Prince’s Short But Great Show

Word was reported via some bandmates that Prince was going to be putting on an amazing 3+ hour show in Dublin last night. That didn’t happen with the show coming up short about 30 minutes but the show was still spectalular according to attendees.

Apparently to not re-enact the debacle of the catastrophic Cologne performance, entry was delayed for near an hour due to an extended soundcheck. The show was primarily hits with a dabbling of covers like Play That Funky Music, COOL, and even a sampling of Bob Dylan. Haven’t heard complaints yet.

Needless to say, it appears that Prince is back in form. We are very much looking forward to seeing the full set list and get some feeback from folks that were there. Please fill us in!

 

Prince's Short But Great Show

Word was reported via some bandmates that Prince was going to be putting on an amazing 3+ hour show in Dublin last night. That didn’t happen with the show coming up short about 30 minutes but the show was still spectalular according to attendees.

Apparently to not re-enact the debacle of the catastrophic Cologne performance, entry was delayed for near an hour due to an extended soundcheck. The show was primarily hits with a dabbling of covers like Play That Funky Music, COOL, and even a sampling of Bob Dylan. Haven’t heard complaints yet.

Needless to say, it appears that Prince is back in form. We are very much looking forward to seeing the full set list and get some feeback from folks that were there. Please fill us in!

 

Rock Band 3 Gets Funky. Kinda.

For many video gamers, one thing that music games have failed on is the inclusion of funky music with few exceptions. Not to mention the debacle where Guitar Hero approached Prince to have his own version similar to what Aerosmith and AC/DC have done in the past, but Prince refused the offer citing that he would rather that kids pick up guitars and actually learn how to play.  That problem seems to have been resolved now that Rock Band 3 will have an actual guitar that can be used with the game in a Pro version. We’ll see how that pans out and whether or not it will change Prince’s opinion on the matter, because who wouldn’t want to play the catalog of Prince music in a video game?

On the right track, Harmonix is set to release Rock Band 3 that finally includes a good selection of funky tunes. Funk songs on the full song list are very scarce including a mere 2 songs that could be construed as funk which were James Brown’s I Feel Good,  Rufus and Chaka Khan’s Tell Me Something Good and War’s Low Rider.  Luckily, they’ve now also added two songs from the Beastie Boys (Make Some Noise from this years Hot Sauce Committee Part 1) and No Sleep Til Brooklyn.  Then they followed up that with the addition of more James Brown (Super Bad Parts 1 & 2) .

We’re not sure why these games fail to add a good selection of funk songs and yes, we understand that it’s called ROCK Band, but without funk, jazz and blues, there would be no rock and roll.

 

Prince Puts On Horrible Show

As reported on one of our favorite sites DrFunkenberry.com, Prince’s performance in Germany was atrocious. The crux of the problem was the sound which apparently went awry during the show. Many of the band members even went to Twitter to rage about the sound.

Prince and the band knew something was very wrong because even on stage everything was vastly different from sound check.  Upon further research on other sites including Prince.org, many reported it was way too loud, bad echo, inconsistent levels, and even feedback. Prince is obviously not happy and they have insisted that they will get to the bottom of it quickly before the next show.

Meanwhile, a lot of comments from concert-goers, even Prince fans, say that this was just not a good performance at all.  The comments included statements about too much of the show being performed by background vocalists, poor instrumentation, lack of flow, and some even gone as far to say “Worst show ever.”

Obviously this is very surprising and not the norm for a Prince performance since he’s very picky about his shows being immaculately perfect front to back from all aspects. But if this is the fan feedback he’s getting on this leg of the tour, he needs to get it resolved quickly.  If you attended the show and have more details, please send them in or comment below. We would love to view the setlist and even more importantly hear your feedback on how you think it went.

