gruverboy, santa ana, CA 3/24/99
funkywtgrl, ventura, CA 3/25/99
funkywtgrl, hollywood, CA 2/13/99

Hey Funkateers,
 As ya'll know I went to my first P-Funk concert on the 24th of this
Month, I want to share my night with all of you.
I arrived at the Galaxy Theater
at 7:30p.m., I and my nieghborher, her daughter and her cousin(also my
nieghbor) sat down at a table.  I couldn't eat because I was too
excited. I then saw PFunk1, one of our fellow Funkateers on the mailing
list, Ithen introduced myself to him and we just started funking around.
 I also met this other funkateer, but I forgot his name.  We were all
down by the stage, I reserved my spot on the satge.   I was up front in
the middle.  The show started at 9:30.  We were all jammin' and then
George comes out, the crowd goes wild.   Then he walks right in front of
me, boy if you could just see my expression on my face when he did.  I
got to shake his hand, That's one of the things that made my night even
better.  He was jammin' onstage not yet singin', then he walks in front
of me again. I then started to chant "Whatcha
gonna do George?... whatcha gonna do?"  At first he didn't hear me then
he started to say" What ever it takes,... what ever the party calls for"
 again I felt soooooo muthafunkin' goood.  I have to go now, but I will
return with the second part of my story lay-da... :)
 

Subj:  [pfunk] Re; my first p-funk concert part 2
Date: 3/26/99 3:47:21 PM Pacific Standard Time

So like I was saying ya'll,
 I don't want to sound conceited but I can say that I got the party
started. Any who, I was just singing as loud as my little lungs could
handle.  Then he started to sing " The Undisco Kidd" and he gave me the
mic and I got to say"...she was babblin' how bad she could do the
bump..."  That was just one of the times thaat he gave me the mic.  The
second time was when they were singing "P-Funk" There I got to say
"...make my funk the p-funk, I want my funk uncut...".  Let me tell you
people, I felt like I was really giving up the FUNK!!!!
 My neighbor's cousin told me that GC said on the mic "aren't you too
young to know the lyrics?" I didn't hear him saying that, but right
after I got through singing Overton Loyd gave me a sign that said "YA'LL
KNOW FUNKIN' WORDS" As the night progressed I was gettin' even Funkier.
I was flashing my P-Funk sign up high, and flashing my flashlight as
well.  I really got psyched when they started playing "Flashlight" I got
my flashlight out and waving it back and forth.  Some minutes into the
song Sir Nose came down and took my neighbor's cousin(my nieghbor too)
up to the stage and some other females and they started dancing with Sir
Nose and GC.  Later on in the show, to answer your question PFUNK1, I
gave GC one of my bead necklace that he wore for the rest of the show.
That night one GC's strand of hair fell and I got it and took it home
with me.  After the show  Sir Nose came down and he took, once again, my
neighbor's cousin backstage then he came back out and told my nieghbor
and I to go backstage too.  I thought I was gonna to faint. I got to
meet the whole MOB, excluding GC, 'cause he left right after the show. I
was personally talking with Overton Loyd  and I didn't even know it.
Then we exchanged e-mail addresses.  Being backstage seen everybody how
they really how they talk to each other, they are raelly funny.  I was
also talking with Belita Woods, P-Nut and Black Byrd, they are all
really nice.  I want to thank everybody backstage and especially PFUNK1
for helping me out with the drunk, excuse my language, muthafuckers that
were talking shit to me and my nieghbors. This was the best time of my
life. I LOVE YOU P-FUNK you really freeed my mind. PFUNK1 hope to see
you at another P-FUNK concert.
      Always funkin'
      In Funk I Depend!!!! :-)
 
 

Here's my take on the show Thursday night 3/25 Ventura California:

The audience was primarily University kids, under 24, and knew Atomic Dawg and
Flashlight, but not the words to either.  So the Mob didn't give it their all.
Blackbyrd wasn't even there....so you know I was a little disappointed. No
drum sticks or guitar picks tossed out....no hand written signs.  George had a
publicity photo shoot just off stage (we could see it from the audience) with
lights, umbrellas and all.....and carried away 2 new digital recorders/mixers,
obviously a promotional thang....very UNFUNKY.....now if he had thrown them
out to the audience....well that would have been cool. :)

Good news is they have added to their set a clean, slow and deliberate Kidd
Funkadelic with a Belita solo in the middle including a medley of old Stax and
Motown pro-women songs...Including a clever, "Gonna Put It In The Want Adds"
(you know...'Extra Extra, Read all about it.  Wanted: Young Man Single and
Free...) They've cleaned up Super Stupid, the riff is totally nailed, Michael
even threw in a second harmony on top of Gary's which was ill and took it
higher. And they added "I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing, Everybody's Got A
Thing" which was amazing, so slow you could hear every subtle change up and
harmony.  When Waddy was off the kit even he was behind a mic. It's so good to
hear the vocals mixing with the band. They were taking their set slower and
quieter so you could hear the background vocals.  We even got some flute which
reminds me of how much I miss Maceo...and Bernie. The band  had that expansive
Funkadelic vibe hard. I thought I heard the rhythm from Mommy, What's A
Funkadelic and the lick from Music For My Mother.....

I over heard someone say after the show that GC was only on stage maybe a
third of the 3 hour show-I'm cool to listen to the band, so I didn't really
notice he was gone that long. But Gary was in the spotlight most of the show
so you could hear where that funky guitar comes from...he's a trip. I enjoyed
being able to focus in on him and his playing. He let his son (?) play on a
few classic tunes and even took off his own guitar and handed it to him on
Knee Deep. Now that's bonding, he should get a Father of the year for that.

There's the Darby report for you,
peace out
prrrrrrrrr

There ain't no party like a P-Funk party cause a P-Funk party don't stop.  And
last night at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, California the Mob testified
to that.  The band was on stage by 10:15 PM and were unplugged by the club,
while we chanted and physically kept the curtain from closing on George and
Gary at 2 AM, they still had mic power so we continued singing for another 15
minutes.  That's four hours of non stop, ear bleeding funky love.
Around 1:30 George had thrown up his arms like Tracy Ullman and said, "Go
home."  I yelled back, "We are home."  Michael Hampton then started in on
Super Stupid and they jammed that mutha until the club pulled the plug.  That
was right after some song that was so PUNK rock, yes bubba I said punk, we
were jumping up and down and even had a mini mosh pit for a brief time.  I
don't know the song but the chorus was, "Funk that shit." At least I thought
he said f-u-N-k. :-) I would imagine that was about the time the House of
Blues asked them to pack it up.  After they finished that tune GC, smiling,
was all, "What the hell was that about?"  I think it was about dancing
ourselves out of our restrictions, all restrictions, even those bourgeois
musical categories.
George threw down the deepest raps, more like a beat poet than a street
rapper, with style and finesse that helped us remember what it's all about.
From Rhythm and Rhyme to Dope Dogs, I've never seen such inspired rap, for a
moment I had to check to see if I was in church....but church was never like
this!
The set was crazy and included the normal repertoire (Flashlight, Maggot
Brain, Funkentelechy, Tear the Roof.., Atomic Dogs, Cosmic Slop, Sentimental
Journey, etc.) plus extras like Red Hot Mama and Aquaboogie with Lonnie
(Weapon of Choice) on bass and Lydia Hayden on violin.  Everyone was in the
house from the new rappers GC is promoting (not my favorite part of the show),
Chubby Checkers, Fishbone, some clean cut small brother who sang with the soul
of Billy Ocean (one of my favorite parts of the show), and even Atomic Dawg
himself with his buddy and our pal Gina Hall.
This was one of those miracle shows where the magic is Knee Deep and keeps me
comin round (the mountain) for more.  I feel for the House of Blues though,
cause today not only do they gotta clean up that funky backstage Hollywood
green room but they gotta put a new roof on tha sucka.

Peas and Ques,