When Austin Concerts Examiner heard funk's founding bassist, William "Bootsy" Collins had been booked to play ACL Live a couple months ago,we were astounded. After wondering aloud how long it had been since Bootzilla had headlined a tour we found out it was 16 years ago. Watching Collins and his all-star crew of players (there were 15 of them) having what looked like the time of their life on stage Sunday evening was priceless.
Bootsy wore multiple costumes throughout an extended, three-hour set. The leader of the Funk U-Nity World Tour landed the mothership of funk smack in the middle of downtown Austin and he was not in any hurry to move onto the next stop. Maybe it was the homemade cape a fan gave him or the crowd chanting "Bootsy, Bootsy" before he took the stage, but the man who put the funk in the bass wanted to hang around ATX as long as possible it seemed.
The lineup looked like a future Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductee class. The legendary keyboardist, Bernie Worrel (Parliament Funkadelic, Talking Heads) was there. So was guitarist Blackbyrd McKnight (Parliament, The Headhunters) and Collins himself, who played with James Brown and Parliament establishing a bass standard for funk music. He even teaches an online course for advanced players.
The set was broken into sections defined by the costume Bootsy was wearing (there were four costume changes). The first set he glided onto the stage in a purple, sequined stove-pipe hat and sunglasses with stars for eyes. At his side, his trusty, custom, star-shaped bass guitar. He was bathed in stage lights reflecting off his costume like some sort of funked up Elvis. In a word, majestic. Three more costumes followed suit. You can see them all in the slideshow on the left side bar.
There were several high points but the image seared into our memory is McKnight at the edge of the stage playing his guitar with his teeth moments after he finished a Jimi Hendrix inspired solo of "The Star Spangled Banner" followed by a great rendition of "Purple Haze". In fact, it was hard to decide who to watch as the band worked through the set. Should we focus on Worrel and the crazy, trippy sounds coming out of his Moogs? Or watch the masterful McKnight as he peeled off incredible riff after incredible riff? Or fans could elect to stare in amazement at Collins as he gleefully sang. The point is, the grandmaster of funk knows how to have a good time.
Collins took time near the end of his performance to recognize his band and encourage them to "go touch the crowd now" once he was done pontificating on what a talent they were on stage. Bootsy entered the crowd late in the set, asking the audience to "part the red sea" down the middle of the floor to allow him to dance with fans as the band played on. Most of the time, Bootsy had an ear-to-ear grin on his face as he sang, played, danced and encouraged the crowd for over three hours of funk bliss at The Moody Theater.
Tomorrow Bootsy and his band will perform in Asheville, North Carolina as they continue their U.S. tour. See the remaining tour dates below:
6/22 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
6/23 - Annapolis, MD (Baltimore) @ Rams Head Tavern
6/24 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE - Indoor Stage
6/25 - Glenside, PA (Philadelphia) @ Keswick Theatre
6/26 - New York, NY @ B.B. King Blues Club & Grill
6/29 - Worcester, MA (Boston) @ The Palladium
6/30 - Rochester, NY @ Party In The Park
Special thanks to Keitha Spears of ACL Live.
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