BERNIE WORRELL & THE WOO WARRIORS
(featuring George Clinton, Dawn Silva & Garry Shider)
At Club Lulu's Mardi Gras - Washington, DC
(6/21/03)
The Wizard of WOO, Bernie Worrell!!!
I went to Washington, DC with my friend, John Wesley, to check out Bernie
Worrell and the WOO Warriors (featuring George Clinton and Dawn Silva)!! We
arrived at Union Station at 6:45pm to be picked up later by his cousin,
"Junior". After some hanging out in the northern part of DC, we
finally got to Club Lulu's at 9:30pm. After having dinner, it was time to check
out the opening act, KNEE DEEP (straight outta DC and Norwalk, CT).
At 10:00pm, KNEE DEEP started out with an
instrumental jam that sounded like Funkadelic's "Take It to the
Stage". Their material was basically some original stuff. The best part of
that show was the really funky bassisms of D.C.'s Alex Smith! The show ended
somewhere around 10:40pm.
Click here for pictures of Knee Deep
Dr. Brookenstein with Dawn Silva, one half of the original Brides of
Funkenstein!!!
I went backstage to hang out with the WOO Warriors.....I was really delighted
to see Dawn Silva in all of her beauty (AND THAT'S A LOT OF BEAUTY!)! I got
photos of Dawn with me and my friends. I got a chance to get photos of George
Clinton &Bernie Worrell!
Dr. Brookenstein, George Clinton and a couple of funk fans!!
At 11:50pm, the WOO Warriors began their funky set in
front of a gigantic crowd (space was tighter than the crack of one's ass)....so
tight because everyone was checking out George Clinton and Garry Shider (who
surprised folks when he dropped by)! The first song was "Gamin' on Ya",
featuring the keyboard wizardry of the Wizard of WOO, Bernie Worrell!! Then
came the song in dedication to one of the funkiest cities, "Chocolate
City" (D.C., baby baba!!)Dawn Silva came out and sang her funky ass off
to "Red Hot Momma" (the song title definitely applies to
her)......lead guitar riffs by John Hickey were extremely "red hot"
and the drumming by Gary "G-Man" Sullivan was nasty! "Funkentelechy"
was a welcomed treat, sounding so much like the album version......it was like
going back in 1977!
This brotha got a case
of Shider-itis!!
Afterwards, Bernie's synthesizer riffs began to
spell out "A Joyful Process"....that's right, the BW funk workout
from the AMERICA EATS ITS YOUNG album!! A soft jam called "Mommy, What's a
Funkadelic?" (from the first Funkadelic LP) soon became a loud, powerful
jam featuring some overpowering bass funk (courtesy of Brett) and lead
"axe" slaying by John Hickey!!
Dawn Silva and my friend, John Wesley!
"Smokey" was a-smokin' in everyone's
brain (and ya got me singin' this sweet refrain), courtesy of Bernie's own
vocalizations and the WOO-thesizer pulsing funky vibes to ya brain, baba!!! "Take Your Dead Ass Home" and "Undisco
Kidd" were good, but better was Dawn's
inclusion of her funky 1978 Brides hit "Disco-To-Go" including a bit
of "Warship Touchante"....she had half of the room singin' "Ooh!
Givin' up the funk!" and the other half singin' somethin' else!! The song
became another funky tune, Bootsy's "Aah...The Name is Bootsy,
Baby"!! George was out there pumpin' up the audience during this
segment.......it was so great to see Bernie and George together again.....and
to have Dawn and Garry in the same show? Oh, the chemistry was just so damn
good......"taste so good make you wanna slap your mama!" (YEAH, BOY!)
"Junior" (John Wesley's cousin) with
Dawn Silva!
"One Nation Under a Groove" and "Me and My Folks, You and Your
Folks" was followed by a few more songs.......it is hard to remember what
followed because I was running between the audience room and the backstage area
taking care of business. There was a new song.....an original written by Gregg
Fitz that I didn't get a chance to really check out. "Can You Get to
That?" and "Bounce to This" (featuring Kendra Foster on lead
vocals) were good, "Bounce to This" featuring some bad-ass lead
guitarisms by John Hickey! "Cosmic Slop" was the last song to be
performed and Garry Shider was singing lead vocals.....actually, Garry's voice
wasn't as strong as normal and he was straining to hit the higher notes, so Gregg
stepped in to further funkify the vocal part! The show was over at 2:00am.
Click here for pictures of Bernie
Worrell & the WOO Warriors
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