The Revolution

One Liner: Prince's backing band, carrying on without him.
Wikipedia Genre:  Funk rock, neo-psychedelia, Minneapolis sound
Home: Minneapolis, MN

Poster Position: 13
Day: Sunday at 6:00
Both Weekends.

Thoughts:  So, it'll take some work to find this band online.  I'm sure you already know this, but this is actually Prince's backing band.  Which means they made the music behind the Purple Rain album.  Which means they are iconic, even without their amazing leader (RIP Purple one!).

When I was like 13, or whenever the video for "Gett Off" came out, I thought that was the greatest music video in the history of all music videos.  I was about to stick that video in here, but that was part of the time when Prince was backed up by the New Power Generation, not The Revolution, so I need to make a different choice to give you something to jam while you read the next 3,000,000 words.

So, if you go onto Spotify and search Revolution, you get a few weird things, none of which are this band.  First, you get an entry for the band "Revolution," which apparently actually encompasses multiple bands (or a band that changes styles in a pretty amazing way).  Interestingly, Spotify lists this entry as being scheduled to come to Zilker Park in the Fall (not true).  Here are the options:

• All the most popular songs are in French (Portuguese?), from a 2018 album called Energy, and featuring four black dudes.  Kinda happy tunes.
• The second album, called Revolution 2014, but released in 2015, appears to be metal?  Some other foreign language is being used here.  "Ami R Kandbo Na" has a tight guitar part.
• 2015's Overdose appears to be those same French-ish African dudes.
• 2014's Day of Protest reminds me of this terrible CD I bought from Waterloo's used bin, back in high school, that was called something like Metal Monsters.  And was a bunch of unknown metal shredding garbage with terrible production values.  BUT, this is at least in English, so we're in the right language now.
• 2009's Lifeline is more of a synth/electro thing that might be in German and English?
• 2007's Hymnmorphosis is a collection of really crappy grunge versions of hymns.  Literally, try "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing," which sounds like a bad Coldplay cover band took over the stage at your local non-denominational church.  Blerg.
• 2006's Revolution is more of a bluegrass thing.  Well, at least it has tons of violin/fiddle.  Weird shit man.
• 2000's The Revolution is straight electronic club music.

Then, if you search for "The Revolution," you get:

• a 2016 album called Little Boy's Crime that literally sounds like it was recorded on analog tape in an airplane.  Kind of 60's rock music.
• Four "Remasters" albums, which also have awful sound quality and sound like shitty 60's rock.  This is good foreshadowing of the next couple hundred words on this blog.  If this band can issue four albums of remastered "hits," that tells you something.
• a 2015 album, with the same cover as that 2016 album, called One Way Ticket.  Also sounds terrible.
• another 2015 album, this one called Sitting on the Edge.  Am I being trolled right now?  This is like a cross between bad new wave music and the Kinks.
• 2015's 1967.  Same sound.  WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!?!
• 2015's I Say So.  Why has Spotify published all of this shit?  it sounds like someone bought a Karaoke machine and made a bunch of terrible albums in their living room while recording with an old boombox that they kept out in the back yard.
• 2015's Shame Game.  Same band.
• Oh wait!  A new band!  This one is a terrible metal band, with an album from 2013 called Motherfucker.  Album cover looks like one bitter blonde dude and then two leather clad ladies who must be the ones on the instruments.  Ooooh, this sucks.
• 2013 - Rock for You - yep, back to that garbage band of Brits recording in a bathtub.
• 2013 - Your Birthday Present.  Same bad band.
• 2012 - Your Christmas Present.  Oh sweet baby Jesus.  Please save me from this hell.
• 2012 - The Legend of WHY NOT.  Please.  I can't take any more random capitalization.
• 2011 - Rock Instrumental.  At least there aren't vocals on this terrible thing!
• 2011 - Rockbands 2.  Please let me ddiiiiiiiiieeeee.
• 2010 - ROCKS - 14.  <dead>
• 2010 - ROCKS - 15.
• 2010 - ROCKS - 16.  <reanimates, everything still terrible>
• 2010 - ROCKS - 17. 
• 2010 - ROCKS - 18. Am I going to be writing this until I actually die?
• 2010 - ROCKS - 19.
• 2010 - ROCKS - 20. Hello darkness, my old friend...
• 2010 - ROCKS - 21.
• 2010 - ROCKS - 22. Is there no God?
• 2010 - ROCKS - 23.
• 2010 - ROCKS - 24. What have I done to deserve this?
• 2010 - ROCKS - 25.
• 2010 - ROCKS - 26. <inconsolable sobbing>
• 2010 - ROCKS - 27.  (for real, there are, randomly, 14 albums called "ROCKS" with a number behind them, by this band, all apparently released in 2010.  WTF?)
• 2010 - Sounds of Music pres. The Revolution.
• 2009 - Did You Ever.
• 2009 - Move It.
• Ooooooh, a different band!  Still not the right one, but different!  2009, an album by The Revolution, called Revolution!  Its in Spanish!  Its techno!  I've officially lost my mind!
• 2009 - Anytime.  NOOOOOOOOOO.  These assholes are back!  I don't think it is these pricks, but hard to tell.
• 2009 - Black & White.  <dead again>
• 2009's Psychedelic Moments.
• 2009's Together.
• 2008's The Singles Album.  Now I'm just going to be fucking stubborn and keep going.  This is hell.
• 2008's The Psychedelic Years.
• 2008's 1968.
• 1988's Jammin'.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 1.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 10.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 11.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 12.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 3.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 4.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 5.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 6.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 7.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 8.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 9.
• 1983's ROCKBAND VOL. 2.  Yes, in that order.  Why does this band hate me so much.
• 2017's EP that is hard rock and obviously not this devil band of Satan's loins.

