In the wake of 1984’s 25 million copy-selling cultural phenomenon Purple Rain, Prince was elevated into the position he was born to occupy, as the world’s foremost rock god.
But Prince’s brilliance wasn’t just based on the commercial clout of his latest album, the multi-talented virtuoso was backed by a s**t hot band (The Revolution). Like David Bowie before him, Prince widened the scope of a live show – blurring the lines between theatre and rock gig via his exceptionally dynamic (often choreographed) movements. But at heart, the man was one hell of a musician.
Attended by both chart-obsessed pop fans and studious musos, the 1.7 million ticket-selling Purple Rain tour cemented forever many people’s eternal, ruffle-shirted image of Prince. Its pinnacle was undoubtedly the iconic show at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York – broadcast live across Europe via satellite. Prince was here to prove that being the world’s biggest rock star meant you needed to reach the homes of millions outside the walls of the venue…
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“We were probably never hotter,” Revolution drummer Bobby Z (Robert Rivkin) told us in an interview we conducted in 2022. “It definitely had that end of school feeling – we were happy to play again, because we weren’t in the middle [of the tour]. It was the end of the tunnel. And we were going for it every night.”
Bobby, alongside guitarists Wendy Melvoin and Brown Mark and keyboardists Lisa Coleman and Dr Fink, had been well-rehearsed by the Purple One
“I just remember that it was nerve-wracking because we had to be on top form for the show,” remembered keyboard player Matt ‘Dr’ Fink, who we also spoke to back in 2022.
“We knew that, boy, we got to really concentrate hard, not make mistakes. And the worst part is that playing in that big venue was difficult because it’s so huge that the slapback echo in there was difficult to judge – at soundcheck the drums were just flying back at you out of time. It’s hard to find the one in that.”
Technical issues aside, the pressure of putting on a good show for both the Syracuse crowd (and the potentially millions of European watchers at home) was yet another worry to grapple with ahead of the show. As was the fact that, well, Prince liked things to be cranked to the max…
“Prince liked it loud on stage so, you know… put it this way – your ears would ring on the pillow,” Bobby Z told us. “Your head would be vibrating after those shows. Your body and your mind were shaken to the core.”
To achieve all that he had achieved during the Purple Rain-era, it’s no surprise to learn that Prince was a perfectionist;
“Prince put the pressure on himself, too,” Bobby Z told us, “so you had to rise to his level. So we just rose to that level the best we could to keep up with him emotionally and spiritually. I mean, he would pile challenges on nightly.”
“You had to be prepared,” added Matt Fink. “You know, do your homework, listen to the songs at home as much as possible and be ready to play them perfectly. The first day of rehearsal. It was kind of like, other than changing arrangements or adding parts, he just wanted you to know the recorded version really well. And if you didn’t, you got in trouble.”
Click here to read our full interview with Matt Fink and Bobby Z.
