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Maceo Parker
Review 12/31/98 From: Dr.Brookenstein
Maceo Parker in NYC - 12/31/98 This New Year's Eve, I went back to the Big Apple for another year of New York City festivities! After checking out P-Funk one year ago for $85, I decided to experience Maceo Parker's "OOH YEAH!" show for only $25. Well, it was definitely worth TWICE the ticket price!! When I arrived at the Irving Plaza, I noticed a weird-ass policy of theirs: YOU MUST CHECK ALL BAGS AT THE COAT CHECK WINDOW......well, I just removed my camera and placed it in my coat pocket. After leaving my bag at the coat check point, I proceeded to capture the concert on 35mm photo-film! The show started at 7:40pm with an intro number, calling on the saxophone/flute extraordinaire, Mr. Maceo Parker! All of the regular musicians were except Jerry Preston....another man by the name of Lenny Stallworth took his place on the bass. The other personnel included: Ron Tooley (trumpet), Bruno Speight (guitar), Jamal Thomas (drums), Wil Boulware (keyboardist), "Sweet" Charles Sherrell (background/lead vocals), Corey Parker (rap/background vocals), and guest trombonist Greg Boyer (formerly of the P-Funk Allstars). The highlights of the show include: Maceo & his mighty men performed more P-Funk and J.B. tunes, like "Doin' It To Death", "Disco To Go", "Cold Sweat", "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "Make It Funky", "Soul Power", "Red Hot Momma", and "Standing on the Verge of Gettin' It On". "Cold Sweat" was handled perfectly with the hot & funky familiar horn riffs that are normally played during the verses! The Maceo band's rendition of "Make It Funky" is markedly dissimilar to the JB version, but it sounded just as funky, if not more! Vocals for "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" were performed by the irresistible Sweet Charles......and guitarist Bruno Speight was excellent with the oh-so-familiar licks at the end of the chorus! It was so shocking to hear Maceo cover songs like "Standing on the Verge" and "Red Hot Momma", especially since neither he nor Fred Wesley performed on them back in 1974.......but the crowd was jammin'!! Maceo got a little crazy that night by playing a little bit of "O Christmas Tree" and "Row Row Row Your Boat" on saxophone. He was also doing some crazy dance steps, which I assume came from James Brown! The band performed the song "Uptown Up" a second time, during the encore portion of the show. This time, instead of the jazzy version, they did a funkier version with the keyboardist, guitarist & bassist playing throughout the song. Ron Tooley and Wil Boulware got a little funky with their solos on "Shake Everything You Got". Guest trombonist Greg Boyer was extra-funky, as he got a little "slide in his glide, a dip in his hip"....take us back to the mothership, Greg! The song set listing: Intro Uptown Up (jazzy mix) Pass The Peas "Ooh Yeah" chant Up For The Down Stroke (excerpt) O Christmas Tree Shake Everything You Got Psychoticbumpschool music House Party Sing a Simple Song Row Row Row Your Boat Mustang Sally Doin' It To Death Maceo's Groove Bootsy introduction excerpt from "Aah....The Name is Bootsy, Baby" Disco To Go (excerpt) Georgia on My Mind ENCORE: Uptown Up (funky mix) Got To Get Ya Cold Sweat/Papa's Got a Brand New Bag Let's Get It On Make It Funky Soul Power Red Hot Momma Standing on the Verge of Gettin' It On Well, well, well....the encore started at 9:20pm, five minutes after the "Disco To Go" excerpt. The show ended at 9:50pm. I got a chance to meet Greg Boyer and chat a little about his attire & his performance. I had Tim P. Kinley (GROOVE MANEUVERS) snap a photo of Greg and I, and I'm sure that I will frame it & cherish it until I kick the bucket! (okay, not really!)