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Maceo Parker
Review 04/11/98 From: Dr.Brookenstein
Maceo Parker in Philly - 4/11/98 The show kicked off with 2 unknown groups, Five Fingers of Funk and Fathead. Both groups did some hybrid of pop, jazz and alternative rock with quite a bit of rapping, which just didn't work for me! It really got to the point that I was just ACHING to see Fishbone, although Fishbone isn't one of my favorites either! Fishbone started their performance around 10:30pm, with the bald-headed lead vocalist spewing some psychotic-philosophical shit! Then something scary happened: when the first song began, this guy rushed to the edge of the stage and took a BIG leap into the audience.......HE LANDED ON SOME BRAVE FANS!! WOHHH!! Anyway, he started singing/screaming as the fans were holding him up and transporting him to the pit area, in front of the stage!!! DAMN!!! The group performed some truly insane tracks, including one song where the reggae rhythm was at a nice mid-tempo pace but was continuously interrupted by high-powered, psychotic-"almost speed-metal" blasts!! And during all of this, the bald-headed vocalist was running around, tripping over mic stands, jumping on and leaping off of speakers, spilling beer, and dancing like a crazed madman.....in other words, acting as if he escaped from a mental asylum!!!!! This group was definitely influenced by early Funkadelic, although I think Funkadelic was probably MUCH MILDER!!!! Even Praxis is milder than Fishbone! By the way, Fishbone did perform "Lyin' Ass Bitch", another crazed-hardcore rock tune that was sampled by The Artist, for his song "Billy Jack Bitch"! Also, some poor soul from the audience had the nerve to jump onstage and then dive into the crowd.....well, the security crew grabbed the man and quickly ejected him from the venue through the side door!! Then, as if he was showing support for the ejected fan, the bald-headed vocalist dove into the crowd again. The crazed MADNESS ended at 11:15pm. That meant 20 minutes to clear my mind of what just happened onstage...... at 11:35pm, Maceo Parker's band came out to perform an introductory song for Maceo to come out and play! Maceo walked out after 5 minutes. From there, it was a great 2 hours of 2% jazz, 98% funky stuff!! The song set listing included: Pass The Peas Up For The Down Stroke Psychoticbumpschool Shake Everything You Got House Party (over a Funkadelic guitar groove) (with snippets of "Let's Take It To The Stage" and "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)") an instrumental sounding a little like "America Eats Its Young" Na Na Na Na Addictive Love Mustang Sally Maceo's flute/Jerry's bass solo Jerry's BOOTSY solo Guitar solo Corey's rap Jamal's drum solo ENCORE: I Got To Get You Let's Get It On (rap by Corey Parker) Papa's Got a Brand New Bag Make It Funky Soul Power a snippet of "Red Hot Momma" The highlights of Maceo's band included: Jerry Preston's tight-ass bass stylings......this brother can play a mean motherfuckin' bass! The BOOTSY solo was a great testimony to his skills......this man is BAD!! Maceo's funky little dance was entertaining......go ahead Maceo.....with your bad self!! "Sweet" Charles Sherrell (the percussionist) is a great vocalist and one hell of a dancer......an example of great showmanship!! The drum solo was excellent, performed by Jamal Thomas......he can throw down with the best! Corey was excellent on rap vocals and the man can dance too! Bruno Speight (the guitarist) was FONKY, too!! Maceo is the BEST SAXOPHONE player in the world, and sounded excellent next to his great trumpet partner, Ron Tooley. As far as the Funk Music Festival is concerned, there should be some better acts performing before Maceo!!