Three years ago this month, I got a phone call from CeeLo.

I remember the date because he’d just released a new mixtape (Cee-Lo & Greg Street Present Stray Bullets) of mostly solo material as a precursor to his next major-label LP, The Lady Killer. Lo was in rare form on this release. There was even a song with the B-52s called “Cho Cha the Cat.” He had his ’60s lounge singer shtick so down pat it was almost sickening.

“But tell me, what do you think about it?” he asked me. It was a surprising question considering I was supposed to be the one conducting the interview. Though I’d set up our conversation through his publicist under the premise of talking about his new release, I was really trying to sneak in some questions about his old stuff.

“How’s the reunion with Goodie Mob coming?” I asked, desperate to change the subject. Quite well, he replied. In fact, he informed me he was sitting next to Big Gipp in the limo as we spoke. I instantly pictured CeeLo rocking an ascot and smoking jacket while flashing his Cheshire cat grin. He and Gipp were laughing about something. Maybe the joke was on me.

I had forgotten about that conversation until two weeks ago, when I found myself standing before all four members of Goodie Mob at an invite-only listening session at the Westside’s Patchwerk Studios for the group’s long-awaited reunion album, Age Against the Machine, out Aug. 27. The implied meaning of the title was highlighted by the fact that the clique’s youngest member, CeeLo, was celebrating his 38th birthday, an age once considered ancient in rapper years.

About 50 journalists, photographers, tastemakers, DJs, and industry insiders stood crowded into a room with the Mob. Before the session even started, a member of the media took the opportunity to present CeeLo with a gift. This wasn’t one of those listening parties where people show up out of obligation to rub industry elbows. We’d been salivating six years to hear the results of the once-groundbreaking group’s public reconciliation and 14 years for a new album featuring all four members. This was personal. When it comes to Goodie Mob, there is no such thing as an unbiased hip-hop journalist — not in Atlanta. Either you love them or you have a hole in your soul.

Like everyone else in the room, I’d come to hear if the same cat who found his voice in Vegas and donned peacock feathers at the Grammys with Gwyneth Paltrow and the Muppets was still capable of slinging soul food with the Mob.

Over the course of the next two hours, we would hear samples of songs that would exceed our expectations and others that would confirm our worst fears. While it’s way too early to tell, from the sounds of it, Goodie Mob might finally have a shot at the kind of mainstream success that has long eluded it. Unfortunately, it also sounds like the group might be prepared to jump the shark to get it.
But the story of Goodie Mob‘s return is about more than the group’s evolution or the potential impact of CeeLo’s over-the-top success. It’s about us, the fans, and whether our own nostalgia for the Goodie Mob that was will keep us from embracing the Goodie Mob that has come to be.

“Stop cuffing the mic like a rapper,” CeeLo jokes with Gipp after handing him the mic so he can explain the meaning behind the album title. They’d just returned to Atlanta from New York, where they’d held a listening event the night before. Unlike most of the group’s public engagements since first announcing its intention to reunite on V-103 in 2007, CeeLo seems to have broken the agreed upon color scheme for the day. While T-Mo, Khujo, and Gipp look subdued in all black, he’s rocking a white tank that sets off his bulky tattooed arms.

“All we ever wanted to do was make a stance for the South,” Gipp says. “To show people that we were intelligent, to show people that we were gonna advance the music. And at the end of the day, the machine is the one that controls the information to the people. So Age Against the Machine is really us saying that we’re still here, we’re still brand-new, and we are still fighting the machine.”

The album intro is cued up. The music fills the studio, CeeLo’s voice commandeering the track. Sonically, it’s progressive with a nod to the group’s provocative roots. That much is confirmed by CeeLo, who draws a

connection between it and the classic intro, “The Experience,” from the group’s second album, Still Standing. Next comes “Pinstripes,” a straight rap track, featuring T.I., with CeeLo seemingly taking aim at a generation of fake gangstas: “I know you/You tofu/You ain’t real meat/This ain’t real beef.” “Special Education,” the recently leaked song featuring Janelle Monáe, gets heads bobbing. And “Colors,” a song about gang life, with a slick, spoken word flow, turns into a deeper metaphor about the strength of bloodlines and family pedigree.

Read the rest of the article here at Creative Loafing.

Let’s face it. Funk music is truly a lost art. The powerful blasts of funk that we enjoyed when Parliament hit the airwaves with Flashlight, Rick James‘ launched Superfreak into our drab lives, Sly Stone’s smacked us with Thank You with all of their thumping bass lines are pretty much liner notes in our memories.

So the questions still remain; Is funk truly dead? Will our live musical ventures moving forward simply be rehashes, recreations and reunions? Are there no bands who can recreate that all encompassing sound that sucks you in and becomes an important footnote in your life like the songs of old? What were those songs able to accomplish that newer artists and bands find impossible to replicate? Let’s deal with them one by one.