 

Red Hot Chili Peppers Doing Surprise Shows

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been popping up on the West Coast planning to do a set of surprise shows for intimate crowds to test out their new material and band members. RHCP will be releasing a brand new album shortly entitled I’m With You.  The band has added two new members to its lineup including Josh Klinghoffer (who replaces long time guitarist John Frusciante) and percussionist Mauro Refosco, who played with Flea in Thom Yorke‘s group Atoms for Peace.

The band appeared to a small intimate group of 300 friends and family just last night on July 27th at Pacific Coast Woodlands at the Henry Miller Memorial Library.  The set list contained mostly new material including “Ethiopia”, “Look Around” and a boppy “Factory of Faith”.  But it also included hits from their collection including “Charlie” from 2006’s Stadium Arcadium, the rap-metal assault “Throw Away Your Television”  from 2002’s By the Way and even Give It away in an encore and of course many more.

These shows are primarily designed to get the band comfortable with the new material and get full shows with Josh at the helm of lead guitar. Josh has been with the band for years working with them as a stage hand and was even actively playing with the band off and on. So when Frusciante left the project, it was a natural fit to have Josh step in.  Needless to say, we look forward to the inevitable tour which hopefully won’t be wrapped into any festivals since it always shortens the sets for bigger acts like RHCP and removes some of the more intimate selections they would otherwise play.  Bring it!

Meanwhile, you can head to their website and download a new single from the upcoming album called The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie.

 

Prince Plans To Make Good

Prince Concert at Malahide Castle

Yeah, yeah, we cover a lot of Prince. Can’t help it.  The guy is always busy. And outside of a Morris Day & the Time Reunion tour that never seem to materialize, you gotta give us something to work with people!

Anyways, back in June of 2008, Prince supposedly had agreed to play Croke Park in Ireland via a concert promoter by the name of William Morris Endeavour Entertainment (WME).  Unfortunately, according to Prince, those agents did not have authority to do so and he cancelled the event with very short 10 day notice.  Then a promoter sued Prince for all of the money they invested into promotion and took Prince to court.  The full details can be seen here.  But it wasn’t just the promoter that got hurt, but also the fans who were sorely disappointed and not to mention livid.

Fast forward to today and Prince has vowed to his bandmates that this will be the show to end all shows and that he will play for the Dublin crowd until he’s kicked out.   he also informed the concert-goers to bring their foot spray because “The show is going to be funky” (Apparently his new slogan).  There is no question about the concert being authorized since Prince himself called to book the event.   The concert will take place this Saturday at Malahide Castle in Dublin and it will be his first in Ireland for nearly a decade and the biggest ever event for the huge seaside venue.  The crew is already on site constructing the stage which also includes two large LED screens on either side of the stage to insure a premium view no matter where you’re sitting.

The concert is set to last 3 hours with a special surprise that evening that everyone remains tight lipped about. Prince is arriving on Friday and will stay in Ireland for 3 days and is also scheduled to do his own sound check and mixing for the event.  He has requested access to the sound boards to do just that.    Needless to say, we expect to have a full set list and review of the show after it happens and you can stay tuned right here to get all of the details as they unfold.

 

Van Hunt Announces Tour

Most people have no idea who Van Hunt is, but there’s a high probability that you’ve heard his music and even sang his songs.  The Grammy winner has performed with many major acts including Joss Stone, John Legend, Nikka Costa, and many more including writing hit songs for Dionne Ferris (Hopeless),  Rahsaan Patterson, and others.  He is also managed by American Idol’s Randy Jackson since 2002.  Van Hunt has toured with many acts including Brand New Heavies, The Roots, Boney James, Dave Matthews Band, Seal, Kanye West and tons more.  But now it’s all about Van.

After receiving Grammy nods for his self titled debut album that showcased songs like Dust and Down Here In Hell (With You) and a tepid response for his sophmore album On the Jungle Floor even though it was critically acclaimed, having an album of amazing songs shelved by Blue Note, releasing a rarities and lost cuts collection (Use In Case Of Emergency), he’s now ready to support a brand new album called what were you hoping for?.   A downloadable sneak peek of what you can expect can be heard in the form of the album’s first 2 singles entitled The Savage, Sincere L Of P (previously on the shelved Blue Note album Popular Machine, but remixed here) and also June at his website at http://www.vanhunt.com. 

