Synopsis: Strangely enigmatic, charismatically compact, and always decked out in the most colorfully bizarre outfits, pop star Prince has an undeniable talent for both songwriting and performing. On SIGN O THE TIMES, he shows off the latter, giving a no-holds-barred performance at the Rotterdam Music Hall. With accompaniment from drummer Sheila E., the sexy Cat, and Sheena Easton, Prince performances huge hits like “Little Red Corvette” and “U Got The Look.” In addition, short films which tie into each song are interspersed between the live footage.
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Before he got lost in various delusions and built a wall between himself and his fans, Prince was a pop star like no other: not only did he have a certain magnetism, but he could sing, perform, play a dozen instruments, wrote, recorded and produced his own material and even dabbled into filmmaking (albeit, a little less successfully).
‘Sign ‘o’ the Times’ is a film that shows Prince at his funky best: only a few years after the landmark ‘Purple Rain’, he had disbanded The Revolution after a string of incredible commercial successes, and was strutting his stuff as a solo artist for the first time in years. The studio album of the same name is arguably his greatest ever, and the film is an account of the stage show that fans were experiencing at the time.
While Prince (who directed the film), made some annoying editing choices that now feel hokey and severely out-dated, the performances are still smoking hot – most notably, after the purple one himself (of course!), the stunning Sheila E who, not only sings and dances better than most of the rest of the crew, drums with more power and skill than most men from and since that era! In fact, just watching Sheila E in action is awe-inspiring and is worth the price of admission.
Roger and Ebert, at the time, gave it two thumbs up – and rightly so: it’s one of the better concert experiences that I’ve ever seen.
thecriticaleye 