I arrived in
Plainfield, NJ around 4:15pm.....to hang out with the original players of the
"P", Ray Davis & Grady Thomas (of Original PFunk, Parliament/Funkadelic
fame) and the members of Original PFunk and the second-generation P-funksters
FUNK-KIN, featuring special guest K-Funkstar!!! It was great to be back in the
city where the "P" originated.......it was like going back to the
place where the Mothership was first built (where it was just a pile of metal,
nuts & bolts)!!! I went out and purchased a new Afro wig from a nearby wig
shop (mine was torn up). I picked up a CD of James Brown's newest project,
"The Next Step" and a funk compilation CD called "All Funked
Up". The locals were gawking at the new wig that I was sportin'! (By the
way, Gene Thomas......how were those birthday cookies?!)
Hours passed
as I converse with members of Funk-Kin, Original PFunk and some other
friends......then it was showtime. The show began around 9:30pm with the
hilarious comedy of CP Lacey (at one point, he dressed like Michael Jackson and
imitated him down to the "T") and the soulful singing of Dena
Allen-Spivey.
Around
10:30pm, funk band, BROWN, went on and did around 45 minutes of hard-hitting,
slammin' funk! The basswork was definitely funky (like nine cans of wet Magic
shaving powder) and the guitar licks were fierce! The funky horns were
definitely on the one.......I only wished that I could have the whole thing on
tape so I can hear it again! (It was a shame that I couldn't get any of
their merchandise right there!)
Around
11:30pm, the Plainfield-bred sons & bros of the "P", Funk-Kin,
played with all of the funkiness that made them such a hellified funk band! The
nasty funk overwhelmed the audience on "It's On"....the nasty
basswork of Billy Perk Puryear (Funk-Kin alumnus) and the lead guitarwork of
Charlie Rivers was off da hook! "Off Da Hook" and "I Heard"
were good. Eric Seiz (Funk-Kin alumnus) is still funky on the trumpet! Nowell
Haskins will always be Plainfield's funky drummer!! I loved the sleazy funk
version of "Might Wanna Get Laid Back" with the funky vocals of
"the star -- guest vocalist" K-Funkstar (the artistformerly known as
Keith Thomas), Twin, and the two female background vocalists,Roxanne Yery
(Funk-Kin alumnus) and Robin!! I loved the smokin', Worrell-esque synthesized
riffs of Mr. Donald Banks!!! (applause!) K-Funkstar once again shined vocally
on "The Funk Done Gone Hip-Hop", with the irresistible Nate Shider on
rhythm guitar!! The show ended around 12:15am.
At 12:30am, the Original PFunk band came on and raised
the funk bar with the babytalk-babble of "Night of The Thumpasorus
Peoples": "Ga ga goo ga, ga ga goo ga, ga ga goo ga ga"!! Kudos
to Pete Piscarzyk on the funky keyboardisms! K-Funkstar hyped the crowd up
(along with help from one Dr. Brookenstein) during the Original PFunk set. Ray
Davis, Fuzzy Haskins and Grady Thomas vocally showered the fans with some
serious P-Funk stuff for 2 1/2 hours, with help from the sexy & funky
background vocalists, De'Jean, Jackie Love and Emerald Davis!!
The song listing included:
Submit suggestions or comments to david.brooks@brookenstein.com