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George Clinton & the P-Funk Allstars
Review 07/05/96 From: Mike Theiss
Mothership Reconnection -- Central Park Day Two the July 5th show. [from rec.music.funky] The show on the 5th started off with a bang. Rather than bring a bunch of un-welcome city officials and what not on stage. They brang none other than FRANKIE CROCKER to introduce the band. Unlike the show on the 4th, the show started right after he announced it. Once again, Mr. Worrell started the show off. In true Woo fashion, Bernie played a segement that sounded completely different than that of the previous day. He started out with a disonant and chaotic storm of modern and vintage synth sounds alike a la Praxis. Then came a long melodic string passage, which segged into a warped SOLO performanced of the bass line from "FLASH LIGHT" which got the crowd all the way hyped up. The temperature seemed to rise about 5 degrees or so when Bernie lifted the modulation wheel on his Moog to leave us all with the sweet taste of that intensely funky sawtooth vibrato that we all know and love. Next came a distorted wall of clavinet, which segued into the first part of "Joyful Process", for which drummer Frankie Waddy joined in. Then Bernie and Kash (with vocal help from the audience) did a BEAUTIFUL duo rendition of "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)". Bernie really demonstrated his chops by instantly reharmonizing the tune with harmonic and melodic ideas which completely re-shaped the tune in a completly new and original way, while the audience sung the good old refrain "Make my funk the P-Funk......", locking in perfectly with Bernie's new arrangment of the groove. Boy it's great to have the brother back! Near the end of the song George appeared on stage with a large bouqet of flowers for Bernie. Shortly afterwards the rest of the Mob raided the stage and assaulted the audience with "Cosmic Slop" on this hot summer day. As on the previous day, Bootsy Collins took the stage midway through this song to bring the energy up. A BRILLIANT rendition of "Let's Take It To The Stage" followed, which in addition to the fact that it featured Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins, boasted a new stage arrangement featuring a number of lines from the original song that weren't traditionally used live, and a number of familiar melodies that I think came from other songs. Then George did a number of chants "We be funkin' over here....", "If you ain't gonna get it on; TAKE YOUR DEAD ASS HOME!", etc. But overall this song was IN THE POCKET, and it was one of the highlights of the show, especially since it wasn't included in the set the previous day. Next was another pleasant set suprise in the performance of "Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk". Interestingly enough, they started this song with the BRIDGE!!!!!!! It was a pretty short arrangment, as they cut the song off midway through, leaving just the audience singing -- but it was still a healthy dose of a classic that hasn't been performed as much as it deserves. The next part of the set was very similar to the previous days, Standing On The Verge..., Good To Your Earhole, Pumpin' It Up, Bustin' Loose. Before "If Anybody Gets Funked Up" Belita sang portions of an old George Clinton called "Street Level". She had done that the day before, only she did it longer today, and she did it over the vamp for "Standing On The Verge", whereas the previous day I think it was over the intro for "If Anybody Gets Funked Up". Next up, Clip teased the crowd with a little bit of "Foot Soldiers". Even George sang along, for a little bit, then they slowly faded out leaving just a few funky audience members to finish it up. Then, once again was the goosebump bringing slow version of "Dope Dogs" with Steve Boyd and Mudbone goin' crazy on top, Ray Davis anchoring the bottom and several others in between. This version of the song works great for George's delivery, cause if he raps it a lot of stuff goes by real quick, whereas in this slow version it's a lot easier to follow what he's saying. After George delivered the punchline "There's more profit in pretending that we're stopping it than selling it" Frankie (I think it was Frankie anyway) hit a cymbal and muted it really fast -- as you'd expect to hear on a late night comedy show! Then George fired right into an acappella version of "Just Say Ding" which was followed by Belita's "More Than Words Could Ever Say" number. The performance was typically tight, and Mudbone especially stood out. I must sympathesize with other's complaints about this songs inclusion in the set both days. It's a great song, but DAMN she's been doing it since Lollapalooza! It's not even a P-Funk song, isn't their something else they can spotlight Belita on? And with all the classics they had no room for, it's a curious tune to incorporate in the set. Next up Shonda Clinton turned out "Underground Angel". Her performance was noticeabely stronger than the previous day, which may have been partly due to technically difficulties at the beginning of the performance. But Shonda seemed noticeabley more confident up there and it showed in the crowd's warm reaction as well. Louie Kababie had the crowd rolling once again with George's "Booty" b-side. This is one of