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Original P
Review 08/29/98 From: Dr.Brookenstein
Stoned Soul Picnic At the RFK Stadium Parking Lot in Washington, DC I decided to get my Saturday off to a really good start by getting ready for my excursion to Washington, DC--to check out the Stoned Soul Picnic! I already spent my Friday in NYC with the hot Brooklyn-Queens band, Rhythm Republik. I left the Big Apple early to catch the last train back to Philly, so I had about four hours of sleep before the DC trip. (Will I still have the same level of energy when I'm 50 years old? Hmmmm....maybe?!) I caught a train at 9:35am bound for DC and got to the parking lot of RFK Stadium at 12:35am. On the list of performers at the picnic were gospel acts like Candi Stanton and Urban Nation Hip-Hop Choir. From the start of the festivities to about 3:15pm, the acts were all gospel. The acts were good, but I wanted some funk! At 3:35pm, the FUNK/R&B performances began with the S.O.S. Band, who were only able to perform 3 songs, which was not cool. They still sound as funky and soulful as they did back in the 1980's. DAMN....the female lead vocalist (I think her name is Mary Davis) still looks fine! They performed the slamming funk tunes "Just Be Good To Me" and "Just The Way You Like It", plus the wonderful "Borrowed Love" (I think that was the name of the song.) The S.O.S. Band set ended at 4:00pm. As soon as the S.O.S. Band left the stage, the audience was greeted by The O'Jays, who performed at the MCI Center last Friday. They mentioned their upcoming performance later that night, somewhere in Baltimore, Maryland. At 4:15pm, Gil-Scott Heron performed a 35-minute funky jam session. Among the tunes was a classic song called "The Bottle" (or something like that)! DEFINITELY WORTH ANOTHER LISTEN!! One of the most entertaining moments of the set was listening to this funky-ass brotha thumpin' the bass.....somewhat in the vein of Larry Graham's style!! At 5:05pm, Brick was onstage, performing the dopest shit (well, not as dope as the Original "P")......this was a BONAFIDE, MOTHERFUCKIN' BLOCK PARTY AT THE RFK STADIUM'S PARKING LOT!! This was a performance where you were required to have good DANCING SHOES and GET OFF YOUR ASS AND JAM!!! They tore the house up with favorites "Ain't Gone Hurt Nobody" and "Sweat (Till You Get Wet)", plus they played the best Brick tune ever....."Dazz"!!! It was so good that the ground shook from all of the dancing feet! "Dusic" was so funky with the heavy guitars rocking, that I forgot all about the Original "P".....for a minute, of course! The Brick songs were: Ain't Gone Hurt Nobody Sweat (Till You Get Wet) So Happy We Don't Wanna Sit Down, We Wanna Get Down Dusic Dazz The Brick set ended at 5:45pm. Before the Original "P" began their set, it was mentioned that they (along with the S.O.S. Band) were hosting an afterparty at the Coach & IV Club (at 14th St. NW and U St.) from 8:00pm to 3:00am. I wasn't attending the afterparty because I was not spending the night in DC and I wasn't staying in that area till 3:00am anyway (or even till 9:00pm)! The Original "P" (Original Parliament) began their set at 6:05pm. The tight-ass, funky-as-hell group consist of old-time Parliament members, Ray Davis, Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins, Grady Thomas and Calvin Simon--plus sons of the P, Gene Thomas (guitarist who performed with the funky-ass Plainfield group, Funk-Kin) and Derrick Davis (on bass). The group performed some of the most funky and well-known P-Funk tunes. They started out with the thumpin' sounds of "Night of Thumpasorus Peoples".......with one keyboardist playing some funked-up, smelly chords that sound like Bernie Worrell. "Pumpin' It Up" featured the heavy-bass lead vocals of Ray Davis....very different from the P-Funk version, but very good! "Tear The Roof Off The Sucka" featured the sub-bass intro vocals of Ray Davis (FUNKY!) and a sample of Bootsy's Rubber Band's "Chug-A-Lug (The Bun Patrol)"....."Rip the roof off the mother sucker, come and rip the roof off". "Testify" was one of the best tunes in the set.....DAMN!! This version is a hundred times better than Parliament's 1974 version.......kinda like the 1967 version but more funkatized! George Clinton can't touch this now! "Testify" was SO GOOD THAT I'VE NEVER LISTEN TO THE PARLIAMENT 1974 VERSION! And the gospel breakdown, it was so exhilarating! "The Goose" was a tight groove and "Atomic Dog" was as slammin' as P-Funk version. "Maggot Brain" sounded so magnificent....Gene Thomas may put Mike "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton to shame!! "Red Hot Momma" was fuckin' slamming and the group even covered Kirk Franklin's "Stomp!" very well!! Kirk would have been stompin' during the entire "P" show!! The all-time best song was, of course, "Cosmic Slop"......Gene was mean on guitar and vocals, Ray's co-lead vocals were sending shockwaves through everyone, and Fuzzy's vocals were so sweet! The Original "P" song 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 The Goose Cosmic Slop Atomic Dog Maggot Brain Funkentelechy (Not Just) Knee Deep One Nation Under a Groove Stomp! Red Hot Momma Flashlight The Original "P" set ended at 7:55pm. The Original Parliament members sounded as funky and strong as they did back in the old days!! Calvin Simon's voice was soulful, Fuzzy's was funky, Ray's was jolting, and Grady's was damn good! Also, Fuzzy's son, Nowell Haskins, was onstage checking out the Original P-Funkers. WAT UP, NOWELL!!!