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Indigo Nights Prince album
Simon & Schuster Ltd
albumLondon knows how to party.
The live album Indigo Nights was released as a cover insert to Prince’s photo book 21 Nights documenting his record-setting twenty-one date stint at London’s newly inaugurated The O2 Arena.
Prince staged The Earth Tour at The O2 Arena between 1 August and 21 September 2007, supported by an accompanying album Planet Earth which was handed to each attendee on entry to each show. Indigo Nights is the book’s companion CD and comprises live recordings captured from two aftershows Prince performed at the arena’s adjoining 2,750 capacity split-level nightclub IndigO2.
The O2 complex repurposed the former Millennium Dome into a 23,000 capacity arena and officially opened on 24 June 2007. It was London’s first purpose built large scale entertainment venue since the Royal Albert Hall in the Victorian era. Its new operators event promotion firm AEG, sought Prince as the big-name artist to hold an exclusive concert residency to launch it. In addition to his main shows performed for The Earth Tour in the main arena, Prince played its adjoining club IndigO2 on 14 occasions during this 21 date residency. It was a risky venture book an artist with no album to promote nor recent hit to stage such a high profile and lengthy concert residency at a large arena venue. It was the first time anything like this has been done since Elvis Presley’s stint in Las Vegas during the 1970s. A book capturing the occasion was therefore worthy.
Indigo Nights compiles recordings from two aftershows Prince performed at the club in the early hours of 17th and 22nd September 2007 – the show which closed Prince’s historic residency at The O2. Indigo Nights is Prince’s second such live album, following the well received 2002 release The Aftershow: It Ain’t Over! releasing aftershows performed during his One Nite Alone… Tour.
Prince, backed by his full touring band New Power Generation, perform a range of songs including the hits Alphabet St. and Girls & Boys as well as a number of more recent tracks, namely 3121, Satisfied and The Song Of The Heart. An improvised jam, a reworking of Get On The Boat is titled Indigo Nights in celebration of his tenure at the venue. Amusingly, the configuration includes a monologue titled Just Like U in which Prince recalls being sent out to buy tampons on behalf of his mother. Typical for his aftershows, Indigo Nights also features a number of cover versions: Beggin’ Woman Blues (Pleasant Joseph, 1965) of which leads into Three Handed Woman (Louis Jordan, 1951); Rock Steady (Aretha Franklin, 1971); Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin, 1969); Misty Blue (Bob Montgomery, 1976); and Baby Love (Mother’s Finest, 1977). In other performances not included in Indigo Nights, he covered also Amy Winehouse, Stevie Wonder and Sly & The Family Stone. Prince’s backing singer Shelby J and guest Beverly Knight take lead vocals on three of the album’s covers in the compilation.
21 Nights book
Indigo Nights was presented, slipped into the front cover of the book 21 Nights. This book is a photo journal of Prince’s summer residency at The O2 Arena, and publishes images captured both on- and offstage by Randee St Nicholas, his long term photographer who first hired by Prince in 1991 to direct the promotional video for Gett Off. Being an insert with the book the CD was not eligible for the Billboard chart because the album’s sales were unable to be tracked as a conventional album sale. However, 21 Nights peaked at number 9 in the New York Best Sellers list – clearly the result of the CD’s inclusion. 21 Nights was released on 30 September 2008, and to celebrate its publication Prince staged a party at the Ganesvoort Hotel in New York on 10 October, tickets were priced at $1,000 per head. A cheaper entry aftershow at the same venue followed that evening, $300 per head, with the proceeds from both events donated to his Love 4 One Another charity. 21 Nights was Prince’s sole release in 2008. The format inspired the venue’s operators to book Michael Jackson for his This Is It residency in 2009. Prince’s residency of twenty-one nights at The O2 remains unbeaten.
Following his O2 residency, Prince set up home at 77 Beverly Park Lane, Beverly Hills. He would play just one public performance in 2008, the headlining act at Coachella Festival on 26 April. The performance was staged at the Empire Polo Field, Indio, California before an audience of 50,000. He was reputedly paid $3 million for this 125 minute show.
Performers
- Vocals/Guitar
- Prince
- Drums
- Cora Coleman-Dunham
- Keyboards
- Renato Neto
- Morris Hayes
- Bass Guitar
- Joshua Dunham
- Trombone
- Greg Boyer
- Saxophone
- Mike Phillips
- Trumpet
- Lee Hogans
- Co-lead vocals
- Shelby Johnson
- Marva King
- Backing vocals
- Maya McClean
- Nandy McClean
Data
- Producer
- Prince
- Label
- NPG Records
- Distribution
- Simon & Schuster Ltd
- Cover/Design
- Randee St. Nicholas
- Released
- 17 years ago on 30 September 2008
- Running Time
- 76:51
- US Chart Peak
- Ineligible
- UK Chart Peak
- Ineligible
- Orig. Format
-
Tracklist
- 3121 (7:44) 1
- Girls & Boys (4:05) 1
- The Song Of The Heart (1:39) 1
- Delirious (2:01) 1
- Just Like U [monologue] (2:49) 1
- Satisfied (6:19) 1
- Beggin' Woman Blues (6:43) 1
- Rock Steady [sung by Beverly Knight] (6:37) 2
- Whole Lotta Love (4:42) 2
- Alphabet St. (6:09) 2
- Indigo Nights (3:41) 2
- Misty Blue [sung by Shelby J.] (4:25) 2
- Baby Love [sung by Shelby J.] (3:54) 2
- The One (9:08) 2
- All The Critics Love U In London (7:05) 2
1 Recorded at IndigO2 17 September 2007
2 Recorded at IndigO2 22 September 2007
Singles from Indigo Nights
Indigo Nights produced no singles.
Indigo Nights album review
Indigo Nights is Prince’s third live album, and thankfully he does not let up on magnitude. Recorded at IndigO2 Club during his historic 21 Nights In London stint at The O2 Arena, which gives the album its name, Indigo Nights opens with the familiar 3121 slash D.M.S.R, launching jams a plenty (Indigo Nights), fun (Beggin’ Woman Blues) and flare (Whole Lotta Love), all proving that even in his 50s Prince’s performances were as tight, if not tighter than ever before. Beverly Knight (Rock Steady) and a flawless Shelby J. (Misty Blue and her stonking cover of Mother’s Finest’s Baby Love) join him in a typically immaculate live set that displays yet again Prince could easily fund his retirement by just releasing more of his shows to CD.
The bluesy Alphabet St. will be the only familiar track for the casual listener, but this album is one fans will gladly keep to themselves. Indigo Nights was released along with 21 Nights book documenting his exploits in London throughout August and September 2007, throwing this gem in to the mix as an insert slipped into its cover provided a sure-fire way to hit the best sellers list too. And why not!
Indigo Nights is rated 4 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.
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