Indigo Chronicles Chapter 6, The
4 CD
Label : Sabotage
Catalogue : #SAB 347-348-349-350
Disc Length : 77:22 / 77:24 / 79:55 / 75:07
Source : Audience Recordings
Sound Quality : EX
Year Of Release : 2008
Artwork: Included
Lineage: Silver CD > EAC > TLH > U
Disc 1
3121 Aftershow – IndigO2, The O2, London : 10th September 2007 (am)
1. Mike Phillips Intro – Footprints 2. Cherish The Day 3. The World Is A Ghetto (instrumental) 4. 1999 5. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) 6. All The Critics Love U In London 7. Chelsea Rodgers 8. Sexy Dancer v’s Le Freak 9. Alphabet St. 10. I Want To Take You Higher (including Yakety Sax) 11. The Chicken – Mind In 7 12. Crazy 13. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head – Video
Disc 2
1. Joy In Repetition 2. What Is Hip (instrumental) 3. Peach (instrumental) (including Rock Me, Baby) 4. Peach (groove) – Speech 5. Love Changes 6. Sweet Thing 7. The Question Of U (instrumental) (including The One – Fallin’) 8. Girls And Boys (including Cutie Pie – Miss You) 9. 3121 (including Alexander’s Ragtime Band – Music! Music! Music! – The Entertainer – The Sailor’s Hornpipe – Yakety Sax) 10. I Feel For You 11. Controversy (including Soul Makossa – Housequake)
Disc 3
3121 Aftershow – IndigO2, The O2, London : 22nd September 2007 (am)
1. Intro – Love Is A Losing Game (w/ Amy Winehouse) 2. 7 3. Come Together 4. Honky Tonk Women 5. Rock Steady (w/ Beverley Knight) 6. Whole Lotta Love (instrumental) 7. Shhh 8. All The Critics Love U In London 9. Sexy Dancer v’s Le Freak 10. Chelsea Rodgers
Disc 4
1. Misty Blue 2. Baby Love 3. Love Changes (intro) – Kiss (guitar groove) – Alphabet St. 4. Instrumental 5. Get On The Boat 6. Love Rollercoaster 7. Play That Funky Music 8. Anotherloverholenyohead – Rock Lobster (instrumental) 9. Villanova Junction 10. Peach – Rock Me, Baby 11. Stratus 12. The Question Of U (instrumental) (including The One) 13. What Have You Done For Me Lately? 14. Partyman 15. It’s Alright
COMMENT
The 10th (am) September 3121 aftershow contained on Disc 1 & 2 is again another stellar effort from Sabotage and a better source recording than the O2verload release (listed HERE). Not without a few minor niggles though, and a few female screams during the early stages of the show are probably the most audible of problems. Again, the audience level reaches fever pitch and increases dramatically as Prince steps onto the stage for the first time, and while it may have you reaching for the volume to turn it down, it’s (to me) perfectly acceptable and to be expected. This recording also has a few wavering moments towards the end of ‘Chelsea Rodgers’, but as with the majority of the recordings on the Sabotage “The Indigo Chronicles” chapters, I only really make note of them as there is very little to be critical of overall due to their excellence. Not the best aftershow of the residency as it’s slightly disjointed with no flow and just as Prince appears to be getting into a funky groove, he walks offstage and leaves the NPG to entertain with a 13 minute instrumental before returning to rescue the show – disjointed, but when it’s good, it’s very, very good. I’ve covered the shows content in the O2verload link above so shan’t wax lyrical about the content too heavily. For the most part Disc 1 is fairly straightforward with the added bonus of a rare performance of Sade’s ‘Cherish The Day’ (Shelby on vocals) and the bizarre inclusion of ‘1999’ during an aftershow – always a pleasure to hear, but strange in such an intimate setting. Disc 2 begins well with an extended instrumental intro to ‘Joy In Repetition’ complete with sublime guitar flourishes by Prince before moving onto an instrumental ‘What Is Hip’ and an instrumental ‘Peach’ with lyrics lifted from ‘Rock Me Baby’. It’s at this point Prince plays an 8 minute groove whilst berating the state of the record industry, which may sound tedious, but is actually pretty funky. The remainder of the show is again pretty standard fare, save for the inclusion of the African chant from ‘Soul Makossa’ during the closing ‘Controversy’. The final aftershow from 22nd (am) September really leaves me nothing to be critical about as it’s one of the best audience recordings of the entire “The Indigo Chronicles” box set and one of the best recordings to surface from the London main shows or aftershows from any label – fan or otherwise. To be 100% honest I hear a few distant background voices during the quieter parts of the ‘Instrumental’ following on from ‘Alphabet St.’ and during the quieter parts of ‘Stratus’, along with some very minor movement during ‘Alphabet St.’ – but these are barely worthy of mention and I only do so as the remainder is flawless, extraordinarily clear and sharp, and the audience level throughout is zero. The recording is very tasty and particular mention goes to the bass level which adds a kick to the show – listen to this release and tell me Josh’s bass solo on ‘Rock Steady’ isn’t funk personified. Excellent show to match the excellence of the recording and there is something here from just about every other 3121 Aftershow condensed into 155 minutes. Amy Winehouse’s appearance for the opening ‘Love Is A Losing Game’ is the real highlight of the show and whilst it was great to hear on other recordings circulating, it’s a sheer joy to listen to it in this quality. Not to be outdone, Beverley Knight’s version of ‘Rock Steady’ matches Shelby’s vocal power and these two guest appearances alone make this show unforgettable. Prince’s mini-rock/guitar set during the second half of the show is the highlight of his own performance with the one and only appearance of ‘Villanova Junction’ from the London stay, followed by ‘Stratus’ and an excellent ‘The Question Of U – The One – Fallin’ complete with some impressive screaming for a man who has just played 34 shows in 52 days. This particular “chapter” of Sabotage’s Indigo box set really shouldn’t be overlooked simply due to the extremely high quality source recordings used – anyone looking for the best recordings should look no further as I can’t see anything appearing better than this, particularly the 22nd(am) aftershow. As with the rest of the “chapters” in this set, the packaging and artwork is stunning with a 12 page booklet containing a nice fan-written report swiped from prince.org and various fan pictures from inside the Indigo club. This Chapter 6 is a fitting end to one of the best unofficial releases in a long, long time and is a very welcome return to form for Sabotage after their 2 year absence.