Musicology Celebration 2004ever Vol. III Ladybird Records 4CD

Musicology Celebration 2004ever Vol. III 4CD

4 CD
Label : Ladybird Records
Catalogue : #LBCD 016-017-018-019
3Disc Length : 74:25 / 78:34 / 71:01 / 78:02
Venue : Excel Energy Center, St. Paul 18th June 2004
Source : Audience Recordings
Sound Quality : EX-
Year Of Release : 2004

Rating 4.75/5.0

Track Listing
Musicology Tour Excel Energy Center, St. Paul 18th June 2004

Disc 1
1. Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Video Intro 2. Musicology 3. Let's Go Crazy 4. I Would Die 4 U 5. When Doves Cry 6. 1999 (intro) - Baby I'm A Star 7. Shhh 8. D.M.S.R. 9. A Love Bizarre (intro) - The Glamorous Life (intro) 10. I Feel For You 11. Controversy 12. A Love Bizarre (including Smoke On The Water) 13. Renato Interlude 14. God (instrumental) 15. Little Red Corvette 16. Cream 17. (Sometimes I Feel Like A) Motherless Child 18. Jailhouse Rock 19. Raspberry Beret

Disc 2
1. Telemarketers Blues 2. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man 3. Alphabet St. 4. On The Couch 5. 7 6. Sign O' The Times 7. Dear Mr. Man 8. Whole Lotta Love 9. Prince And The Band 10. Let's Work 11. U Got The Look 12. Life 'O' The Party 13. Soul Man 14. Kiss 15. Take Me With U 16. The Beautiful Ones 17. Nothing Compares 2 U 18. Purple Rain

'The Combo' - Bunker's Bar & Grill, Minneapolis : 14th June 2004
19. The Pride 20. Fight The Power

Disc 3
Musicology Tour Aftershow - Paisley Park : 19th June 2004 (am)
1. Call My Name 2. Joy In Repetition 3. Girls And Boys (including Mustang Sally) 4. Knock On Wood 5. What Is Hip? 6. Something In The Water (Does Not Compute) 7. Speechless (instrumental)

Disc 4
1. Shake Everything You've Got 2. Superstition 3. 777-9311 4. Brick House 5. No Diggity 6. The Jam 7. Purple Rain 8. Adore

Musicology Tour Aftershow - Paisley Park : 19th June 2004 (am) - Kip Blackshire
9. Everyday People (w/ Prince)

Comments
Fink's Comments (rates this release 5.0/5.0)
The final volume of Ladybirds document of the Minneapolis 2004 concerts, and it doesn't disappoint. The sound quality is as consistently good as the previous 2 volumes (VOLUME I) (VOLUME II), and the shows themselves feature some unusual moments. The main Musicology concert is the last of the 3 nights in Prince's hometown and he certainly leaves them with a memorable concert. The acoustic set features a soulful 'Motherless Child', and the second half of the concert inserts 'Dear Mr. Man' as opposed to launching straight into 'Whole Lotta Love' (which works very well, and makes 'Whole Lotta Love' sound much more raw after the slowed down break). As you would expect (or at least I would), Purple Rain is just an absolute JOY to listen to. The sound of 20,000 Minneapolis folks singing the "Oooh ooh ooh ooh" part is heart-warming stuff indeed.

The aftershow is again (as with VOLUME II) a class show. An audience member gets up to sing (I use the term 'sing' very warily) a verse of 'Joy In Repetition', before Prince takes back the mic for a verse and a guitar solo that challenges the New York 2002 aftershow version in the ass-kicking stakes. Larry Graham gets some action during 'The Jam' on vocals and bass, which leads into a VERY unusual version of 'Purple Rain' without the guitar - I've listened to it a few times now, and I'm still not convinced by it. 'Adore' closes the set, and all too soon - the show is over.

As with the other 2 Volumes, the artwork leaves a little to be desired, however the sound quality and content of the discs is SO amazing that the packaging is unimportant. It should be noted that this 12 Disc Set is a numbered, limited edition of 1,000 copies.