Prince: Live in Syracuse 1985

Less polished and coherent than later concert registrations: nonetheless great music and purpleness in the 'immaculate' early days of his royal purpleness the genius from Minneapolis. Also 5 B-sides R programmed in the show. No less than 120 min of jammin' funk and funky jazz. No material from the upcoming album 'Around the world in a day' unfortunately, apart from some catchy 1-liners and controversial behaviour :-o

The only let-down is the chest-hair, though it seems 2 disappear half-way through the movie. And there R some dull moments where the show seems 2 stand still 4 a moment. 1 of the worst composers of the 9ties was definitely the single consistently best artist of the 8ies: producing, arranging, composing and performing. He confirmed that once more in 1987 with the 'Sign "o" The Times' concert registration and the brilliant album of course. My second favourites R '1999' and 'Purple Rain' of which most songs R presented here. Purple Rain - the movie - was a disappointment though, even more than 'Under the cherry moon'. I'm still wondering where the fantastic concert registration of Lovesexy is.

9/10

A remastered version, here is Prince and his band the Revolution in concert after their breakthrough in 1984.

Buoyed by the success of the movie Purple Rain which got Prince an Oscar for best song.

He quickly rivalled Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen in musical terms by 1985.

This is an opportunity to see Prince in his purple regency period. Fans would later discover that Prince had the chameleon like ability to change colour schemes, looks and bands.

It opens with Let's Go Crazy, moves to older hits 1999 and Little Red Corvette. From then on the emphasis is on the Purple Rain album as the concert ends with the title track.

It is a showcase of Prince the writer, performer, musician and dancer. He really wanted to show the world he could walk the walk and talk the talk.

In retrospect, I did squirm when I saw him dance. Like Michael Jackson his joints paid a price for it in later life.

The concert movie is a celebration of his breakthrough period. A historical record of one of the most influential artists of the last two decades of the twentieth century.

I just watched my BluRay copy that I got for Christmas. Purple Rain is, imo, Prince's greatest musical achievement.

This isn't a criticism of the performance in any way, but an observation of the video production alone.

What I wouldn't give to have some better lights in this place. The entire affair is so dimly lit that it's a testament to the music that we still hang on until the end. How in the world isn't there a spotlight following Prince everywhere he goes on that stage? And Prince goes nearly EVERYWHERE in near total darkness.

The house of mirrors effect used during the entirety of "When Doves Cry" is tiresome. Thankfully it's only for that track alone, which is still a shame because it's one of his greatest hits and you find yourself looking elsewhere during the whole song just to save your eyes.

I think the house lights went on once the entire show, which is a bummer because that crowd deserved to be highlighted a bit more.

All 8 stars in my rating are for that incredible band and the genius leading them.

A few years ago, I went into a video store, and like I always do, I checked out the music videos. Upon seeing this title, I said to myself, " hey, I like Prince, let me get this." So I get home, and pop in the tape..and it starts to roll, and I see, "on march 30th, 198five, the world witnessed Prince and the revolution". I start thinking to myself...hmmmmm, that date sounds familiar...OH MY GOD, I JUST BOUGHT A TAPE OF A CONCERT I WAS AT LIVE!. I must say that in 1985, I was not a big Prince fan, but the girl I was seeing at the time was, so I figured, what the hell, I will take her. I came away a fan. The show was energetic, great music, great showmanship etc and now I own every Prince recording. The relationship with the woman didn't last, but my admiration for Prince remains. Now I show my girlfriend the tape and say " hey, I was there" and I show her the ticket stub. No, I can't see myself in the video since my seats were obstructed view. Hey, maybe thats why my relationship at the concert didn't last lol. Shoulda sprung for better seats, but I was just a young college student at the time.

I was in the video store a few years back when this title caught my eye. Since I had seen Prince live once, my curiosity got me so I purchased it. Imagine my suprise when I started to watch it and realized it was the show I attended live! Anyway, I went to the concert only because the girl I was seeing at the time was heavily into Prince, but I came away a fan. The man is amazing, and I must say this tape does the concert justice. It conveys the electricity that went thru the Carrier Dome that night. While some songs like "Temptation" were left out ( it was new at the time), the remaining songs and the dancing ( OH MAN, THE DANCING IS GREAT), more than make up for it. High points are "Beautiful Ones", " Irresistable Bitch", and of course "1999" and a just killer performance of " Purple Rain". If you have even a remote interest in Prince, this is a must have!