San Francisco ’82 (4DF) CD

San Francisco ’82 CD

4DaFunk
Catalog # 4DF
Release Year 2015
CD Length 71:03
Date/Venue Feb. 14, 1982 San Francisco
Source Soundboard Recording
Quality EX+

Rating 5.0/5.0

Track Listing
Live in San Francisco 14 February, 1982
01 Uptown
02 Why you wanna treat me so bad
03 When you were mine
04 I wanna be your lover
05 Head
06 Annie Christian
07 Dirty mind
08 Do me, baby
09 Controversy
10 Let's work

Comments
Fink's Comments (rates this release 5.0/5.0)
Anytime you can get a soundboard recording from the Controversy era, you are talking GOLD. This particular recording is missing the opening with The Second Coming, but that doesn’t concern me too much as we get right down to it from the start. The set lists from the Controversy tour don’t vary too much, so there aren’t any surprises when the first song is Uptown. I was wondering if I would feel jaded listening to a recording from a tour I know so well, but any reservations are well and truly laid to rest when that glorious clean soundboard recording is heard. The sound leaps out of the speakers, and Princes youthful enthusiasm is evident for all to hear. Uptown sounds great, and one of the things that strikes me most is the bass sound. It’s not deep and heavy, but it has a fantastic popping sound to it, and the recording captures it perfectly. I like that the sound is much more even on this recording, and no one instrument dominates as you often hear on audience recordings.

Head is the centre piece of the concert, it runs for 13 minutes, and is everything you could possibly wish for. The guitar is slippery, the keyboards heaving, and the bass and vocals are both dirty sounding. Like everything else on this recording, the balance is perfect, and there is many small details for me to enjoy as I listen close. I love the vocals of Lisa, as well as Prince. The energy of the show is very apparent, and as I said earlier, it really does jump out of the speakers at me. I don’t get the nostalgic feeling at all, it still sounds fresh and new to me, and I feel younger just for listening to it.

This is an outstanding recording, the songs may not be new to my ears, but the quality of the show is very high, and a lot of things gain an extra dimension when I listen to them in soundboard quality.