the best Clinton lyrics of the last few years, so I'm glad they've incorporated it regularly in their live show, despite the fact that it was ommited from "Hey Man, Smell My Finger" for some idiotic reason. This time the crowd got really into and started singing along, chanting "BOOTY!!!!" After the performance, Clip proclaimed Louie as the "Hardest working man in showbiz" since he has driven for Fishbone, Red Hot Chili Peppers and others in addition to P-Funk. Then he urged Louie for a "SPEACH!!!". Fortunately, Louie spared us! Next, Trey Lewd came out and delivered another nasty rap. Among other things he talked about diarrhea and hemroids! But even if he's a bit nasty sometimes, at least Tracey has the word play thing down and a distinctly original style, which is lacking in many or most rappers these days. After Tracey's rap George started looking possessed again and screaming "FUCK THIS SHIT!!!!" and the band kicked into the hardcore black rock version of "Rhythm & Rhyme". If anything, this performance was even slightly more intense than the day before. One thing I noticed this time that I didn't notice the previous day was Clip in the background screaming the parody of the Lords Prayer from Funkadelic's 1971 "Eulogy and Light". Naturally Mike Hampton followed with "Maggot Brain". It was a typical (good) performance. But one thing struck me while watching this new rendition of "Funkadelic" perform the classic Eddie Hazel composition. Obviously, Brother Eddie is no longer with us. So it's great to see Mike up there paying tribute by putting everything that he's got into the song. Mike's performance was great, but there was something that struck me during this performance, that really bothered me. Now, Eddie and Tiki are no longer with us and Tal Ross seems to be in a zone of his own. But one other phenominal talent, BILLY MOTHERFUCKIN' BASS is not only living and well, but he was ON THAT STAGE! What bothered me is that Billy was NOT playing bass, but rather sitting off to the side playing second rhythm guitar, with his monitor feed notched down so it seemed Blackbyrd and Mike were the only guitars you could hear in out in the audience. Now, Lige Curry is a solid bassist, and while he ain't no Skeet, he sounded great throughout the festivities. But this is BILLY BASS we're talking about!!!!! In more than 7 hours worth of music between the two days (not even including the aftershow at Tramps) Billy Bass did not take his bass on stage ONCE. And not only that, but they would have let you believe he wasn't even there, as his name was not called to the audience's attention once during the two days. Now, obviously there is a lot of factors that influence these things, including personal relationships. I don't pretend to know the details of the politics which influence these decisions, as I'm not a member of the mob. But let me leave it at this: As a Funkadelic fan -- one of the few hopes I had of this event that did not get fullfulled, was the hope of seeing Billy up there tearing the roof off as the Funkadelic bass player, and GETTING HIS PROPS from the other members of the band as he so much deserves. I won't even go into the fact that Lige Curry's GIRLFRIEND got to play bass both days on the Bride's set! 'Nuff said. Next was Blackbyrd's spotlight. He did not put it to waste, as he RIPPED on TWO original jams this evening "Pleasure With The Dirt Devil" and "Fly On". This is the first time I've seen "Pleasure..." performed live. The song has thus far only been released in Japan as one of the highlights of the "P-Funk Guitar Army Tributes To Jimi Hendrix" album. Blackbyrd made references to "Purple Haze" in his solo on the jam. After "Fly On" George called the crowd to call Bootsy to the stage. Fortunately, since it was a bright sunny day out, there were no umbrellas to block our view of Bootsy as he commenced to tearing the roof off with "Ahh...The Name Is Bootsy Baby". It sounded pretty different this day, mostly cause of Bernie Worrell's prominence on the synth bass -- which was beautiful. At the end of the song Bootsy took his traditional medititation, before he fired up "Stretchin' Out (In A Rubber Band)". This became an interesting medley, going from a series of chants into "TURN THIS MOTHER OUT!!!" and a scaled down rendition of "Tear The Roof Off The Sucker" which led into the "Swing Down" portion of "Mothership Connection". We missed the first half of the song, but the song built into an intense wall of sound highlighted by Bernie Worrell's synthesizer work, much like the landings back in the day. Naturally the song climaxed as the Mothership came down, and Dr. Funkenstein stepped down the stairs to the soundtrack of his theme song. The arrangement was all too short once again, but the band then kicked into a smokin' rendition of "Flash Light". Mid way through the song Bootsy brought Paul Shaffer over to the Wizard of Woo's workstation, which seemed to suprise Bernie. Bernie was tied up in the synth bass part to the song, but he motioned for Paul to give him a hand on the keys. They eventually switched so Paul was playing the synth bass and Bernie was playing something else (I think string pads). Then the P-Funk Horns came out as usual and tore the house down with solos and thangs. Next was the urban dancefloor guerilla anthem "Atomic Dog", followed