By snoadmin
Traffic cones closed off the streets, the sun made the sidewalk sizzle and B-boys and B-girls showed off their skills on a checkered mat.
What seemed like a 1977 block party took over Downtown Long Beach on Saturday for the fourth annual Funkfest. The full day of music, which included acts such as The Brides of Funkenstein, Dennis Coffey and The Family Stone, lasted from noon to 11 p.m.
Two solar powered stages, one located on Pine and Third Street and another in the Promenade, hosted young funk artists and classic groups from the original funk era of the late sixties and early seventies. The festival’s theme was “Sustaining our future through funk,” and featured a free water filling station.
Not only did the originator of Funkfest, Bobby Easton of the Long Beach funk band Detla Nove, take the environment into consideration, he also made sure that the future generation was exposed to a commonly forgotten genre.
One of the early acts, The Monophonics, started to play old school funk music inspired from their parents’ old records. The San Francisco natives channel the early era of black rock and psych soul through their anchored rhythm section and up-beat additions of saxophone.
“Part of our goal is to keep that alive,” Monophonics drummer Austin Bohlman said. “That’s what we love to play.”
The group had the chance to perform with guitar legend Dennis Coffey, who is most famous for his Motown recordings with the Funk Brothers, who backed up acts like The Supremes, The Temptations, Jackson 5 and Marvin Gaye.
“It was awesome, man. [Dennis] kills it,” Bohlman said. “He’s all on that old soul…he’s a legendary recording artist.”
Coffey played with Easton’s group, Delta Nove, later in the evening, pumping out extensive instrumental jams that kept the crowd moving.
“I love it, I couldn’t be happier,” Easton said. “Not only do I get to see him play, but I can perform with him.”
Dawn Silva and The Brides of Funkenstein riled up the crowd with their Parliament Funkadelic classics, including “Give up the Funk” and “Mothership Connection”. Silva controlled the stage and built up the audience, which grew to be more than 1,500 attendees. She sang alongside Janette Washington-Perkins, another original member of the backing vocalists for the Parliament Funkadelic.
“They bring the P-funk element to funk,” Easton said.
The legendary Family Stone closed out the evening. Three of the founding members, trumpet player Cynthia Robinson, saxophone player Jerry Martini and drummer Greg Errico, reunited to play a long list of crowd favorites. They joined singer and keyboardist Alex Davis, vocalist Trina Johnson Finn, lead guitarist Nate Wingfield and bassist Blaise Sison.
The group, who just got back from a European tour, wore purple and white ensembles, giving a nod to Sly Stone’s definitive purple and white fringed outfit from Woodstock. Their renditions of “Dance to the Music,” “Higher,” and “Hot Fun in the Summertime” drove everyone back to 1969.
Not one person stood still during the performance of “Thank you (Falenttinme Be Mice Elf Agin).” The whole crowd shouted the lyrics at the top of their lungs, reminding Long Beach that funk is not even close to being dead.
Summer and Music’s last event, Buskerfest, will be held on Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the East Arts Village District on First Street and Linden. The free event will include headlining acts Beachwood Sparks and The Fling.