Eye Records 1 DVD Label : “Eye” Records Catalogue : #86 1Disc Length : 74 Mins. Source : Professionally Filmed Soundboard Recording Date/Venue : First Avenue, Minneapolis 3rd August 1983 Sound Quality : VG+ Year Of Release : 2009

Comments
Fink's Comments  (rates this release 4.5/5.0)
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. This is "Eye" Records second DVD release of the 3rd August 1983 concert, the first being 2005's 'First Avenue' released under their previous guise of Ladybird Records. That was a decent attempt, albeit a rip of someone else's work, and this is again another nice effort with various plus and minus points. To date the best quality release is available on the Fullasoul/Superball 'The Makings Of Rain' so the most obvious question is, is this better? No it's not. It's good, in parts great, but not as excellent as the Fullasoul release.

The picture quality here is impressive and "Eye" have, to their credit, attempted to fix some glitches which occur in the opening half of the show. Alas, the colours have a tendency to be way off - for example Prince's Hohner guitar is luminous green due to an attempt to balance the colours - however a major plus to this is the greenish tint is minimal in comparison to many others, and the blacks are very black and solid. There's some ghosting during the opening couple of songs, and some light flickering during 'Electric Intercourse', but on the whole this is very, very good and had the Fullasoul/Superball release not been in existence, I'd be praising the quality of this Eye Records release. Yet in saying all that, I still really enjoyed this and criticism from me aside, for a video recording that is over 25 years old, this is still worthwhile viewing and worthy of a pressed release. The show is legendary for all the right reasons and without regurgitating everything I've said about it on numerous other releases, the fact it contains the one and only live performances of 'Electric Intercourse' and the full length 'Purple Rain' should make it essential to anyone who dabbles in the world of unofficial recordings. The menu's are simple and uncluttered, however a slight annoyance for me is the scrolling text which one has to sit through before being able to navigate away.

The DVD comes with a 10 page booklet including a description of the show which has a striking similarity to a past review of mine - who else would use the term "orgasmic magnificence" to describe 'Electric Intercourse'. Theft of my fabulous musings aside, the booklet could easily have been condensed down and it's style over substance with half the pages serving no purpose. Overall, despite what may appear to be me moaning, I did enjoy this release and whilst it doesn't reach the giddy heights of 'The Makings Of Rain', it's a very respectable effort and one which I'd happily view again.