by another P-Funk Horns BLOW OUT, in the James Brown medley ("Give Up The Sex Machine Or Turnit A Loose On The Good Foot"???). After this was over, some truly insane person in front of me that had obviously inhaled too much of SOMETHING called for George to "Bring out the Letterman Band" several times. Huh!!!!????? Rather than bring Paul back out (yeah right), the band played a long rendition of "Summer Swim" highlighted by a vamp at the end with great work from Skeet and the P-Funk Horns among others. Near the end of the song, the Brides came out in the spotlight and sang a bit. Then they began the shows finale, as the Brides performed vVanish In Our Sleep" This day's performance outshined the previous to me, mostly from the presences of Bernie Worrell, who I don't remember seeing on this tune the day before. In addition to offering his delicious organ work, Bernie appeared to be doing a bit of directing. I thought I saw communicating visually with bassist Star Cullars, and even playing along with her part on his Moog, givin the bass that extra "WOW" sound that makes it extra funky. The show ended all too soon, and the audience CLEARLY wanted an encore this day. Thanks to some Sir Nose's on the staff of Summer Stage, they weren't even permited to come out and do one more song. However, that didn't make it any less of an amazing show. I'm not gonna even try to make a judgement about which of the two shows was the best, but this one did boast the inclusion of slammin' versions of "Let's Take It To The Stage" and "Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk" as well as Blackbyrd's "Pleasure With The Dirt Devil" Then again the second day didn't have "Give Up The Funk" and "Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples" or the full version of "Mothership Connection" (or special guest's De La Soul). There were also special moments in performances of the songs shared by both sets that happened on either day, in my opinion probably more of those occured in the first day, which I seem to remember featuring more onstage presence from Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins. Anyway -- in summary, both of the days were UNFUNKIN' BELIEVABLE!!!! And I was glad I went to both shows cause they each had their moments. In all the 3 days events (From the "P-Funk Salute" at Wetlands the night before, to the end of the Central Park show on the 5th) will remain some of my most cherished memories as a funkateer. Even if the shows would have sucked, it would have been all worth it just to meet all the funky people that I met, the online funkateers who I now have FACES and VOICES to associate with their text!!!!!, the members of the bands (a few of which I had the honor to meet), and the funkateer community in general that was in attendance. THANK YOU!!!!!! To everybody that had a part in my experience of the Mothership Reconnection. Now let's cross our fingers that Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins will be able to tolerate the mess long enough to give many others this experience as the "Mothership Reconnection Tour" continues! Once again, here's my best interpretation of the personell on stage: George Clinton (Maggot Overlord) Bernie "Wizard Of Woo" Worrell (Keyboards) Bootsy Collins (Friendly Boo Vocals and Space Bass) Frankie "Kash" Waddie (drums) Gabe Gonzales (drums) Joseph "Amp" Fiddler (keyboards) Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton (guitar) DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight (guitar) Garry Shider (guitar, lead and background vocals) Billy "Bass" Nelson (guitar) Cordell "Boogie" Mosson (guitar) Andre Foxxe Williams (guitar, Bride wanna-be) Rodney "Skeet" Curtis (bass) Lige Curry (bass, vocals) Star Cullars (bass on "Vanish In Our Sleep") Greg Thomas (saxophone) Benny Cowen (trumpet) Greg Boyer (trombone) Michael "Clip" Payne (vocals, monologues and "man in the box" operator) Belita Woods (vocals) Ray Davis (bass vocals) Grady Thomas (vocals) Gary "Mudbone" Cooper (vocals) Robert "P-Nut" Johnson (vocals) Dawn Silva (vocals, Bride Of Funkenstein) Sheila Brody (vocals, Bride Of Funkenstein) {Formerly "Sheila Horne"} Steven Boyd (vocals) Paul Hill (vocals) Linda Shider (vocals) Maruga (percussion) Tracey "Trey Lewd" Lewis (rap) Shonda Clinton (underground angel, rap) Louie "Babblin' " Kababie (raps) Special Guests: Paul Shaffer Kyle Jason Setlist: PsychoalphaWOOdoo (Bernie Worrell prelude) Joyful Process P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up) Cosmic Slop Let's Take It To The Stage Sir Nose Dvoidoffunk Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On/Good To Your Ear Hole/Pumpin' It Up/Bustin' Loose If Anybody Gets Funked Up (It's Gonna Be You) Foot Soldiers (teaser) Dope Dog (Slow version) Just Say Ding (Monologue) More Than Words Can Say (Featuring Belita Woods) Underground Angel/Booty/Babblin' Kababie/Trey Lewd Rap Hard As Steel Rhythm & Motherfucking Rhyme (Black Rock Frenzy Version) Maggot Brain Pleasure With The Dirt Devil Fly On Life Of A Hustler Ain't No Joke (Kyle Jason) Ahh...The Name Is Bootsy Baby Stretchin' Out In A Rubber Band/Give Up The Funk Swing Down Dr. Funkenstein Flash Light Atomic Dog Give Up The Sex Machine and Turnitaloose on the Good Foot (JB Medley) Summer Swim Vanish In Our Sleep (Featuring the Brides of Funkenstein)