Prince – Small Club (2nd Show That Night) (1988) 2 CD SET

Het Paard Van Troje, The Hague
Rotterdam, Holland
Thursday August 18th, 1988

Soundboard Recording

Disc 1:

101 Instrumental Jam
102 D.M.S.R.
103 Just My Imagination
104 People Without
105 Housequake
106 Down Home Blues

Disc 2

201 Cold Sweat
202 Forever in My Life
203 Still Would Stand All Time
204 I’ll Take You There I
205 I’ll Take You There II
206 Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic

This is the infamous Small Club show that is arguably the greatest live Prince bootleg ever! It features superb sound quality, several great covers, a couple tracks unreleased at the time, and one improvised song (‘People Without’) that has never been heard before or since.

The show itself is a true aftershow classic, with everything we could ask for in a performance: killer guitar solos (Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic & Just My Imagination), great vocals (Still Would Stand All Time), lots of Boni Boyer, and a couple of unreleased songs (People Without, etc..). This is Prince at his physical and performing prime. Looking back I would have to say that 1987-88 featured him at his best more consistently that any other time of his career. His aftershows during this time period are just legendary including the incredible Camden Palace show in London on July 25th, the Hamburg show in late August and one of the first, the Quasimodo gig on the Sign O the Times tour. Never has his ferocity been so evident at shows such as these. His effortless ability to mix stunning cover versions and unreleased tracks along with completely new renditions of his classics is remarkable. It also has a lot to do with his look. Watch the clips of the Camden Palace gig and you can see a stronger, firmer Prince that we’ve seen in recent years. Not one as frail and weightless as we’re becoming accustomed to now. What is also noticeable in those aftershow clips is that Prince KNEW he had just hit his prime. His relaxed mood with the European fans, his musicianship, and his first truly great backing band had reached a peak at this time unmatched to that point in his career. His confidence and showmanship have never been so apparent. -Original