Late Night Prince: Hamburg 88

The grandaddy of Prince aftershows, at least as far as 80’s Prince goes, is the ‘Small Club’ from the Hague in Holland, recorded late one night & early one morning on August 19, 1988 during the Lovesexy Tour.

Overshadowed by its excellent quality big brother, this aftershow from later that month is a treat in itself. The sound quality leaves a little to be desired, there’s some skips, there’s parts missing. Yeah, it’s imperfect, but totally worth it. It’s another glimpse into the real Prince, the Prince that liked to keep his band up until the wee hours of the morning, running them through the funky stuff, keeping them sharp, but very relaxed at the same time.

This is certainly the sweetest and funkiest “Strange Relationship” I’ve ever heard. Ten minutes of Strange Relationship-ness, no less. Prince brings up Taylor Dane during “Still Would Stand All Time”, where towards the end she gets into it with the late Boni Boyer (who can sing louder?). We get “Rave Un 2 the Joy Fantastic” a dozen years before it was officially released. A nice long “Love Bizarre”. And during “God is Alive”, Prince (sort of) explains why the ‘Black Album’ was pulled in favor of ‘Lovesexy’.

I’ll always favor this Prince.

Aftershow at Grosse Freiheit 36 club in Hamburg, Germany
August 30-31, 1988

1. Just My Imagination [fades in after start]
2. Rave Un 2 The Joy Fantastic
3. Girls & Boys
4. Venus De Milo
5. Starfish & Coffee
6. Raspberry Beret
7. People Without
8. Condition Of The Heart
9. Still Would Stand All Time (w/ Taylor Dayne)
10. Strange Relationship
11. A Love Bizarre
12. I’ll Take U There
13. Down Home Blues / Blues In C
14. Cold Sweat
15. God Is Alive
16. I Wish U Heaven
17. Purple Rain [faded out before end]

Whilst on a “Lovesexy” YouTube search, I came across this dance interpretation of Prince’s “Sister” from ‘Dirty Mind’. I’m feverishly trying to track down her interpretation of the song that precedes “Sister” on the album. Now I don’t want to exclude anyone, so for those who don’t enjoy that, try this.