George Clinton & Parliament / Funkadelic

George Clinton’s two bands, Parliament & Funkadelic - both stylistically different & signed to separate Record labels (yet made up of the same members), joined the man also known as Dr Funkenstein on stage at Manchester Academy on Saturday night as part of the SWAP (Song Writers and Performers) Festival.

The impressive 23-person (plus) show lasted for over three hours, beginning at 8pm with band Children of Production; an ensemble primarily made up by members of George’s band & fronted by Clinton’s Grand-daughter Sativa (aka Shondra Clinton). Reminiscent of mid 90’s trio the Digable Planets, this group’s sound was a more alternative Funk, Jazz & Hip-Hop collective, which set the tone for the rest of the evening with their opening words ‘Manchester, are you ready to get Funkified!’

Half an hour later, a seamless transition took place, with George’s Rhythm Guitarist Garry ‘Starchild’ Shider taking to the stage wearing only a diaper, white socks & a pair of Nikes.

Not long into the first number, a large cast of surreal characters began appearing on stage, soon followed by Clinton himself, dressed in a beige tracksuit & sunglasses with a baseball cap over his trademark rainbow coloured dreadlocks.

With a career spanning 38 years, Clinton’s troupe had a lot of material to cover & they seemed to make the effort to play it all. Known to be one of the most sampled musicians of all time, many of the tracks would have sounded familiar to the uninitiated, including 1982’s Atomic Dawd – sampled most famously in Snoop Dogg’s track What’s my Name. Most of the audience seemed more than familiar with Clinton’s original, however and many in the crowd were able to recite the whole set word perfectly.

Besides having a range of vocalists and musicians taking their turn centre stage, the two dancers in the group, Carlos ‘Sir Nose’ McMurray - who was dressed as a 70’s style pimp complete with furry trousers & matching fedora - & Gene ‘Poo Poo Man’ Anderson also helped to entertain the crowd.

The set also included several tracks from the newest Clinton Album ‘How Late Do You Have 2BB4UR Absent?’ which were sung by a mix of younger vocalists including Kendra Foster & Sativa, who returned to the stage to perform the track Somethin’ Stank and I want Some – a song about THC (which she sung as Grandfather George roamed the stage smoking what smelt suspiciously like marijuana).

With so many multitalented members of the troupe, it’s no wonder that at age 65, Clinton was happy to often take a back seat to the members of his band. Lead Guitarist DeWayne ‘Blackbyrd’ McKnight at on stage performed Maggot Brain – a long instrumental number which helped to change the pace of the show & Saxophonist Greg Thomas not only performed a fantastic solo on his instrument, but later went on to show his scatting skills on the mic.

For the band’s final track, George led the band in a rendition of Jerry Lee Lewis’ Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On, while backing vocalist Kim Manning spun around the stage on Roller Skates. It was refreshing for once to see a performance that didn’t conclude with the obligatory encore, but played on until the 11pm curfew ticked over & the microphones & instruments were turned off one by one, leaving the audience chanting as the lights went up ‘Yeah, God Damn, Get Off Your Ass & Jam’.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.