I
got to the West Oak Lane Jazz Festival at 9:00pm, expecting Mandrill to begin
playing, BUT THE GUYS WERE NOWHERE NEAR THE STAGE...it would be a long wait
(until 10:00pm) before the Philly crowd was graced with the awesome
Afrocentric/Latin/funk/rock/R&B sounds of MANDRILL.
At 10:00pm, Mandrill started with the signature show-opener, the African-style
percussion-driven "Mandrill"...MAN, the drum solo was fierce and
powerful (what was the drummer's name?)! Rollin' On" sounded so good,
probably because Carlos Delano Wilson is back with the band (remember that he
was a no-show at the last Philly show in 2007 at the Mann Music Center)...I
also liked the "Rock & Roll" chant during the last couple of
minutes of the song, provided by Lou Wilson! "Cohelo" was a beautiful
flute spotlight for Carlos. "Children of the Sun" was followed by the
FUNKY "Mango Meat...and the 50,000-plus was jammin' to this funky uptempo
jam! Things started to get loose and dance-happy with the heavy pulsating
basslines of the jungle funk sounds of "Hang Loose"!!
The One Sun Lion Ra
(rapper and son of Lou Wilson) came out and performed a hip-hop piece called
"Black Woman"...a very good performance with some nasty rhythm guitar
licks by Jimmy.
"Symphonic Revolution" (a song I haven't heard live in a few years)
was next...and the Wilson Bros. (Lou, Dr. Ric, Carlos and Wilfredo
"Wolf") sounded so excellent on group vocals!! "I Refuse to
Smile" was followed by the crowd favorite song dedicated to fathers &
grandfathers everywhere "House of Wood". Marc Rey ripped an excellent
guitar solo on "Fencewalk"and Arlan Schirebaum played some nasty
organ while funkateers shook their booties on "Git It All"!! The
encore performance of "Ape is High" was also funkatizing in the land
of West Oak Lane!! The Mandrill show ended at 11:30pm.
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