Yes,
PRINCE fans...this was 1 of the tributes that New York City had 2 offer in
honor of Prince's 50th Birthday (born on 6/7)....this tribute WAS BETTER THAN
THE OTHER 1'S BECAUSE THE BAND PLAYED MOSTLY OBSCURE, NON-HIT or BOOTLEGGED
MATERIAL!! (THEY PERFORMED ONLY 2 SONGS THAT PRINCE WOULD PERFORM LIVE!) THIS
WAS AN EVENT THAT WAS PUT 2GETHER BY BRC MASTERMIND, DARRELL McNEILL! There EYE
was, sitting in the front with some of the coolest people in the N-Y-C, like
Brooklyn guitar funk star Eric Perl (funkateers may remember him from DEEP
POCKET and NAPPYHEAD FUNK ARMY), musician Miles, Baron Keels, and Santa
Barbara's own Soul-Patrol Coordinator--the beautiful SALLY FOXEN!
The Black Rock Coalition band started at 10:00pm with "America", with
good lead vocals by Doron Flake and a nice fast uptempo groove, despite the
use of electronic drums by percussionist Shawn Banks (formerly of NYC's own
APOLLO HEIGHTS) -- EYE didn't see what purpose it served during the song.
"EYE Wanna B Ur Lover" sounded great with some funky rhythm guitar
(courtesy of V. Jeffrey Smith, of the famous R&B band, THE FAMILY
STAND)....the best part was the inclusion of some funky basslines & hot,
blazin' trumpet and sax lines from BT Express's "Do You Like It?"
during the middle of the song!! (the funk basslines were courtesy of Mr.
Darrell McNeill, the trumpet lines - courtesy of Wayne, and the sax lines -
courtesy of V. Jeffrey Smith) By the way, the brief drum solo (courtesy of Don
MacKenzie) during "Ur Lover" was kickin'!! NYC's power punk-rock
vocalist Militia took the next song, "Sexuality", and turned it into
a hi-energy rock workout.....at the end, even those people who sat still in
their seats were DRIPPIN' WET! Things got a little weird during the next
song "Dirty Mind", as lead vocalist Marsailles came 2 the stage and
performed, just 2 crawl on2 the table where EYE sat and began 2 grind on a
woman sittin' across from me. Incidentally, his vocals weren't that good,
but he redeemed himself on "Nothing Compares 2 U". "4 The Tears
in Ur Eyes" featured lead vocalist Kelsey with backing vocals by Militia
and Maritri. Everett Bradley performed lead vocals on "Controversy",
which featured some good wah-wah guitarisms, funky bass riffs, some good
drumming and funk synthesizer riffs by keyboardist Gene Williams! The band with
the help of another hardcore rock vocalist, Sophia Ramos, nearly burned down
the BAM Cafe with an electrifying display of ear-splitting hardcore rock
nastiness -- THAT'S RIGHT....N*GGAZ WITH GUITARS!!! (WATCH OUT!!!!) "Power
Fantastic" was a nice, beautiful ballad with lovely piano riffs & lead
vocals by the beautiful Maritri! The muted trumpet (courtesy of Wayne), flute
(courtesy of V. Jeffrey), and violin (courtesy of Tara Reynolds) riffs were
also excellent!! "Nothing Compares 2 U" was Marsailles's 2nd vocal
performance and it sounded better, although this is the Sinead O'Connor version
(which EYE don't like). Kelsey took me back 2 the good ol' days when EYE used 2
trade bootlegs, when he did the lead vocals on "Interactive", a
blazing rock guitar song! The BAM Cafe suffered a huge blow 2 its foundation,
nearly crumbling under the NASTY PUNK-ROCK ENERGY of the 1980 version of the
Graffiti Bridge track "Tick, Tick, Bang" (an unreleased track, only
available as a bootleg)....lead vocalist was the powerful MILITIA!!!
"Don't Play Me" was a straight-up R&B tune with some nice guitar
and great percussion work by Shawn Banks! "EYE Feel 4 U" was done in
a reggae flavor, which sounded weird, but it was good....especially with meaty
funk bass by Darrell and lead vocals by Jenny. After the introductions, the BRC
band performed "Calhoun Square", a nasty funk-rock tune with
energetic lead vocalist Sophia Ramos. "Erotic City" was the encore
performance, featuring Everett on bass lead vocals and Kelsey on 2nd lead
vocals....Sophia and Militia provided backing vocals. The song featured some
funky bass lines and electronic drum riffing. The experience was over at
11:20pm.
Submit suggestions or comments 2 david.brooks@brookenstein.com