7 Days of Funk cram it all into one delirious night
Andrew Veeder on
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The release party for Dam-Funk and Snoopzilla’s collaborative album “7 Days of Funk” was a celebration not only of their record but of funk in general, hosting a deep roster of special guests on Tuesday night at downtown’s Exchange LA.
Some time after midnight, Bootsy Collins took the stage and asked the crowd, “Are you ready to tear the roof off this mother?” The thunderous uproar in response was upped as he performed Parliament’s “Give Up The Funk.” Dam-Funk then took the stage with Peanut Butter Wolf behind the turntables, donning his keytar and began jamming, his fingers waltzing across the ivories, as well as singing through a heavy vocoder.
Snoop finally descended the stairs, mouthing a blunt that never seemed to disappear, and proclaimed, “If you have some sticky icky icky, now is the time to blaze that shit,” as he and Dam traded off DJing tracks, including Collins’ “I’d Rather Be With You,” Funkadelic’s “(Not Just) Knee Deep,” and the Jones Girls’ “You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else.” After sitting on the steps grooving with bass in hand, Flea walked down to join the party and Snoop proffered, “Go ahead, get funky with it,” to which Flea obliged with an incredibly funky solo. Posting up on or back stage were an impressive collection of old-school luminaries including Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, DJ Babu, Sly Stone, Bishop Don Juan, and Wiz Khalifa.
About 1:30 a.m. Snoop asked the crowd, “Are you ready for some O.G. shit?” and he and Dam launched into “Faden Away,” the first single from “7 Days of Funk,” which was turned up so high that the Funktion-One speakers in the back of the club were vibrating your cheeks. They also did the new single “Hit Da Pavement” and “Do My Thang” before resorting back to DJing close to home selections Tha Dogg Pound’s “L.A. Here’s 2 U,” Dr. Dre’s “Still Dre,” and Eastsidaz’s “I Luv It,” in addition to crowd-pleasers “Groove Is In The Heart” and “Blurred Lines.” “I don’t want you to get Hollywood, I want you to get your groove on,” Snoop pleaded as the crowd continued to boogie.
Despite the clock approaching 2:30 a.m., Dam and Snoop were still going full speed ahead as the audience began trickling out. They were, however, taking time to sign almost every vinyl, CD and poster handed up to them while they were on stage, autographing everything with blunts in mouths.
To kick off the night about 10:45 p.m., Peanut Butter Wolf took the stage and helmed the 1s and 2s, bringing out the obscure Los Angeles funk artist Prophet to perform a few songs. PB Wolf later said, “I brought his record (1984’s “Right On Time”) 10 years ago and I’ve been looking for him for 10 years, and I asked him two days ago to come on stage!” He continued with VJ set with Prince and Mary Jane Girls’ “Candy Man” as the West Coast Pop Lockers took the stage for some dancing, executing synchronized and rippling choreographed movements, syncopated down to PB Wolf’s scratches, and traded off in freestyle break-dancing.
Soul/funk veteran Steve Arrington was up next, performing his former band Slave’s songs “Just A Touch of Love” and “Watching You” as well as his solo track “Weak At The Knees.” At least two spontaneous dance circles broke out in the back of the club, as audience members began breakdancing themselves. Egyptian Lover was up next, jamming on the synth and kicking it up a notch with his classics “I Need A Freak” and “Egypt, Egypt,” getting the crowd really moving.
PB Wolf jumped back on the decks to kill time, dropping an array of old-school goodness with Brothers Johnson’s “Strawberry Letter 23,” Audio Two’s “Top Billin,” Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message,” Zapp’s “More Bounce to the Ounce,” and cuts from James Brown, Snoop, Warren G and Easy E. Co-host Novena Carmel took to the mic with, “Can I take a minute to point out how stylish you are?” and compared the audience’s attire to that of the artists, before PB Wolf asked ticket buyers, “Make some noise if you paid money,” and then, “Make some noise if you’re on the guest list.” Both were met with applause.
What a mess this night was. Terrible sound and Snoop looked like he wasn’t sure what they were supposed to be doing. I’d love a 7 Days of Funk proper show though!