His tour will hit places far and wide and dates as of today are shown below.  Don’t miss any opportunity to see Van perform because this will be one of those, “I wish I had seen him” moments.  Trust us.  Funkatopia will be there to cover the Atlanta show and bring you an enviable review of what will undoubtedly be an incredible show. Those in New York area have two chances to check him out and you should go to every one of them.

Monday, Sep 19, New York NY, Webster Hall (The Studio)
Tuesday, Sep 20, Alexandria VA, Birchmere
Wednesday, Sep 21, Brooklyn NY, Southpaw
Thursday, Sep 22, Philadelphia PA, World Cafe Live-Downstairs
Friday, Sep 23, Richmond VA, The Camel
Saturday, Sep 24, Charlotte NC, Double Door Inn
Sunday, Sep 25, Nashville TN, 3rd & Lindsley
Wednesday, Sep 28, Atlanta GA, The Earl
Thursday, Sep 29, New Orleans LA, Tipitina’s Uptown
Friday, Sep 30, Houston TX, Underground Live
Saturday, Oct 1, Austin TX, Cactus Cafe
Monday, Oct 3, Dallas TX, House of Blues Cambridge Room
Tuesday, Oct 4, Little Rock, AR, Stickyz Rock ‘N Roll Chicken Shack
Thursday, Oct 6, St. Louis MO, Lola
Friday, Oct 7, Chicago IL, Schubas Tavern
Saturday, Oct 8, Minneapolis, MN, Bunker’s
Tuesday, Oct 11, Seattle WA Nectar Lounge
Wednesday, Oct 12, Portland OR Doug Fir Lounge
Thursday, Oct 13, San Francisco CA Yoshi’s

 

Purple Rain On Paper Is Ridiculous

I found myself watching Purple Rain again a couple of years ago when it came on a movie channel and I remember thinking, this is just awful.  25+ years ago, this movie had literally changed my life and forever altered the music I would listen to.  Now, it’s just…awful. The music still stands the test of time, but the acting is just horrendous. It makes the actors on the Secret Life Of The American Teenager look like Oscar nominees. But never once had I even thought about what this movie must have looked like on paper and how hard of a sell it must have been.

Apparently, a reporter at the Houston Press decided that he would help you visualize what the actors had to work with during the taping of Purple Rain as he provides a draft of the script for you to gawk at.  This being another anniversary of the movie Purple Rain (26th or 27th. yes, that old.) .  The reporter got a hold of the early draft of the script of Purple Rain and left some bits in tact that many may find interesting.  Tidbits like Vanity 6 being the original love interest instead of Appolonia and Prince being known as just “Prince” and not ‘The Kid”.  Even Morris Day’s character was written with a tad more brute swagger as opposed to the campy icon he’s become.

When you watch scenes from the final cut of Purple Rain, such as the dialogue and non-verbal moments surrounding the music performances of some of the movies most iconic moments like the Purple Rain performance, Jungle Love dance sequences, etc.,  it just moves along effortlessly because it’s fed by the music. But when you see it on paper, it’s just downright ridiculous.  So without re-hashing what this reporter has already posted (along with actual music clips I might add), just see it for yourself;

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2011/07/purple_rain_how_the_songs_look.php

 

Little Dragon – Ritual Union

Little Dragon is a band on the move. Their 2009 critically acclaimed album Machine Dreams brought a lot of attention back to the genre of pop electronica and Little Dragon was quick to lead that charge. Lead singer Yukimi Nagano had brought a beautiful voice to lay over the bleeps and blips that allowed the genre to breathe new life once again.  Not since Ndea Davenport laid her vocals over the acid jazz tracks of the Brand New Heavies has a vocalist single handedly recreated a sound that many considered D.O.A..

