This past Thursday I had the pleasure of watching George Clinton & P. Funk Allstars perform at the Watermark Hotel in New York City. Since I heard rumors that this would be his last tour, I needed to get a pic with the good Doctor while I still had the change. After the show, me and my friend snuck in the band’s tent, but most of the crew had already left. Luckily, when I went outside on the street I noticed their tour van and a few people taking pics. I got in line and waited…
George is the reason I started making Hip-Hop music, along with tons of other musical and life influences. I had only been this starstruck one other time, and that was when I saw DJ Premier smoking a cigarette on the street in New York.
What do you say to one of your idols? While it was short, here was the awesome convo I had with Dr. Funkenstein…
Me: I have “Poor Willie” and “My Girl” on 45!
George: (with a surprised look on his face) Oh!!! You got that real shit!
Me: There’s only one I can’t find…
George: You got “Lonely Island“?
Me: That’s the one I can’t find! And I live 5 minutes away from Paterson…
George: Paterson? Yea… that’s where we recorded that one.
Me: My dad grew up there. Anyways, thank you for every thing! (shakes hand)
I didn’t know what else to talk about besides vinyl of course… He did look pleasantly surprised that someone at the show was familiar with his first singles. While it might have not been the most profound convo in the world, it definitely meant the world to me.
Aside from meeting George, the show was decent. When you have discography that ranges almost 60 years, it’s hard to pick songs. They performed staples like “Flashlight“, “Maggot Brain“, “Testify“, “Mothership Connection“, “Aqua Boogie” and “One Nation Under a Groove“. Kind of wish they would perform some of the older Funkadelic songs or at least a set similar to the P Funk Earth tour. Either way, still had a great time! Thank you again Dr. Funkenstein.