Prince ad libs a brief bit about his new aversion to “four-letter words,” though the singer’s come-hither delivery ensures that the change does no harm to the song’s slinky vibe. Subtle revision of the song’s lyrics is as close as he comes to any lecturing on Aftershow. Here, Prince airs it out for over ten minutes, recasting it as both a band-introduction tool and a showcase for his electric guitar showboating. The opening song, “Joy in Repetition,” dates from sessions that produced Sign ‘O’ the Times, and was later included in the scattershot soundtrack to Prince’s box-office bomb Graffiti Bridge. While avoiding his biggest hits, this nearly hour-long ride finds Prince engaging with key selections from his repertoire. There’s much to savor from that oft-overlooked wilderness period, but the urgent showmanship of One Nite Alone… The Aftershow: It Ain’t Over! makes it a highlight in Prince’s discography and a gratifying, much-needed connection with his ability to take it to the stage.
Similarly, it is now available for streaming and purchase on Tidal, along with the majority of the NPG Records catalog. Years later, Prince carved out this third disc as a standalone title for sale on one of his websites. Still, most detractors couldn’t ignore the third CD, which presented a rush of screaming blues licks, rowdy funk-ensemble workouts, and sultry soul, all captured during “aftershow” parties from this same tour. Given the outlier that Children was in his catalog, a follow-up live release that repeated the same sermons over its first two discs was met with some frustration. But these setlists also explored another recent Prince recording, *The Rainbow Children-*a concept album that heralded his conversion to the Jehovah’s Witness faith. One Nite Alone…Live! was a box set that chronicled the tour in support of Prince’s similarly titled piano-and-vocals CD. In 2002, before his Musicology comeback, he gave these hardcore fans what they wanted, at long last. Message boards on his various online “music clubs” were often clogged with requests for official live discs. Prince knew admirers bootlegged his shows. The album included a cover of a Joni Mitchell song, “A Case of You,” which Prince would reprise on his final tour.These perversions are not unwitting. The sound of One Nite Alone… would be explored by Prince again in late 2015 and early 2016, when he would perform solo concerts for the first time in his career on his Piano and a Microphone Tour. Notably, the album credits also include “ambient singing” by Prince’s beloved Paisley Park doves, Divinity and Majesty, who can be heard softly cooing in the background of the stirring final track, “Arboretum.” On the album, however, Prince performed in a stripped-down style that more closely mirrors the title of the album, with only John Blackwell accompanying him on some tracks on drums, and Prince accompanying himself on piano and synthesizer.
PRINCE ONE NITE ALONE...WITH FRIENDS FULL
On the tour Prince was joined by a full band, and he performed backed by drummer John Blackwell, bassist Rhonda Smith, keyboardist Renato Neto, and a large horn section that included the revered James Brown saxophonist Maceo Parker. When the album was released, Prince was already in the midst of a successful One Nite Alone… Tour, which would take him across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan for the majority of 2002.
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