Irukandji Music Ltd Catalog # IRUK 110047/48 Release Year 2011 2DVD Length 97:50 | 97:00 Date/Venue July 18, 2009 Auditorium Stravinski, Montreux Source Professionally Filmed Menu YES Quality EX++ Cover Download Here |
DVD1
When Eye Lay My Hands On U / Little Red Corvette / Somewhere
Here On Earth / When The Lights Go Down / Willing & Able / Eye Love U But
Eye Don't Trust U Anymore / She Spoke To Me / John Blackwell Drum Solo /
Love Like Jazz / All This Love / Empty Room / Elixer / In A Large Room With
No Light / Curtain Call / Insatiable / Prince Introduces The Band /
Scandalous / The Beautiful Ones / Nothing Compares 2 U / Claude Nobs Speech
DVD2
Band Introduction / When Eye Lay My Hands On U / Stratus (instr.) / John
Blackwell Drum Solo / Stratus (vocal) / All Shook Up / Peach / Spanish
Castle Magic / When You Were Mine / Little Red Corvette / Somewhere Here On
Earth / She Spoke To Me / Eye Love U But Eye Don't Trust U Anymore / Love
Like Jazz / All The Critics Love U In Montreux / Interlude / In A Large Room
With No Light / Purple Rain / Claude Nobs Speech
Comments
Dean's Comments(rates this release
5.0/5.0)
It's safe to say this is a big deal. A
very big deal. Two pro-shot live perfomances from the 2009 Montreux Jazz
Festival, it's every fans wet dream and yes, it is a shame Prince ignored
the chance to release this himself.
People have moaned that these could have
been released in HD seeing as the show was filmed this way but in all
likelyhood, these have been sourced directly from a dvd copy of the show.
It's highly unlikely (considering the unlawfulness of what we're dealing
with here) that anyone could have gained access to the HD files and I guess
they remained under lock and key somewhere in a digital form. But let's not
dwell on that as what we do have is exceptional. Mutliple angles, crystal
clear and professionally shot accompanied by top notch audio I can't tell
you how good it is to finally get something 'new' on DVD. Prince has
remained thin on the ground with his visual output so to be able to sit back
and enjoy two great shows like this is a real joy, I can tell you. The jury
is still out on which is the best of the two performances (I favour the
second, some favour neither) and it's also interesting to see some people
commenting on not liking film and lighting style of Show 2. To be honest, I
hadn't even considered it and I doubt you will as you will be far too caught
up in just enjoying the quality. For once, I do find myself thanking a
pressed label wholeheartedly for taking the risk and the cost to get these
out to the public. I've no doubt some selfish motives will have played a
part but frankly, I don't care this time. I'm just happy to have this in my
collection.
Anyway, this is a 'must have' for any fan, casual or otherwise. Two amazing
and intimate performances in glorious quality ready to view on your huge
TV's for years to come. Track it down, load it up and sit back and relax.
This is gonna be funky.
Mike's Comments(rates this release
5.0/5.0) Review Courtesy of Mike Antonich @ Blog:
Now It's On
Being a Prince fan can be a
frustrating experience. Prince will turn 54 this year and I certainly do not
expect him to be the groundbreaking, innovative genius he was through most
of the 80's. His studio albums have fallen into the trap most legendary
artists find themselves in when they reach this stage of their career. Still
capable of putting out some great songs and enjoyable records, but nothing
that comes near their former greatness, often times sinking into mediocrity.
But where Prince has always kicked ass is in the live forum. His prowess in
concert is one of the main reasons he continues to be one of the most
bootlegged artists of his time. Practically every show gets taped and
eventually finds its way into the hands of his fans and collectors. Lately
though, Prince has seemed to pick and choose when to truly 'bring it' live.
Yes, the majority of his standard concerts are still entertaining and better
than the majority of live shows you'll see, but it's pretty obvious when he
is just going through the motions. The hunger he once had is not there on a
nightly basis, and his regular tours are too much of a greatest hits review
on many nights, great for the casual fan, but leaving the long time,
die-hard fan often wanting more.
So if I'm ever asked why I continue to be a rabid fan, collecting every show
I can get my hands on, I can now point to this release. A two-DVD set of
Prince at the 2009 Montreux Jazz Festival that serves as a reminder for
those that forgot, Prince is still one of, if not the, greatest live
musician alive. This set captures both of the shows performed on July 18,
2009 in a stunning pro-shot video. The quality is good enough for an
official release, of which one was talked about and planned before Prince
once again dropped the ball on preserving his musical legacy. It's
absolutely asinine that this was not released to the world, it's that good.
So Prince once again misses out on giving his fans what they want and leaves
it to the bootleggers to do it right.
Frankly, it's probably a blessing Prince didn't release this as I am sure he
would have edited it down to a 'Best Of' from both shows. What you get here
are both complete sets, unedited, uncut, as it happened in Switzerland that
night. I've seen some complaining from the spoiled segment of the fan base
that these two shows are too similar. Yes they share a few of the same
songs, but both sets are drastically different both in setlist and tone.
Show one focuses much more on Prince's jazzier material and ballads. It
opens with the guitar heavy "When Eye Lay My Hands On U" and a fantastic,
radically re-worked version of "Little Red Corvette", but from there things
tend to stay on the mellow side. Songs like "When The Lights Go Down",
"Willing And Able" and "She Spoke 2 Me" are pulled from Prince's jazz-pop
catalog, while he delves into some of his greatest ballads including "Eye
Love U, But Eye Don't Trust U Anymore", "Insatiable", "Scandalous" and the
set closing "Nothing Compares 2 U". But the highlight of the first show is a
jaw dropping performance of "Empty Room" as Prince absolutely tears it up on
guitar, specifically during the final two minutes of the song. He's got
'that look' on his face during the scintillating solo that says 'I know I'm
a bad ass' and it's awe inspiring to watch.
Show Two also opens with "When Eye Lay My Hands On U" but it veers far from
the opening show after that as Prince doesn't let go of his guitar for damn
near forty minutes. One of many highlights is a performance of Billy
Cobham's "Stratus" that showcases the rest of his band, Renato Neto and
Morris Hayes on keys, Rhonda Smith on bass and John Blackwell on drums. This
is followed by a rocking version of Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up" which
goes into a killer version of Prince's own "Peach". A cover of Jimi
Hendrix's classic "Spanish Castle Magic" is next before Prince then pulls
out his own classic, 1980's "When You Were Mine". The re-worked "Little Red
Corvette" bookends this run of guitar heavy work and this entire portion of
the show is a God-send for those who like to see Prince on guitar.
The second half of Show Two is equally as incredible with a long funk jam on
"All The Critics Love U In New York", of course rechristened "All The
Critics Love U In Montreux". The unreleased 1986 song "In A Large Room With
No Light" was re-worked for this festival and follows before the second show
closes with an emotional performance of his anthem, "Purple Rain". This is
one of those songs that Prince has played so much it can be easy to get
tired of hearing in concert, especially in some of the throw-away shortened
versions he has done over the years, but this is a full performance and he
is pouring his heart into it, as he does the entire night.
These shows have also been released on CD but you really do lose something
without the video accompaniment. It's nice to have perfect sound quality
audio of these shows, but the passion, hunger and attitude Prince brought to
these shows this night need to be seen to be felt. He has that arrogant,
cocky look about him all night, the look a long time fan knows is going to
equal a great show, and here he delivers two in the same evening. This was a
night where Prince obviously felt he had something to prove, and when he
comes to the stage with that attitude, forget it. No one can touch him. This
is an absolutely essential release for any fan, certainly one of the best
Prince bootleg video releases ever.
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