We wanted the funk, and we got the funk

I of all people, am certainly not the most qualified to be reviewing a show by George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic. What knowledge I had of Clinton and Co. going into the show was this: P-Funk recorded the dope-ass likes of "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof of The Sucker)," "Flash Light" and "Atomic Dog" during the mid-to-late '70s and early '80s. They also made quite the showing in the underrated collegiate cult comedy PCU, influenced many of the rap game's foremost performers and producers (e.g. Dr. Dre) with cuts along the lines of "Mothership Connection (Star Child)." Clinton, the group's mastermind, is widely hailed as the forefather of funk. That's an impressive list of accolades to be sure, and last Saturday at Bloomington's very own Freeman Family Farms, I was in for further education.\nTo describe the experience in one word, it'd be this: funk. That's no real surprise, as every other word out of Clinton's mouth was either "funk" this or "funk" that. The second word that comes to mind, unsurprisingly, is weed. Most of the crowd was smoking it, Clinton was arguing for the legality of it and his young granddaughter was rapping about it. \nIt was actually a very tender moment. Clinton introduced the young lady to the crowd, and she proceeded to flow with abundant skill, spewing forth lyrics about spliffs, blunts and the like. Eventually, she veered into subjects of a more salacious nature, spitting off lyrics such as "Hard as steel and steel hard." Grandpa stood by beaming. Once she'd finished her bit, Clinton urged the crowd to "give it up for my girl." It was weird but undeniably sweet.\nP-Funk is a funk-jam band, and as such, they played long (two hours) and hard. Knowing full well how to work a crowd, they broke out the numbers referenced earlier as well as a masterfully executed James Brown medley that even "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business" would be hard-pressed to beat. Aesthetically, the band also pleased. One member sported his ever-present adult-sized diaper and considerable bling, while another donned a crown and velour duds -- looking something akin to a slimmed down and all-together regal Fred "Rerun" Berry. Though, sadly, the Doggfather's trademark locks were hidden behind a do-rag, and his attire was less woo and more Axl Rose.\nAll in all, I enjoyed the show George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic put-on, though as a paid critic, I'm glad I didn't drop $25 to see it. If nothing else, the event served as an ample opportunity to bring people of all races and ages together.