And then, even further in, there is The Revolutionaries, The Revolution Orchestra, The Revolution Smile, The Revolutioners, The Revolution of St. Vincent, Sly & the Revolutionaries, The Revolution Band, Half Past the Revolution, The Revolutionary Hydra, Green Nuns of the Revolution, Mayya & the Revolutionary Hell Yeah!, the Saxual Revolution, the Plastic Revolution, The Benchwarmers of the Revolution, the Krazy Revolution,  and on into infinity.  I wish I were lying about those band names.  This is wild.  These are all real.

SO!  WITH ALL OF THAT INSANITY OUT OF MY BODY.  BEGONE, SATAN!  I think the answer is that you cannot listen to The Revolution, the official, Prince's-backing-band The Revolution, on Spotify.  Well, you can sorta hear them, since Prince is back on there, so you can go hear Purple Rain, which still slays.  "When Doves Cry" is my favorite track from the album.  They also are credited with playing on 1999, Around the World in a Day, and a soundtrack called Parade.  So a pack of Prince's serious hits.

And that appears to be all they will play.  Looking at their setlists from recent shows, looks like you'll get "Let's Go Crazy," "When Doves Cry," "Raspberry Beret," "1999," "Purple Rain," "Computer Blue," "I Would Die for You," etc.

Instead of Spotify, we gotta go to YouTube.  Here is a live mix of "Erotic City," "Let's Work," and "1999."  Filmed last summer, so this ought to be about the kind of thing we would see from them this fall.

Doesn't that make you miss Prince even more?  I mean, the bassist tries to keep it going, but he ends up doing a lot of generic crowd-pumping tropes, trying to get the crowd involved.  I don't see the Purple One having to tell people to clap their hands, he would have just done some freaky ass moves, plucked one guitar string, and the crowd would have spontaneously died and then clapped when they reanimated.  I guess this will give you the chance to sing along to Prince hits, like "1999" and "When Doves Cry."

Sorry, the sound sucks on that video.  The question is, will I be sad that it isn't the real thing, or will I revel in the fact that its pretty close?  I think it just depends on the crowd.  Well, sorta.  I also feel kinda bummed about this.  I'm very conflicted.  

See, I know that these are great musicians, who have played these songs for decades and know them well.  But, its still kinda like going to see a cover band.  These guys didn't actually even play on "When Doves Cry."  He played all the instruments and sang the track as well.  All of that song is just Prince, in the original iteration at least.  That being said, he obviously never did everything on stage, so you are still getting the backing band who helped him recreate this in person.  So that seems more legit?  I don't know, man.  I wish these guys had their own music, so we could hear their own hits, and then they could throw in a few Prince tunes.  Instead, its just a hologram away from being sad.

Can the Heartbreakers go on tour and play Tom Petty tunes?  Can Crazy Horse just go on tour without Neil Young (and play all NY songs)?  Can The News go play without Huey Lewis?  Can the E Street Band go play Bruce's song's without him?  Obviously, the answer is yes - I'd go see Parliament/Funkadelic without George Clinton, or The Band without Bob Dylan - but I guess my answer is should they?  Feels messed up.

I'm on the fence.  Nothing in my reading or watching has helped me make a good decision.  This interview makes it seem like they have found some peace and happiness in going back out on the road to play these old songs, and that fans are so grateful to them for it, so maybe this is a good thing.  And man, that interview makes me so very sad that Prince is gone.  What a damn, stupid shame.

I dunno.  Weekend One, they are up against Camila Cabello and Travis Scott.  One of those sucks terribly, and one of those would be very interesting to my kids but less so to me.  Weekend Two they are up against Shawn Mendes and Vince Staples.  I'd probably choose both of those guys over a Prince cover band.  If I can talk myself into it, I'd go see this just to yell along to "Little Red Corvette" and "Let's Go Crazy" while wriggling all over the place.