Dr. Funkenstein is not wearing shoes. On stage at the YouTube Theater in Inglewoodin Los Angeles, 81-year-old funk guru George Clinton walks barefoot enough to be in his living room The rest of his costume is fairly understated. The pearl-encrusted captain's hat and dazzling robes give him the look of a human sparkly ball.
It's been 66 years since Clinton formed the doo-wop group Parliaments in the back room of a barber shop in Plainfield, New Jersey. After serving as his songwriter on staff at Motown in the 60s, Clinton moved into his 70s with Parliament and his twin group Funkadelic, which were innovative and acid-filled with the sound of funk. brought about a transformation. Incorporating psychedelic jazz, Detroit punk, and Jimi's Hendrix-style guitar pyrotechnics, Clinton's Phi funk is a series that continues to be heavily sampled by pop and hip-hop producers to this day. produced a big hit. On the other hand, his band's theatrical and his sci-fi-influenced live shows became legendary. P Funk, his UFO stage prop used at his concerts in the stadium in the 70s. His mothership is preserved for posterity at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.
This farewell tour may not bring a shiny metal spaceship on stage with him, but Clinton delights in offering the unexpected. . He appeared on stage considerably earlier than his own band, surprising the soprano and keyboardist of his Blu Eye Extinction in his supporting act, Constance his Howman. When Clinton next appears, his eight-piece back his band is in full swing, and he leads an equal number of back his singers like his P-funk pied his piper. This sprawling, sprawling band creates a kind of chaos on stage. The musicians switch instruments nonchalantly, but sometimes it doesn't seem like there are enough mics working to get the entire vocalist through.
The musical maelstrom that emanates from this collective is thrilling, and the audience rises quickly, doing their best to lift the roof of the 6,000-capacity venue. Clinton himself, sometimes overwhelmed by it all, takes a moment to spin in a short black office chair placed center stage, but his big smile of pride and joy remains the same.
Many of the band members are second or third generation Parliamentary Funkadelic musicians. Donning silver angel wings, guitarist Garrett Scheider takes center stage at the high point of the set's opening, reminding the audience: His father, Gary Scheider, was the longtime diaper-wearing music director of Parliament Funkadelic, who died of cancer in 2010. The band's leader still refers to guitarist Michael Hampton as "Kid Funkadelic", and he still calls him "Kid Funkadelic" at his age of 65. Hampton calls Hazel's mind-changing "Maggot". Blaine" first impressed Clinton by reproducing the solo note by note.
With only three more Clinton farewell tours left, this could be his final stand in Los Angeles. A thoroughly triumphant version of 1975's "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)" was a brief reprise of "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" and his 1982 "Atomic Dog." The crowd is elated. We wanted funk, we needed funk, and as he's done his whole life, George Clinton gave up funk.