At the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, PA [$25/$28door]
(along with Starr Cullars & The Enterprise)
I was able to get access to the backstage area around 7:00pm, thanks to
Ms. Starr Cullars. Of course, I got another chance to meet my favorite
P-Funk stars (like Clip, Kidd Funkadelic, Garry and Blackbyrd). Gabe
Gonzalez was in the house early enough to check out the Starr Cullars set,
and he had Dawn Silva (!!) with him..... of course, I didn't know that I
was talking to Dawn Silva until she handed back my copy of Pedro Bell's
ZEEP magazine!!
Starr Cullars & The Enterprise kicked off at 9:00pm. I was able to take
pictures of the show with this photo pass from the Electric Factory
(thanks to Starr). The show started with the heavy rock tune "Red Alert".
The Enterprise have a new addition to the group......his name is Mike
Pelese and he is a rhythm guitarist!!! I told Starr that Mike sounded
funky in some parts of the show and sometimes it sounded like his guitar
parts didn't work well with the other instruments. (I don't know....maybe
I'm wrong). "Starrgazing" sounded very good as usual, and at the end, the
fellas in the audience were screaming "Bad! The girl is bad!!!" Yes, the
fellas were digging Starr's bass skills!! "Never Was Lover" started out
with the fellas shouting "She scream, she shout, she turned that sucker
out!!" "Never Was Lover" was chopped full of some kickin', meaty bass
from the funkified fingers of Starr. "Let Your Starr Shine" is a new song
that is in the vein of "Red Alert", and the rhythm guitarist played some
funky-ass riffs while Starr did a rap to the song. "Make It Happen" ended
a great performance by Starr and his crew.....the show ended at 9:30pm.
At 10:10pm, The P-Funk Allstars hit the stage with a 20-minute version of
"P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)". The problem with this tune is that
drummer Ron Wright was not providing enough bass drum. George Clinton
watched Ron and signalled to him to hit the bass drum harder......I don't
think he did. "Bop Gun" and "Gamin' on Ya" followed the "P-Funk" tune....
Sir Nose appeared onstage on the latter song. "Undisco Kidd" was good,
but the funky rock tune "Cosmic Slop" was da bomb....with the lethal
guitarist himself, Mike "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton! George Clinton walked
onstage and the crowd went wild!! I caught a good glimpse of Linda &
Garrett Shider (wife and son of Garry) dancing to "Cosmic Slop". Speaking
of Garrett, he played rhythm guitar on "Tear The Roof Off The Sucka"
(which incorporated the horn riff of "Psychoticbumpschool" and the "Wind
Me Up" chant). The trumpet player, Bennie Cowan, provided an
extraordinary horn solo during "The Night of The Thumpasorus Peoples"!
"Mothership Connection (Starchild)" featured an all-out, funkafied bass
solo by the world's funkiest black leprechaun, Cordell "Boogie" Mosson.
The "Razor" (Joel "Razorsharp" Johnson) provided some spaced-out keyboard
riffs, along with Belita Woods's sweet vocals! (Belita can be such a
sweet doll!) "Starchild" included a little bit of "Get Off Your Ass and
Jam", "Everything is on the One", and the chant from "Tom's Diner".
George Clinton rapped the lyrics to "Booty", which featured a duel
between Dewayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight and a violinist. The band actually
performed a tune from the psychedelic-Parliament era called "Funky
Woman", just as funky as they wanna be!!! "Maggot Brain" was excellent
due to (of course) Kidd Funkadelic. The violinist was featured on this
song, as well as Scott Taylor's flute solo..... I said it before and I'll
say it again, I think the additional instrumentation (flute, violin,
etc.) takes away a lot from the desolate sound of the original version of
"Maggot Brain".
"Dog Star" featured the blazing guitar army (Blackbyrd, Boogie, Garry,
Billy Bass, Lige) and slamming drumbeats of Gabe Gonzalez, who sat in for
a couple of the P-Funk tunes!!! "One Nation Under a Groove" featured some
good rhythm guitaring by Garrett Shider and an orchestral ending!
"Flashlight" was next, followed by "Knee Deep" and "Sentimental Journey".
The drums for "Sentimental Journey" were played at a slower tempo than
original. The "Hall of Fame" riff was funky, with bits of "Music For My
Mother" and "I Call My Baby Pussycat". "Radio Friendly DJs Spin For The
Funk" was okay, with Garrett Shider and another guy doing the raps. "Red
Hot Momma" was the last tune and it SMOKED!!! "Red Hot Momma" smoked
because of Starr Cullars's smoldering bass riffs & Gabe Gonzalez's lethal
drum attacks! The first verse of the song was also done with the
instruments playing real low! The P-Funk set finally ended at 2:10am.
The song set listing included:
P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)
Bop Gun
Gamin' on Ya
Undisco Kidd
Cosmic Slop
Tear The Roof Off The Sucka
(w/ "Psychoticbumpschool" horn riff & "Wind Me Up" chant)
Night of The Thumpasorus Peoples
Mothership Connection (Starchild)
(w/ "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" and "Everything is on the One")
Booty
(w/ "Cholly (Funk Getting Ready To Roll)", "Let's Take It To The Stage",
and "Take Your Dead Ass Home (Say Som'n Nasty)")
Funky Woman
(w/ "I Got a Thang, You Got a Thang, Everybody's Got a Thang", "Music
For My Mother", and "Take Your Dead Ass Home (Say Som'n Nasty)")
Maggot Brain
Dog Star
One Nation Under a Groove
Flashlight
(w/ The Electric Spanking of War Babies)
(Not Just) Knee Deep
(w/ "Sentimental Journey", "Rubber Duckie" and "Disco-To-Go" horn riff)
Hall of Fame riff
(w/ "Music For My Mother" and "I Call My Baby Pussycat")
Radio Friendly DJs Spin For The Funk
Red Hot Momma
The personnel:
George Clinton - maggot overlord of funk
(led away at the end of the show in a blanket and quilt!)
Garry Shider - funky diaperman with some gospel-soul in his voice
Mike "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton - lethal guitar warrior
Lige Curry - holding down the funk fort TWICE
(w/ P-Funk & The Enterprise)
Steve Boyd - the ghost of Glen Goins
Billy Bass Nelson - O.G. bassist w/ strange 'do
(WATCH OUT FOR TANTRUMS)!
Michael "Clip" Payne - crazay synthesized dude with funky attitude
Cordell "Boogie" Mosson - funkafied black leprechaun
(WATCH FOR HIM ON A BOX OF LUCKY CHARMS!)
Belita Woods - the woman with the golden voice
(she can be so sweet)
Ron Wright - good drummer but a lil mo' bass next time
Frankie "Kash" Waddy - the original funky drummer
Joel "Razorsharp" Johnson - keyboard riffs to cut ya
Starr Cullars - guest starred on bass
(Starr smoked the shit out of "Red Hot Momma"!)
Gabe Gonzalez - guest starred on drums
(CAREFUL: he'll destroy cities with his seismic groove!)
Scott Taylor - funky horn
Bennie Cowan - come blow your horn
Greg Thomas - the sax man with funky vocals
(ghost of Phillip Wynne)
Dewayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight - guide to the dog star
(watch him "fly on"!)
Robert "P-Nut" Johnson - old funky geezer
Dawn Silva - original Bride of Funkenstein.....back with the "P"
(ALRIGHT!!)
Garrett Shider - chip off the old Garry!
Linda Shider - backing vocals, Garry's significant other
