Listening to this Purple Rain-era live show from Syracuse in 1985, you’re reminded how introverted Prince was. Does he dazzle? Yes. Does he dance? Yes—and shred, and sweat, and offer you his most carnal love. But he also creates a sense of interiority that, if not at odds with how physical the music is, at least feels remarkable when you remember there were 50,000 people there with him. God and Satan (“Let’s Go Crazy”), Mom and Dad (“When Doves Cry”), U and Me (“Let’s Pretend We’re Married”): He sees the lines and he blurs them. The funniest banter comes on “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” when he asks, “Does your man have an ass like mine?” But the one that gets under your skin is on “God” because when he says, “I know you better than you think I do,” he says it like he might.
Up All Nite With Prince: The One Nite Alone Collection brings the electrifying power of Prince’s 2002 studio and live releases together in one stunning package. This 4CD/1DVD set includes One Nite Alone…, Prince’s striking piano-and-vocal studio album (in its first commercial CD release); the double-disc One Nite Alone…Live! featuring recent jams (“Muse 2 The Pharaoh,” “1+1+1 Is 3”) and classic favorites (“Raspberry Beret,” “Nothing Compares 2 U,” “When U Were Mine”); the high-energy One Nite Alone…The Aftershow: It Ain’t Over! with guest appearances by George Clinton and Musiq Soulchild; and the Live At The Aladdin Las Vegas DVD. The ultimate Prince concert experience is here!
Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You is a tale as old as time. It’s an album. Its songs and music are by and for people together. For listening together. Before it gets too late. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy stands at the nexus of all the kinds of music he can summon, with friends, with family and community. All roads roll though him. There can be no holding back. A million billion moments are on the line. He’s gonna tell us about a world…