CLONES OF FUNK
At the Cardinal's Nest - Washington, DC (5/31/08)
Gene McBride, Baby Clone, Rod Hot, Wesley Beann & Scrape!
At
10:30pm, it was time for the Mothership to land in Chocolate City....with the
performance of "Funkentelechy" by the one and only P-Funk tribute
band THE CLONES OF FUNK! The IN & OUT HORNS (saxman Jerry Queene and
trumpeteer Mike Powell) sounded tight as a mug & the lead vocal stylings of
Wesley Beann & Scrape were also on point! The funk fans were on the floor,
shakin' their moneymakers to the funky soundz of "Bop Gun (Endangered
Species)", "Gamin' on Ya" and "Red Hot Momma", which
featured some nasty lead guitar riffing by Mr. Hot Rod!!! After a nice
performance of "Undisco Kidd", the band jumped into the classic
"Tear the Roof off the Sucka", which featured a great horn riff from
Bootsy Collins's "Psychoticbumpschool" and some of the best drumming
from Mark Brown. "Everything is on the One" was followed by the
sleaze-funk of "The Goose" (sounding very close to the album
version)! The medley "Up For the Down Stroke/I Can Move You (If You Let
Me)" was the ending to the first set....the first set was over at 11:40pm.
BY THE WAY, THE CLONES
OF FUNK TOOK THE TIME TO PRESENT A PLAQUE TO THE MOTHER OF A "CLONE"
WHO PASSED AWAY SOMETIME LAST YEAR.....THE CLONE WAS CLARENCE
"BOOLAH" ROPER!
"The Funk Lady", Clones of Funk manager, Debbie Wood!
At
12:10am, The Clones of Funk returned to the stage with the slammin'
"Standing on the Verge of Gettin' It On", incorporating a little bit
of "Pumpin' It Up". "P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)" was
good, but better was "Mothership Connection" with a reggae-style
breakdown during the middle of the song (featuring keyboardist Gene McBride on
reggae-style vocals) and some NASTY HARDCORE ROCK GUITAR ROMPS (sounding like
"Lunchmeataphobia")...THANKS, HOT ROD!!! The bass riffs hypnotized
the audience on "Cosmic Slop", courtesy of one Terre Holland.....and
let's not forget the shredding lead guitarisms by Hot Rod!!! NOW....IT WAS TIME FOR THE CLONES OF FUNK
TO DO A COUPLE OF ORIGINAL SONGS....which they did (BY THE WAY, both songs were
available for sale at the show)...."The Funky Ones" sounded like a
Parliament track, featuring funky group vocals, hot trumpet/sax riffing, and a
tasteful rhythm guitar line! "Dedicated to the P" sounded almost like
an old Bootsy's Rubber Band-type track with more horny horn blowing and
seriously spicy synthesizer riffing by Gene McBride! One criticism: I wish
that the rock-style guitar was turned WAY UP during the bridge sections of the
song ("People don't funk like they used to, they got too many
issues...")
"Flashlight" was the funky ending to the second set.... which ended
at 1:40am.
Skip Kelley & Danny Lewis
Click here for pictures of
The Clones of Funk
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