At
10:50pm, it was time for NYC's punk-funk-rock band FUNKFACE to hit the stage. THIS WAS A VERY SPECIAL EVENT...THE CD
RELEASE PARTY FOR TM STEVENS'S NEW ALBUM "AFRICANS IN THE SNOW"...BY
THE WAY, IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT YET, BUY IT!!! (IT IS A REAL SMOKER OF A HEAVY
METAL FUNK ALBUM!!!)
Funkface started with a new song (I don't know the name of it) followed by the
raw, swamp-infested funk sounds of "Down in the Bayou"....lead
guitarist Jerome Jordan threw down some of the heaviest rock chords during this
show! "I Against I" (a Bad Brains tune) was way powerful (in a
punk-rock vein) and was followed by "Broken Toys" and
"Time", which featured a good guitar solo by Jerome!
"Something's Goin' On" got all the fans on their feet rockin' and
chantin'! "Lickshot" was a scorchin' heavy metal extravaganza and
"Zoo York City" was too lethal, with the high-energy pounding of
Ramsey Jones on the drums! The Funkface set was over at 11:30pm.
At 12:00 midnight, the headliner TM Stevens & Shocka
Zooloo began their fierce 50-minute set with a little African rhythm interlude
before leaping into the fiery depths of heavy metal funk madness called
"What?" (yes, TM Stevens was back in the Big Apple, kicking some
serious ass and takin' no prisoners!) Following that was another funk-metal
scorcher called "We Will Never Do That Again" (where the audience was
chanting the song title repeatedly). My favorite metal-funk tune "Mama
Said" was performed with the same ferocity....I love the loud crunching
guitar wails of the Master Blaster (Michael Barnes) and the heavy drumming
style of T.C. Tolliver! And let's not forget, Carlos was doing a good job on
congas....especially during his solo! Saving the best for last, no one can be
as superbly funky and diabolically metal on the bass (at the same time) like TM
STEVENS!!!
TM Stevens went into a small tribute to James Brown, by performing a little bit
of one of his songs (I think it was "Sex Machine" but I cannot
remember)....this is the part of the show where he invited members of Funkface
to the stage... it was funny seeing Ramsey Jones and Jerome Jordan jumping from
the stage and doing splits!! TM did a little bit of "Sexy MF" (with
some white girls onstage shakin' their asses). For a solo, TM did his signature
bass riffing, playing notes at the speed of light! The song "Only
You" was dedicated to friend/singer, BJ Nelson (who was in the audience).
For the reggae-inflicted metal-funker "Maximum Respect", TM invited a
guy named ZG to the stage to do some of the lead vocals. Gary "G-Man"
Sullivan was also onstage doing backup vocals, along with the Master Blaster!
The show unfortunately ended quickly at 12:50am, but the band and the fans
celebrated the birthday of Michael Barnes, Jake and B.J. Nelson.
Submit suggestions or comments to [email protected]