🟣 Rock Steady / Partyman–It’s Alright (NPGMC Stream): Mar. 2006
- GlamSlamEscape
- Mar 18, 2006
- 3 min read
Artist: Prince / Támar Davis + NPG
Writer: NPG Music Club (Archival Reconstruction)
Date: March 18, 2006
Length: 5–6 min read
A pair of electrifying live recordings streamed to the NPG Music Club, capturing Prince in his mid‑2000s renaissance — playful, guitar‑driven, and deep in collaboration with Támar Davis.
Sub‑Heading
A Minneapolis night reborn online for the purple faithful.
Excerpt
On March 18, 2006, the NPG Music Club quietly dropped two new live tracks — “Rock Steady” and “Partyman / It’s Alright” — both taken from Támar Davis’s Minneapolis concert on February 25. The streams offered fans a raw, immediate glimpse into Prince’s 2006 live energy, with Támar on lead vocals and Prince in full guitar‑hero mode. The recordings would later gain added significance as the earliest circulating versions of a cover that would evolve dramatically in the years ahead.
🟣 Key Highlights
• Streamed March 18, 2006 via the NPG Music Club
• Recorded February 25, 2006 at the Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis
• Támar Davis on lead vocals; Prince on guitar and band direction
• Early live version of “Rock Steady”, later revisited on Indigo Nights
• “Partyman / It’s Alright” captured from the same Támar Tour performance
🟣 Overview
By early 2006, Prince was deep into a creative resurgence — new protégés, new tours, and a renewed commitment to live musicianship. Támar Davis’s tour became one of the most intriguing vehicles for this energy, with Prince often appearing as guitarist, arranger, and shadow‑bandleader. The NPG Music Club, then in its final year, served as the digital home for these moments, offering fans exclusive access to performances that would otherwise vanish into concert‑night memory.
The March 18 stream delivered two standout recordings from the February 25 Minneapolis show: a fiery cover of Aretha Franklin’s “
,” and a hybrid “Partyman / It’s Alright” medley that showcased Prince’s instinctive ability to fuse eras, moods, and grooves. These uploads were part of the Club’s Glam Slam VIP room — a space where Prince often tested material, shared rarities, and rewarded the most dedicated listeners.
🟣 Source Details
Publication / Venue / Label: NPG Music Club – Glam Slam VIP Room
Date: March 18, 2006
Format: Digital streaming release (live recordings)
Provenance Notes: Recorded February 25, 2006 at the Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis; confirmed via NPGMC logs and tour documentation.
🟣 The Story
The February 25 Támar Davis concert at the Orpheum Theatre was one of the most musically charged nights of the 2006 Támar Tour. Prince, largely stationed on guitar, shaped the band’s dynamics with subtle cues and explosive flourishes. “Rock Steady,” Aretha Franklin’s 1971 classic, became a showcase for Támar’s powerhouse vocals, with Prince weaving sharp, rhythmic guitar lines around the arrangement.
The performance of “Partyman / It’s Alright” came from the same show — a playful blend of Prince’s own 1989 party anthem and the soulful Curtis Mayfield composition he often used as a spiritual palate‑cleanser in live sets. Both tracks captured the looseness and joy of Prince’s mid‑2000s stagecraft.
“Rock Steady” would later reappear in a new form: a 2007 recording featuring Beverley Knight was included on Indigo Nights, released in 2008. That version incorporated an uncredited bassline nod to “Whole Lotta Love,” played by Josh Dunham as the band prepared to segue into the next number. The 2006 Támar version, however, remains the earliest officially streamed performance.
Prince had long been connected to “Rock Steady” — a drum loop from Aretha’s original, played by Bernard Purdie, had been sampled throughout “Daddy Pop” in 1991. The 2006 live rendition brought that influence full circle.
🟣 Related Material
• Indigo Nights (2008)
• Támar Davis – 2006 Tour
• “Daddy Pop” (1991)
🟣 Closing Notes
These two streamed tracks stand as vivid snapshots of Prince’s 2006 live world — collaborative, spontaneous, and deeply rooted in his love of soul, funk, and musical lineage. Though released quietly, they remain treasured fragments of the NPG Music Club’s final year.
🟣 Sources
• NPG Music Club archival logs
• Tour documentation and fan‑verified setlists
• Indigo Nights release notes
🟣 Copyright Notice
All recordings, images, and original text excerpts referenced remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Purple Dot Chronicle entry is a transformative, non‑commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.
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