The union snagged the attention of many artists starting with Damon Albarn who approached them to collaborate with the Gorillaz on their Plastic Beach album which resulted in two of the albums most acclaimed songs (Empire Ants and To Binge).  That notoriety then resulted in David Sitek asking Yukimi to lend her vocals to the If You Return track on his solo album Maximum Balloon.  And now you’ll hear Yukimi on Raphael Saadiq’s track entitled Just Don’t and also Outkasts’ Big Boi on his next album since he decided to produce one of their songs on his next album at the nudging of Andre 3000 who had also been smitten by her siren song.

As for Little Dragon’s new album Ritual Union, to put it bluntly, it’s simple and gorgeous at the same time.  From a Funkatopian perspective, the level of funk you’ll experience is akin to the slimmed down electronic nirvana of what we loved about the formula of Prince’s Kiss and When Doves Cry.  An influence that Esquire wasted an entire review analyzing instead of focusing on the true brilliance of Little Dragon.

The band describes themselves as what it would sound like if Erykah Badu was fronting the Psychedelic Furs. And while that’s not far from the truth, a better description would be Erykah Badu fronting Radiohead. The electronic beeps and blips, single note keyboard stabs and riffs are all melded together in an inarguably trippy fashion that make it difficult to turn away.  Yumiki effortlessly intertwines her vocals among the electronic genius of her band that has an incredible ear for creating music masterpieces out of tones and sounds that most artists would simply dismiss. An artform that most thought went away with the legend that was Dilla where you take a sound that most would ignore and turn it into something truly magical.

From the opening title track Ritual Union and through 11 tracks of the album, you experience songs that seem to revel in the space more than the notes and melodies themselves. Where most bands would fill the emptiness with effects and solos, Little Dragon embraces the voids and polishes their edges. The result is one of the most mentally satisfying albums we’ve heard in quite some time.  There are pop gems that could easily find a radio home if marketed correctly, such as tunes like Ritual Union and Shuffle A Dream. Little Dragon’s pop sensitivities are completely in play here and they relish in it with complete abandon even when they’re taking occasional strolls through psychedelia with songs such as Crystalfilm and the amazing ambiance of When I Go Out.  Even when you’re certain that a song such as Little Man doesn’t have the ingredients to create something cohesive, they’re quick to prove you wrong.

Of all the tracks that you must hear off of the new album, the title track Ritual Union and When I Go Out are among the masterpieces that can be found on this collection of true electronic beauty.   Although there are no weak songs present on this album and it’s easily one of the best minimalist productions we’ve heard in quite some time.  If there were any complaints, they only stem from the hard truth of seeing them perform live first on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon since the full band performance is much fuller and satisfying as evident by their multiple sold out performances.  The Roots drummer Questlove was the latest bitten by the band which resulted in an national audience being sideswiped by an amazing band they had never heard of, but now have no choice but to listen and obey.  As with most electronic bands, the album is notably absent of live instrumentation such as drums, guitar and bass.  It’s held together with vocals, keyboards, drum machines and some amazing production values, but satisfying nonetheless.

Needless to say, the album which hit the streets July 25th is a must have for people who like new music in general. For Funkatopians, this isn’t a funk album along the lines of Parliament or Slave, but that same incredible feeling filler that we enjoyed when Peter Gabriel’s Security or Thomas Dolby’s Age of Wireless hit the streets back in the day.  It deep dives into the realm of electronica and is force to be reckoned with. We give it 4 out of 5 afros.  Get it.

 – As reviewed by Mr. Christopher

 

Prince Reschedules Concerts In Norway

Man, heavy Prince report day. According to reports, Prince has rescheduled concerts that were supposed to take place in Norway after the bombings occurred. Prince felt that the concerts were a little too close to the bombings and felt that the people needed more time to recuperate.

The concerts were supposed to happen on Friday and Saturday at the Oslo Spektrum, but he moved the shows to August 2nd and 3rd. Some believe he moved the shows due to security reasons, but others report the aforementioned sensitivity concerns.