Hit this.
My mistake. They aren’t in Japan.
Tag Archive for 'George Porter Jr.'
Yesterday was not only my birthday, but it was the date of one of the best live shows I’ve seen in years.
At the Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach, The Headhunters funked their asses off. Before you ask, no, Herbie Hancock was not there– this was not the original lineup, only Mike Clark and Bill Summers were the only original Headhunters present. Normally, I would probably not step foot near a band claiming to be The Headhunters if Paul Jackson was not present. Instead, I happily dropped the 20 dollars down to see the man who had replaced Paul Jackson for this tour and on their latest album, who is one of my all time heroes; George Porter Jr. from The Meters. Sick!
George was incredible, way busier and a much stronger soloist than many who are only familiar with his Meters catalog might expect. George also led the group as a vocalist on a few tunes, including the Meters classic “Hey Pocky-A Way.” Hearing George’s approach to “Chameleon” was worth double the admission.
Mike Clark is a legend. Mike has one of the most recognizable drum styles ever. I had never seen him play in person, but I felt like I was listening to the records. He’s effortless and he gets this huge sound. Amazing. The same goes for Bill Summers; effortless, candid, and brilliant. I was shocked to discover how many of the sounds on the 70’s Headhunters’ records that I thought were concoctions of Herbie’s keyboards were in fact bizarre timbres created by non-descript percussion instruments in Bill Summer’s capable hands. His facility on the congas is jaw dropping. There are so many jackass wanna-be conga players in the jam band circle, and I’ve seen my share in Virginia Beach– usually backing up mediocre singer songwriters. I urge everyone who normally would walk out of a club as soon as they saw congas, to go and see more bands with real conga players. It’s a different experience all together.
Anyway, I had an awesome birthday. Kim and I drank coffee, watched some legendary performers, and talked smack about this stupid girl who seemed to be having convulsions while tirelessly dancing like a chicken on acid.
I can’t believe I forgot my camera.
