BOMB SQUAD (w/ Jen Durkin)
At Shenanigan's - South Norwalk, CT (3/28/02)
The girl who loves to "start some shit!", Jen Durkin!!
At
10:00pm, the Bomb Squad detonated with some "Ready to
Ride".....featuring the funky vocals of Jen Durkin (who is a card-carrying
member of Bernie Worrell's WOO Warriors)!! it was funky with some standout funk
rhythm guitar & tight horns.....enough to remind you of a former Jen Durkin
project.....(Deep Banana Blackout)!!! By the way, Jen Durkin's vocals were
wonderful! The wah-wah funk guitar-wailing was da bomb on "Dance to the
Music"! "Family Groove" may have been a New Orleans-style groove,
but no one could resist "Gemini", with the skillful percussion work
and funky guitar lines!! "Lickin' Stick" was a good cover of a JB
original, and "Love Hangover" was miles better than the Diana Ross
original......it was done to a funky, faster rhythm with some heavy bass and
funky scratch guitar riffs!! "Keep on Movin'" and "True
Thang" were very good, but better was the cover version of Tower of
Power's "What is Hip?".....the horn riffs were definitely "on
the money" with the original recording and the funk energy was lethally
high!! The people in
Shenanigan's were definitely grooving to this high blast of funk energy!!! "Come On, Come Over" ended the
first set at 10:50pm.
The
second detonation by the Bomb Squad began at 11:20pm with some good ole JB
stuff called "Sex Machine".......it got those that were sitting up on
their asses and jammin'! "Sophistafunk" showcased Jen's ability to
"start some shit!" "Boogie on Reggae Woman" was a great
slice of old-time funk, originally by Stevie Wonder! The bass riffs were
slammin' and the horns were tight! "What You See..." is a great
example of some Latin-influenced funk stuff with some excellent vocals by Jen
Durkin and some great percussion......the song itself would "lift your
soul with its magic touch"!! "Hey Good Lookin'" featured some
good drumming & funky guitar riffs! "Pass the Peas" (another JB
jam), "I Want You Back" (originally by the Jackson 5) and "Rock
Steady" (originally by Aretha Franklin) were all great covers, especially
with the super-funky bass on "Rock Steady"!!
Before I forget, now-frontwoman of Deep
Banana Blackout, Hope Clayborne, guest-starred on saxophone for
"Sophistafunk" and "Rock Steady"!!
"Ready to Ride" was performed again, followed by "Find Another Love", a slower-paced ballad. "Shakey Ground" was the last song and it shook the ground of Shenanigan's like an "7.0 magnitude earthquake"......the bass and guitar lines were super-funky (or sophistafunky)!!!! The second set ended at 12:25am.
Click here for pictures of the Bomb Squad
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