Concert Recap: George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic @ House of Blues – 3/8/12

Continue to the bottom for a photo gallery from DJ Soul Sister and P-Funk || All photos by Jimmy Grotting

To kick off a rather huge weekend at the House of Blues (Snoop Dogg will grace the Decatur Street stage tonight), masters of otherworldly funk George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic toasted up a flavorful scene last night after local WWOZ DJ Soul Sister set the tone for the right on party situation. A cacophony of space funk filled the air all night and, despite the sound being kinda shoddy (with several exceptions, the best being a roughly 15-minute rendition of “Maggot Brain”, complete with a George Clinton vocal intro), it was the overall audiovisual experience and scene of it all that I will take away from my first non-festival P-Funk show.

DJ Soul Sister @ House of Blues NOLA - 3/8/2012 || Photo © Jimmy Grotting

The musical circus that unfolded (mostly conducted by the grand marshal Mr. Clinton himself) was somethin’ else, leaving folks like me (who haven’t been to too many of these intergalactic synapse burners), with a dumbstruck look of intrigue and utter fascination throughout the night. The whole funk’n shebang was a loosely planned riotous affair, and at any moment during the show there were generally 13-17 players from the funk nation spiraling nearly out of control. All in all, it was one of the more varied shows one could ever pay $35 to see. Freewheeling, raw, colorful and at times profoundly powerful, with enough bare bones intensity to put just about any shitkicking punk show to shame. This thing had it all:

- Freestlye rapping by George’s son and later on with his grand daughter Sativa.
- A slew of hits spanning the collective’s sprawling network of spinoffs and side projects
- George summoning his inner punk / metal star several times and lighting up on-stage multiple times.
- The revolving door style band that reached nearly 20 people at times, some of whom came from the old school P-Funk galaxy/ many too young to have been around in the formative days – held it down, serving as an invaluable rhythm base that kept songs together no matter how far out things flew.
- MisTerR ‘FuNkaDeLiC’ NoSe and George boogeyin’ with DJ Soul Sister.
- The rather large dancing man (see photos below) baring derriere for all to see amongst a huge dance party of fans, VIP band guests.
- Quentin Tarantino and Big Sam spotted in the building.

George Clinton @ House of Blues NOLA - 3/8/2012 || Photo © Jimmy Grotting

About the author

Wesley grew up in coastal Georgia and is a former resident of The Music City and The Big Easy where he helped get LMB NOLA off-the-ground after launching in January 2011. Over the past few years, he has also contributed steadily to JamBase and Relix Magazine. Recently, Hodges moved on to L.A. where Abita Beer is hard to find, costs about $6 if located and impromptu parading in the streets will most likely get you arrested on the spot.

 

Tags: DJ Soul Sister, favorites, George Clinton, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, House of Blues, Soul Sister