Tuesday, January 19, 2010
George Clinton at Crystal Ballroom 1.18.10
George Clinton used to come through Portland about every nine months or year or so, but this time he returned after being here last August. No complaints from me. I try to be in the house every time the mothership lands. Things weren't overwhelmingly crowded like his shows have sometimes been in the past. And even though it was pretty easy to move around on the floor (Over 21 show without the legal barrier between ages and cardless, thank goodnes) I still decided to check out the balcony and it was a nice way to catch one of his shows for a change.
Tonight was the standard George opening to Cosmic Slop about a half hour or so into the show after a big helping of Gary Shider and Belita Woods (I call her helium woman or the mother of Alvin and the Chipmunks) warming things up. George's entrances like those of Sun Ra, when he was on this cosmic plane, is usually one of the best parts of the show. No kid's bed sheet this time. With his downy vest, purple wig and shades he looked a bit like an eccentric divorcee who had been hanging out in a ski area lounge. Apres ski with PFunk, anyone?
My favorite ingrediant of the PFunk sound is the cluster tight vocal harmonies. I've been to PFunk shows without the horns but you can't have a true George PFunk show without a group of folks singing how you can't get over it, can't get around it. Remember, this whole mess began with George as a barber in New Jersey leading a doo-wop group called the Parliaments.
Kendra Foster continues to be one of my favorites in the more recent configurations of the PFunk Mob. She has star time presence and I am a little surprised that she is still touring regularly with the mothership pulling out Bounce to This a tune I described back in September as "a very slinky duet with George that takes you to a really nice happy place and reassures you that this S--t ain't over!" This lady has star time presence, to be sure.
George Clinton shows of recent years do not seem to have the kind of rambling anarchy they used to have. At this last Crystal show, they barely got through the One Nation Under A Groove re-entry after Maggot Brain and it all was over in less than three hours. I wonder if I'll ever see another show where things went on for a couple hours after last call. No matter. Clinton shows remain unique, one of a kind experiences coming from the legacy of the man I consider to be the last of the great AFrican American bandleaders, right up there with Ra, Mingus and Ellington.
There are a few prominent PFunk players whose absence would be quite conspicuous. Gary "diaper man" Shider is a very important ingrediant in the mix, as is Michael "Kid Funkadellic" Hampton. Hampton was heir to Eddie Hazel and he still comes out every night to lay down the the swirling and shimmering guitar feature known as Maggot Brain. Free you Mind and your ass will follow indeed.
It really isn't fair to review a singular Pfunk show. Every evening is another component of a continuum of funk. I hope the ship will touch down again in my coordinates in another few months.
posted by well-executed buffet at 2:14 AM
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