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George Clinton & the P-Funk Allstars
Review 05/01/98 From: Clement Pappas
Quick Review of the show on Friday May 1 at Southern State Universityin New Haven CT [Nett Field]. This show was supposed to be outdoors and free for the public to attend. Unfortunately, it rained, and the show was moved indoors to a tiny, and I mean tiny, indoor auditorium. We called ahead, and the local authorities at the school informed us that we had no chance of getting in as the tickets were extremely limited and being given only to students of the University. Well, my buddies and I were on the way up to Vermont for the weekend (we live in NYC) and hurtin for a P-Funk show (haven't been since New Year's eve), so we stopped in New Haven to see if we could get in. After several lies, and a lot of begging and pleading the guy at the door let us in for free! Unfortunately, we missed about half the show (they must have really started around 7-7:30, and we hit traffic in the rain getting out of NYC on a Friday). As we walked in, I could hear the end of "Knee Deep" and the rap segment was beginning. Oh yeah, the lineup- George Clinton Treylewd Robert "P-nut" Johnson Micheal "Clip" Payne Lige Curry Michael Hampton Rodney "Skeet" Curtis Frankie "Cash" Waddy Joel "Razor Sharp" Johnson DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight Belita Woods Greg Thomas Benny Cowan (I think he was there, I couldn't really see the horn area very well) Steve Boyd Greg Hill Sir Noze (Carlos McMurray) As I was told, Garry was out with personal problems and would be back woth the band shortly. Louie Kababbie was apparently sick. No Shonda either. The only song I saw which involved any horns was Atomic Dawg, and the horns were used very lightly plus I could see them all the way in the back behind the dancing girls, so I don't really know who was there other than Greg Thomas, who was singing more than usual in Garry's absence. Anyhow the setlist (from what I saw starting aout halfway through) went something like this.. (Not Just) Knee Deep ??? (heard this while trying to get in) Booty Niggerish US Custom Coast Guard Dope Dog Maggot Brain Dog Star Bop Gun Undisco Kid Belita's Tune (I always forget the name of this tune, but I think its called "Its in the way she moves") Atomic Dawg Ain't Nuthin But A Jam Y'all(with Radio Friendly DJ's Spin Me for the Funk) Hall of Fame Riff Very interesting show. I have to say, it was not one of my favorites due to the crowd, or lack there of. This place was so small, there had to be less than 1000 people there. The stage was actually set back aways and there was a ton of security (including real cops) You couldn't smoke or drink in the place (though we managed to sneak a few puffs off the old peace pipe) or stand in the aisles or in front of the stage. Meanwhile, the band was situated about twenty feet back on the stage itself, so the crowd was really really removed from the band. The volume levels were also way too low, I could talk to my friends in a normal speaking voice and they could actually hear me. Needless to say, these are not the ideal circumstances to see a P-Funk show. In addition, the crowd that was there was not completely funky, though we did make a decent amount of noise, given our paltry numbers. Also disappointing was the very noticeable absence of Garry "Starchild" Shider, who has been in every show I've seen and thats a decent number (15 or so). There were however some good things about this show..I have to say, I'm glad they busted out with different tunes from the last couple of tours, it was refreshing to hear Bop Gun and The Undisco Kid, which I haven't heard them play in a few years. Bop Gun sounded especially good with Steve Boyd on vocals, pretty polished stuff.. Also, this Ain't Nuthin but a Jam Y'all tune, is getting really good and smooth. I like the "Radio Friendly DJ's spin me for the Funk" chant. Another new chant was "Been there, Done that, Got the T-shirt" This tune is really growing on me, I'm psyched to see where else they'll go with it. Atomic Dawg was fun- some how GC convinced the Nazi security guards to let a bunch of girls on stage and GC really got down with them- repeatedly dipping this one chick, who seemd to really enjoy it. Sir Noze was also getting busy. Other comments and shit.. Maggot Brain was excellent as always, but not special... Dog Star I actually felt was sub-par, I couldn't hear Lige's wicked bass line very well, it was under-miked... Booty was fun, but its not as good without Louie... Tracy is ok, but he has never impressed me. He always seems to mutter and I can never really hear him, let alone make out what he is saying... Belita's tune is growing on me a lot (Someone help me out- what is this tune called?)...I really like the Hall of Fame Riff. This time George played conductor by having the band alter its volume level depending on how close to the floor he held his hand. He didn't have them take solos like I'd seen in the past- but this may be due to not having Billy Bass Nelson (I didn't see him at least)... IMO, they need to change up US Custom Coast Guard Dope Dog, this ultra ultra slow wandering blues version is getting old. A nice hip-hop style version with a thick walking bass-line could be really good. The lyrics are to clever to be wasted like this. Thats my just my $.02 though, and I'm no musician! Overall, I didn't enjoy this show nearly as much as I generally do, but it got me psyched to see them again soon, because they busted out with some different things then I've seen in the recent past. Also, the lack of the full lineup and poor venue just made it tough, but they actually played pretty well and seemed somewhat pleased with the crowd's responses. Unfortunately though, the show just lacked that awesome P-Funk vibe thats usually in the room when they play. This place was just way too tame. But like I said, I'm glad I got to see them, even though I missed half of the show anjd I'm pumped to see them June 7 in NYC. See y'all there. Clement