The Second SOTT SET , the very best soundboard rehearsal discs
Sign O' The Times Rehearsal Sessions 2.0
3 CD
Label : Sabotage Records
Catalogue : #SAB 170-171-172
Disc Length : 63:53 / 55:59 / 61:56
Source : Soundboard Recordings
Sound Quality : EX- / EX
Year Of Release : 2002--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc 1Sign O' The Times Tour Rehearsal - Paisley Park : 2nd April 1987 (Part 1)
1. Sign O' The Times 2. Play In The Sunshine 3. Little Red Corvette 4. Housequake 5. Girls And Boys 6. Slow Love 7. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Take #1) 8. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Take #2) 9. Hot Thing 10. Now's The Time 11. Sheila E Drum Solo 12. If I Was Your Girlfriend 13. Strange Relationship 14. U Got The Look 15. 1999
Disc 2
Sign O' The Times Tour Rehearsal - NEC, Birmingham : Mid-April 1987 (Part 1)
1. Sign O' The Times 2. Play In The Sunshine 3. Little Red Corvette 4. Housequake 5. Girls And Boys 6. Slow Love 7. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man 8. Hot Thing 9. Now's The Time 10. Sheila E Drum Solo 11. If I Was Your Girlfriend 12. Let's Go Crazy (listed as U Got The Look on packaging) 13. When Doves Cry (including La, La, La, He, He, Hee)
Disc 3
Sign O' The Times Tour Rehearsal - Paisley Park : 2nd April 1987 (Part 2)
1. Forever In My Life 2. Kiss 3. The Cross 4. It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night (including Six)
Sign O' The Times Tour Rehearsal - NEC, Birmingham : Mid-April 1987 (Part 2)
5. Purple Rain 6. 1999 7. Forever In My Life 8. Kiss 9. The Cross 10. It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night (including Six)
COMMENT
This is Sabotage's second release focusing on the rehearsals for the upcoming Sign O' The Times tour (the first can be located HERE). The two rehearsals featured here occur only a matter of weeks before the tour began, so with the exception of a few tracks rehearsed which would later be dropped, everything here is as it appears on the tour. The first rehearsal spanning Disc 1 and the first half of Disc 3 takes place at Paisley Park, however the city Prince chooses to perform for tonight is London with many shout-outs to the city. The rehearsal contains both 'Strange Relationship' and 'U Got The Look', both of which never appeared on the tour. 'I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man' is performed twice due to the band seemingly forgetting if they are playing the complete version, or a shortened first verse only version - in the end they rehearse both versions. It's also worth noting that 'Purple Rain' doesn't appear on the rehearsal set-list. The quality of the soundboard is excellent, and whilst there are a number of small drop-outs during the rehearsal ('Slow Love', '1999' and 'It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night' have a number of edits) it would be silly to complain considering the overall improvement in quality over the previously circulating versions of this rehearsal. The only bitch I have regarding the 2nd April rehearsal is the pitch appears to be incorrect and the rehearsal appears to be sluggish and runs slightly too slow. The second rehearsal on here is much more focused than the first with less improvisation. The sound quality on the first half of the rehearsal (Disc 2 only) is also marginally thinner and slightly tinnier than the previous rehearsal - still an excellent soundboard, but not as full and enjoyable as the first rehearsal. It does improve vastly for the second half of the rehearsal though and is certainly a match for the first rehearsal. The actual location of the rehearsal is a little unclear, however I'm happy to leave it listed as being from Birmingham and not Paisley Park. There are a number of issues with lighting, smoke machines and various monitors on stage leading to Prince not picking up the band's instruments or vocals - these thing never normally happen at Paisley Park, and if they do Prince always calls one of the techs by name - something he doesn't do on this rehearsal - hence me believing it does not take place in a familiar setting like Paisley Park. The rehearsal itself is very typical of the majority of Sign O' The Times shows with a few slight changes. Prince is not present on vocals for both 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' nor 'Let's Go Crazy' (which Sabotage have incorrectly listed as being 'U Got The Look') and the female backing vocalists - especially Cat - take over. Interestingly 'When Doves Cry' also contains the added part lifted from 'La, La, La, He, He, Hee' - something which only appeared at a small number of the opening shows from the tour before it was dropped completely. This release along with the previous 'Sign O' The Times Tour Rehearsal Sessions 1.0' contain all the soundboard rehearsals from the era and are a perfect complement to each other. The sound quality throughout is exceptionally high and even with the few slight glitches and edits, these are a major improvement. The accompanying artwork is very nice and well thought through, but again they rely far too heavily on The Vault/Uptown for their information. The track-listing mistake aside, there is very little to fault here.