At
9:20pm (after old-school R&B group The S.O.S. Band finished a 40-minute set
of tunes like "Just Be Good to Me", "Take Your Time (Do It
Right)", "The Finest" and "Just the Way You Like It"),
Mother's Finest began their funk-rock set with the disco-ish funk instrumental
"Dis Go Dis Way, Dis Go Dat Way", followed by the funk-rock madness
that is "Come Fly With Me". "Truth'll Set You Free" was DA
SHIZNIT, with the super-passionate lead vocals of the beautiful and
extremely-talented Joyce "Baby Jean" Kennedy and the heavy guitar
soloing of Gary "Moses Mo" Moore!! "Don't Wanna Come Back"
featured a good bass solo by The Wyzard, but better was the following song
which was an extremely raw, nasty rock scorcher (I don't know the name of it,
though)! "Niggiz's Groove" was another metal-rock scorcher (almost
sounding like "Flat on My Back" in the beginning)....this is a
variation of the original song "Like a Negro" (from the BLACK RADIO
WON'T PLAY THIS RECORD album). Following was the long performance of "Give
It Up" included some moments of bad-ass drumming and Moses Mo's wicked
guitar slaying....and the audience chanting lines like "A little bit of
soul ain't hurt nobody" and "Didn't I, didn't I, didn't I baby"!
Baby Jean was in great form vocally on this song....WHEW, just listening to her
wore me out (and I wasn't onstage)!!! Glenn "Doc" Murdock started out
teaching the audience the chant to the next song "Mickey's Monkey"
(originally by Smokey Robinson)...it was five minutes of funk-rock bliss
jammin' to this gem, which included a little bit of Jimi Hendrix's "Who
Knows"! "Thank You For the Love" slowed things a bit, before
they performed the crowd favorite "Love Changes" (later covered by
Meli'sa Morgan)! "Baby Love" featured a pyrotechnic guitar slaying by
John Hayes, during the break (where normally you'd hear the nasty keyboard solo)!!!
Mother's Finest ended a slammin' set at 10:20pm. WORTH THE PRICE OF
ADMISSION....AND MORE!!
Of course, a great show wasn't
without an issue or two....I was shocked to see the baddest group, MOTHER'S
FINEST, going on second, with Chuck Brown as the headliner, but I'm glad they
went on second for two reasons: (1) I can get my MF-funk on and leave after
their performance (get some extra sleep) and (2) if they followed DC go-go
legend Chuck Brown, there would be only 50 people (if that) in the audience
left (in a room with capacity for thousands) to check them out...which would
really suck! Yes, I watched as scores & scores of black folks were jammin'
to The S.O.S. Band, but when Mother's Finest started playing, most of these
mugs were sitting on their hands (just resting in their $49 or $54
seats).....I'M SORRY, I PAID $54 FOR A SEAT TOO, BUT I AM ***NOT*** SITTING
THROUGH A MOTHER'S FINEST SHOW....OH, HELL TO THE F**KIN' NO!! THIS IS
STRAIGHT-RAW FUNK-ROCK NASTINESS AT ITS FINEST....I WAS DANCIN' AND JAMMIN'
LIKE A MOFO (even as some fans complained, "I can't see the show!" I
thought, "Get the F**K up!" S.O.S. was just a warm-up to some serious
funk 'n' rock music!!!)! This is why I hate going to funk shows at venues that
are loaded with seats.....for jazz or blues events, that's okay. And the
Constitution Hall STILL stinks.....would you f**kin' believe that I was hassled
by a stupid security guy because I was standing inside a corridor (where you
exit the performance room to go to the main hallway (with the refreshment booths,
artist merchandise tables and access to the bathrooms/lounge)?? About five
minutes later, three women are standing in the same area, behind me (I was
standin' halfway in the performance room/halfway in the corridor) and this
security mofo didn't say a damn thing to them!!!! HMMM!!! (Man, if it wasn't
for Mother's Finest, I would have NEVER EVER step foot in that no-good MOFO,
but I got to get my MF-funk on!!!) Well, interesting enough, when Mother's
Finest performed "Thank You For Your Love", people began to warm up
to them....and the folks REALLY REALLY digged "Love Changes". Oh,
before I forget, people were really itching to see Chuck Brown....one white
girl said "Man, these guys are playing a long, long time....what the f**k,
I wanna see Chuck Brown.....time for me to get another drink!" to which I
shook my head in amazement. Well, I decided to split after Mother's Finest left
the stage (figuring Chuck couldn't top that).......MOTHER'S FINEST, thank you
for the love....thank you for doing a 60-minute show....thank you for blowing
the roof off the mug....thank you Baby Jean for your strong, soulful vocals
& rock-at-heart spirit...thank you Glenn Murdock for being a hard-rock
lover...thank you Moses Mo for the soaring guitar solos...thank you Wyzard for your
bass funk... thank you all for turning the Constitution Hall upside-down!!!!
LONG LIVE MOTHER'S FINEST!!!!
Submit suggestions or comments to david.brooks@brookenstein.com