It Up 2.0' - showing a lack of imagination on Sabotage's part to come up with something original. Packaging aside, the content of this release is certainly amongst the best circulating and that reason alone makes this one of the best documents from the 1999 era.

Mike's Comments(rates ths release 4.75/5.0)
The Fresno show dates from the closing days of the 1999 tour. Setlist-wise it's another straightforward show but the magnificent sound quality makes it a great listen. Likewise the rehearsal on disc 2 which was played in preperation for the re-start of the tour after a Christmas break. Four of the tracks rehearsed - 'Head', 'Free', 'Let's pretend we're married' and 'When you were mine' - were used sparingly during the remainder of the tour and were not regulars in the set. An excellent bootleg.