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Original P
Review 04/09/99 From: Dr.Brookenstein
At Tramps, NYC (Openint act: Kellie Sea) The crowd was really hyped, just waiting in anticipation of the original funk by Original "P". The Original "P" (minus F.C.G.R. and the female vocalist) took it to the stage at 10:50pm. The band members served some tasty appetizer funk called "Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples". Fuzzy led the audience into a funk frenzy with his "People, Whatcha Gonna?" chants, throughout "Standing on the Verge of Gettin' It On"! Ray Davis's signature bass vocals were the highlight of "Pumpin' It Up". Ray's voice is so powerful that it'll blow out your eardrums.... (I'm still trying to put mine back in........WHAT WAS THAT, BRO? I CAN'T HEAR YA!!") During the middle of "Tear The Roof Off The Sucka", each band member did a funky solo. Pete Piscaryzk did an excellent job providing the funk-hungry audience with some smothering, funky chords from his keyboards, in the vein of Bernie Worrell- esque WOO-music (music)!! I asked him later, "Are you trying to impersonate Bernie Worrell? He replied, "No man. I'm just trying to feed the audience what they ask for! I can only provide the vibe that the audience gives me. Besides, I can't really seem to get inside of Bernie's head anyway to see what's goin' on!" Billy Mimms, another super-funky hero, saved the day (hmmm...from what?) with odorious guitar riffs from "Comin' Round The Mountain". "Testify" was another fantastic tune that included a gospel jam that had members of the audience literally hollering & dancing for joy, like church was actually in service.... POSSIBLE HEADLINE FOR NY1 NEWS: Fifty people at Tramps, the New York City nightclub in the Chelsea area, fainted and fell on top of unsuspecting funkateers, injuring 130 people, some seriously. The cause: gospel music intertwined with heavy funk provided by funk powerhouse group, Original "P". "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)" was performed very well, with lead-vocal swapping between Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas, and Ray Davis. "Cosmic Slop" featured super-heavy rock guitar riffs from another dimension, courtesy of Gene Thomas! The bass player, Derrick Davis, was damn funky as well!! "Party Down People" featured a little bit of "Do That Stuff".......personally, I think "Party Down People" is a lot funkier than the encore song "Funk For You". "Maggot Brain" was excellent......thanks Gene! The entire crowd was rocking back and forth when the Original "P" hit us with some "Knee Deep".....folks were more than knee-deep in the addictive groove! "35 Years" was a nice, slow-paced, nostalgic tune with Derrick Davis's strong bass line. "Red Hot Momma" was a hot-ass track with the guitar army (Billy, Gene & Derrick) in full effect....Gene and Billy are so BAD that you can feel the smoke pouring out of their guitars!!! The show ended at 1:20am. The encore included one of Original "P"'s original tracks, "Funk For You". The encore ended at 1:30am. I got a chance to hang backstage with the members of Original "P", predominantly around Fuzzy, Calvin, Grady and Ray! I have a snapshot of me and Grady. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seemed that Grady actually did more lead vocals than he previously did. The song set listing: Night of The Thumpasorus Peoples Standing on the Verge of Gettin' It On Pumpin' It Up Up For The Down Stroke Tear The Roof Off The Sucka Testify P-Funk (Wants To Get P-Funked Up) Cosmic Slop Atomic Dog Party Down People/Do That Stuff Maggot Brain Knee Deep 35 Years One Nation Under A Groove Red Hot Momma ENCORE: Funk For You The personnel: Fuzzy Haskins - vocals Grady Thomas - vocals Calvin Simon - vocals, congas Ray Davis - vocals Derrick Davis - bass, son of Ray Gene Thomas - guitar, vocals, son of Grady Billy Mimms - guitar Pete Piscarzyk - keyboards Ben Powers, Jr. - drums Douglas Knight-Smith - keyboards, vocals Earl Fleming - keyboards Emerald - female vocalist Jackie - female vocalist