VICTOR WOOTEN
At the Keswick Theatre - Glenside, PA(4/1/08)
Okay, funk fans...here it goes.....a review from
the Victor Wooten show at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA
(4/1/08)....please bear me as I may have momentary lapses of unconsciousness
during this review....
UNDERSTAND THAT ABOUT 26 HOURS OR SO AGO, I WAS SUBJECTED TO THE MOST POTENT,
POTENTIALLY LETHAL DRUG EVER KNOWN TO MAN.....NO, NOT HEROIN....NO, NOT
PCP....NO, NOT CRACK......I'M TALKING ABOUT VICTOR WOOTEN AND HIS BAND OF
VIRTUOSOS!!!!
UNDERSTAND THAT I JUST WOKE UP ABOUT A HOUR AGO!!
I'M TALKING ABOUT SOME BRAIN DAMAGE GOIN' ON HERE!!
And as the Prince song (1999) goes, "I was dreamin' when I wrote this,
forgive me if it goes astray!"
At 7:45pm, the nearly sold-out theatre was exposed to musicians playing a
terrifying blend of funk, jazz and world music, under the guidance of possibly
the best bass virtuoso on this side of the galaxy, MR. VICTOR WOOTEN!! "Cambo"
was the first song (a nasty funk-jazz tune) featuring violin riffs and chant
vocals by Ali......the basswork of Victor was fast and in-your-face
nasty-funky!! The second tune was another funk tune that focused on a
spiritual theme, speaking about a world past this world where money means
nothing and what is in your heart means everything. "I Saw God"
(obviously more spiritual stuff) was a reggae/world music tune that featured a
sing-along for the audience. On the next song, Steve Wineguard (new
keyboardist) was burnin' it up on his piano solo ....Victor and Anthony Wellington began singing to him
"Play That Funky Music, White Boy" (Victor said "We're an Equal
Opportunity Band").
"Left, Right and Center" was DA BOMB,
because it was Derrico Watson's moment to shine.....well, this guy was shining
like 10,000 suns as he was funky and steady, then fast, then super- fast, back
to steady & funky, doing tempo changes unexpectedly.....I call
"beautiful chaos", baba!! Everyone had a solo on "Left, Right
and Center" with Anthony droppin' the nastiest poppin' bass funk (it was
on like popcorn, baba), Regi Wooten soaring into rock guitar heaven, Steve
funkin' with the keys, and Victor sending bombastic bass waves throughout the
Keswick Theatre (you could hear the windows rattle to the point of ALMOST
exploding)!! Derrico then proceeded to knock the walls down with some serious
lethal, power drum riffs.......(I was wondering, was that drum riffing OR A
MACHINE GUN SPRAYING AMMO??)!!!
The audience was left to cool off with the beautiful, angelic voice of Saundra
Williams doing a lovely R&B ballad. "Sifu" was another song that
featured Ali on chant vocals.
Victor gave a shoutout to the teacher that
taught him how to play bass, his brother Regi....who began playing violin
chords on his guitar for a minute, before switching to some nasty, distorted
rock guitarisms...THEN, REGI BEGAN TO BEAT THE STRINGS AT THE NECK OF THE
GUITAR LIKE HE WAS PLAYING CONGAS.....JUST VERY, VERY FAST BEATING....LOOKING
LIKE AN EPILETIC ON A LIVE WIRE AND..............eh.....................................................................................................................
................... (oops, sorry about that. I just regained consciousness)
anyway, he had the guitar lit up with blue lights and began playing it with a microphone
and seconds later with his teeth!!!!!!!!!
Victor began a bass solo (A VERY LONG one),
where he was playing some mellow bass riffs to a programmed bass line.
After turning off the programmed bass, he
continued with the mellow riffs and began to unexpectedly interject with a
nasty poppin' bass riff, down & dirty slap bass riff, or (the deadliest)
supersonic- speed, earth-trembling bass workout (WHERE YOU WOULD SEE AN EXTRA 6
ARMS APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE)..........eh............................................................................................................
.......... (oops, sorry. I'm back).....................
Of course, Anthony was supposed to be featured
next, and he was correct in sayin' to Victor "Do you THINK I play bass
after the solo YOU did????" Actually, there was a surprise guest
hiding out in the audience, a Philly-based bass legend by the name of Gerald
Veasley and Victor invited him to play. Before the next song, Victor remarked
"Y'know, back in the day, all good bass players were TALL!" (what a
jokester!! LOL!) Gerald was playing some smooth jazz bassisms over the
funky, slow groove of the band. Victor remarked that he liked Gerald because he
had that "touch"....that he liked to stand close and watch so he can
feel that "touch" ....and he and Anthony stood very close and
watched Gerald.....Victor even got his notepad to jot down notes!! After
Gerald left the stage, Anthony came back and remarked, "I just thought
of something, I got to follow Victor AND Gerald....how did THAT
happen??????????"
The next song "Flex" was A
MONSTROUS TUNE OF MOMUMENTAL PROPORTION, THANKS TO ANTHONY "Why I Got to
Follow Victor?" WELLINGTON.......no disappointment from Bass Player #2 of
this band, AS HE LAID DOWN THE NASTIEST, LOUDEST, NOXIOUS, ODORIOUS RAPID-
FIRE, FUNKY SLAP BASS RIFFING.........I had
to.....................eh.......................................................................................(okay,
let's try this again)........I had to get up and run to the front entrance for
some air 'CUZ IT WAS TOO FUNKY UP IN THERE!!! DAY-UM!!!!!!!!! As Anthony
continued to peel the paint off the walls with HIS FUNKY BASS, Regi and Victor
were playing some super- fast funky guitar & bass solos! And the jazzy
piano riffing was also good, too.
ANOTHER SURPRISE, Y'ALL........
P-Funk legendary keyboardist, BERNIE
WORRELL, was in the house and was invited to the stage.....I put on my silver
Bootsy hat and run like hell to the right side of the room, where I can get my
funk on, dancing to the WOO-derful funk synthesizer riffs of the WOO-man
himself (The WOO-Funk is your funk, the motherlode of your funk!) The song that
Bernie was playing was one of P-Funk legendary hits, "Tear the Roof Off
the Sucka"......and Victor, Regi and Anthony were singing the chorus.
The band ended the show with a nice feel-good song called "Miss U".
The extravaganza ended at 10:05pm.
Submit suggestions or comments to david.brooks@brookenstein.com