Being a teenager in the Mid-1980's, you simply could not escape Prince's "Purple Rain". The songs from the soundtrack were everywhere and because Prince was such a unique and dynamic artist, music fans flocked to the film. Due to the fact that rock stars stopped making movies with themselves starring in them since about the time of 1978's "Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park", no one our age had seen anything quite like it. But as a kid who loved the old Elvis and Beatles movies, "Purple Rain" was right up my alley. With its racial and genre bending script, in 1984 the film seemed almost revolutionary. Watching it 30 years later is a different story. It's corny, the acting is awful, and it's beyond misogynistic. But...there are those songs. The songs that still sounds as fresh and groundbreaking today.
If you know the film well, you certainly will remember the concert scene at the film's climax which included a scorching version of ""Purple Rain". From listening to the soundtrack 8,000,000 times and watching the film countless amounts, I was always under the assumption that song was recorded in the studio, lip synced in the film, with the audience being over-dubbed to create a live effect Boy was I wrong, and the killer proof is below!
The real story is that the basic track you hear in the film were recorded during a benefit concert for the Minnesota Dance Theatre at the First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis on August 3, 1983. The song was later cleaned up and used in the film. This amazing video of the original performance contain more drama and excitement then the entire movie, and make it so you will never want or need to watch your old VHS copy again. I can only imagine what the audience thought hearing this epic 13 minute version of "Purple Rain" for the first time.
Even if you only care to hear this song one more time in your live (once you get past the two minute intro), this is MUST SEE rock and roll viewing!
Prince - Purple Rain [Live 1983] by Vilosophe
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