About 15 minutes into the P-Funk set at Arts, Beats & Eats on Labor Day, I was seriously starting to wonder if George Clinton was even on the premises. There were plenty of other people onstage, as is customary at a P-Funk show, but Dr. Funkenstein himself was nowhere to be seen. Finally, as Belita Woods seemed to be getting on everyone's last nerve, a roar from the crowd came up and The Mad Messiah GC came walking onto the stage.
Although the colorful dreads, feathers, beads and such fans are used to seeing on his head are a thing of the past, George, even at 70, got the packed crowd funked up. Look, I know that George Clinton does not actually DO much onstage at this point. His voice is somewhat shot, and he's often playing more of a conductor's role during extended jams, but he is still the ringleader of the P-Funk crew and this show saw a noticeable burst of energy and excitement the minute he hit the stage.
Once Clinton joined the band, they kicked into "Red Hot Momma" and the show truly began with this insane groove that was extended with guitar solos and various band members taking the spotlight. Of course Sir Nose was there, and of course such classics as "Flashlight", "Mothership Connection (Star Child)", "One Nation Under A Groove" "(Not Just) Knee Deep" and "Atomic Dog" were all played.
Given that this was a shortened set with the 10PM curfew, Clinton and the gang did a good job of picking songs that would keep the energy level high. The only letdown of the evening seemed to be every time Belita Woods grabbed the microphone. This is not even an exaggeration, once Clinton was onstage and things got seriously funky, there was an audible, collective groan from the audience when Woods again took over and things slowed to a crawl. It was a momentum killer every time, but luckily the second half of the set kept the focus on the funk. As usual, a highlight was the performance of "Maggot Brain", with Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton doing the late Eddie Hazel proud as always with a searing performance, truly one of the greatest guitar songs and solos ever.
Even though this was a much shorter set than the P-Funk show I saw and reviewed at the Royal Oak Music Theatre back in February, I enjoyed this performance more. The shorter time period kept the set more concise and focused where it should be, instead of the endless parade of guest vocalists that dragged the ROMT show down. Clinton seemed much more active during this closing performance of Arts, Beats & Eats as well, jumping, even dancing and singing much more than he did in February. The P-Funk All-Stars are still a formidable army, and this was a great way to close a great year of music at Arts, Beats & Eats.
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