FUNK-O-RAMA in NYC - 12/01/97

 

 

WOW! What a great fuckin' show last night at the Wetlands!!! I've heard some of the best "P-Funk"-type shit ever, especially from Enemy Squad!!!!!

 

I met Ron "Stozo" Edwards around 8:30pm, just before Naviv (the first group) started their set. We were talking about the merchandise that I purchased from him and he offered me a FREE FUNK-O-RAMA T-shirt for my troubles. WHAT A GUY, EH?! I told Stozo that I ordered some things from Pedro Bell and was in direct phone contact with Pedro for a week!!! (Pedro is the original artist for the P-Funk mob, and this "old-head" has a WHOLE LOT to say.....about topics like his artwork and Adrian Sherwood's Tackhead Sound System, an industrial music group!! I feel like a young student learning at the master's feet, when I talk to him!) Anyway, Naviv's set was basically a mixture of funk with some folk music. It sounded alright, but the best was yet to come. Their set ended around 9:05pm.

 

I met Michael "Clip" Payne about 15 minutes after Naviv's set (WOW!!!). For those who don't know him, he is the craziest member of the P-Funk Mob. (At the last Philly P-Funk show (9/12/97), this guy was writing silly messages on toilet paper, like "ACID PAPER" and "SMILE", and tossing them into the crowd. Also, this guy loves to scream during a song!! Talk about a LOOSEmotherfucker!!! Hehehe!) I thought to myself, after the last P-Funk show, "I have to meet this guy in person." I asked Clip if the 4:20 Funk Mob was going to do more shows in the future, and he said that 4:20 was just a one-time experiment thing. (DAMN!! I'd love to go back in time to witness 4:20 again!) Also, I told him how much I loved his craziness!!

 

The second group, Enemy Squad, started their set at 9:30pm. DAMN, this motherfuckers are bad as hell!!!! They are the new generation of Funkadelics, a really heavy-funk, guitar-driven group that follows in the footsteps of the original Funkadelic. The guitars and basses were cranked up to the max!! The two vocalists were great and everyone was jamming to the funk!!! This group was led by Gabe "The Undisco Kidd" Gonzalez (from the P-Funk Mob) and he provided a lot of vocals, too!! One of the guitarists played the famous riff from "Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow", which was excellent. Gabe mentioned that Clip Payne was a big inspiration to him, before the group jumped into a tribute to Eddie Hazel. This instrumental tribute song was the strongest of the set, summoning the fierce spirit of early Funkadelic which ripped through the entire club!! The psychedelic funk was so dense you could cut it with a knife!!!! You could just smell the funk!!! (It's burning, man.......IT'S BURNING!!!)I asked one of the vocalists, "Where I can get a copy of your songs?" He replied, "You should check your local record store in the next 2 or 3 weeks." I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!! (from a newly Enemy Squad addict!)Enemy Squad's set ended at 10:30pm.

 

Rhythm Republik's set began at 10:50pm. This is a very funky band, led by Kregg Ajamu (a friend of Pedro, and the guy I introduced myself to when I first entered the club).

The most memorable thing about the band was when Kregg asked everyone if it's okay if he eats a little something something......then, some guy offers him a box of KFC chicken wings. This guy tasted one wing and said something like "Mmmm....this is......this is finger-licking good!"

Then, everyone chanted "When you start to lick, you gotta keep on lickin'!" (or something like that) Very funny stuff! This group's set ended around 11:45pm.

 

 

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