One of the (many) pivotal performances in Prince’s career was a 1983 benefit concert at First Avenue for the Minnesota Dance Theatre. Not only was this Wendy Melvoin’s first show in his band—solidifying the lineup of the Revolution that would catapult the Purple One into the musical stratosphere—but the gig featured a murderer’s row of song debuts: “Purple Rain,” “I Would Die 4 U,” “Baby I’m a Star,” and the future number one “Let’s Go Crazy,” which opened the benefit. On a recent viewing, I inadvertently started getting chills as the familiar sustained organ and Prince’s spoken-word intro took the audience to church for the first time.
Weirdly, I was watching this multi-camera, decent-quality bootleg of the concert on YouTube—and it was just one of many, many, many astounding Prince clips that have surfaced online in the days since his death. In fact, there haven’t been enough hours in the day to catch up on the performances flooding YouTube. As a fan, it’s been a little like being allowed to have chocolate cake every morning for breakfast…