Is funk truly dead?
In the form of old funk style, it appears to most that funk definitely is dead. Many of us who live and breathe funk know that there are many bands that keep the flame lit. Bands like Orgone, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, and amazing projects like the Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown, Rock Candy Funk Party and others. But the fact remains that radio could care less about funk. Society is so busy being spoon-fed garbage by top 40 radio that they’ve almost become numb to anything with any musical value (In the top 40 realm). Most people only musically consume what they’re provided by radio and in that regard, funk is dead. But for those of us who are willing to delve into the depths of regional acts here in the states, there are many bands to choose from to quell that funky beast, but they fall off like flies as they suffer obscurity and lack of funds. Overseas in Europe, funk is thriving.

Will our live musical ventures moving forward simply be rehashes, recreations and reunions?
It’s disturbing, but once again, it certainly feels as if our funk fixations are kept alive by Parliament Funkadelic, Earth Wind and Fire, and Ohio Players reunion and “we’re still here” shows. And our bells and whistles scream joy when we hear about Sly Stone and The Time reunions.  However, we’re only presented with the hits and while they’re great to hear, it only serves as a reminder that nothing new or truly praiseworthy has come to the forefront since. A lot of great music and collaborations have come out, but they fizzle and die quicker than a flash. Which leads us to…

Are there no bands who can recreate that all-encompassing sound that sucks you in and becomes an important footnote in your life like the songs of old?
Yes, absolutely there are.  The missing piece is that the funk of the 70′s and 80′s was about “the show”. It wasn’t just about the song. It was the boots, the Mothership Connections, the afros, the bellbottoms, the groovy-ness.  Bands nowadays place the weight and probability of their success solely on the music. What bands lack now is the marketability. There are so many bands pushing out amazing funky music, but there’s nothing to grab the public’s attention. Nothing that makes the public say, “Did you see that?” And how could that even possible anymore?

We are living in world of visual stimulus where not only can you create some amazing visuals to go with your funky song, but it can also be disseminated light years quicker than the word of mouth travel that the bands of yore had to work with. The only way another individual was going to experience or see what someone else described to them was to wait for an official VHS tape to come out or go see it themselves. Now your message and “visuals” can be sent across the world in minutes to be seen by millions.

What were those songs able to accomplish that newer artists and bands find it impossible to replicate?
This all goes back to marketing and it’s not just funk. All music suffers from the same problems. Think of any artist that has attained notoriety and fame and you’ll find someone that has not only mastered their marketing strategically, but brought something different, unusual, new, or gawk-worthy to the table. It wasn’t just great music, but something else for people to really talk about. Prince? The androgynous, bikini brief wearing, sex fiend ploy comes to mind. Parliament? The entire space alien mothership connection. Lady Gaga? Crazy outfits and meat dresses.  Elton John? Over the top fashion and huge glasses. And if they weren’t doing something off the wall, their voices were unlike anything else on the airwaves. Dave Matthews, Bob Dylan, The Cure, Robert Plant, Barry White, and the list keeps going of vocalists that sing or deliver unlike any others.

So bands must ask themselves. Even if we have amazing music with the best chord changes and songwriting ever heard, what do we bring to the table? What do we do differently than anyone else that no one will be able to replicate without being seen as a copycat to me and my efforts? What’s your shtick?

The short of the story is that there are many great funk bands out there and if your’e in one of them, you need to decide what you bring to the game. Just having great artists and music simply isn’t enough anymore to make it out the muck and be seen outside of the riff-raff. There’s too much noise and you have to bring it.

Even as an interviewer, I was asked by my colleague the other week, what do you do differently? Anyone can pick up the mike and interview someone as long as they ask intelligible questions. How do you separate yourself? Starting with my next interview, you’ll probably want to note the change that’s coming.

People love funk. They hit the floor in droves at the first drum beat of Brick House or guitar note of Play That Funky Music. It already has its talons in society’s backbone, but nothing new can manage to penetrate the eardrums of mainstream radio.

We have new funk music in spades, but no one is hearing it. I’d love to hear your thoughts about what you’d like to see and your ideas about how we can change the landscape of funk. Not for any specific band in particular, but as a funk collective. What can we do to revive it? Or is the current state of music and radio too overwhelmed with garbage for our efforts to even make a difference?

Talk among yourselves.

For those new or not familiar with the regional movement of funk across the country, there are some groups that have begun to acquire national attention and at the forefront of that movement is a California based band called Orgone.

We’ve hipped you to their incredible concerts and had even done an interview with Sergio Rios where he discussed the creation process that was happening with this album and we waited on pins and needles for it to land and now we finally have the New You EP and it’s incredible.

Orgone has pushed out a product that rivals the Brand New Heavies debut. The EP clocks in at just under 29 minutes, but offers enough of a taste of what’s to come to make us insanely even more impatient.

On this EP, Orgone utilized 3 different singers on the 7 song jaunt and all of which sound eerily similar. So much so that we even erroneously were under the impression that all featured Niki J Crawford. We learned that was not the case as they also brought back singer Fannie Franklin to perform and a new singer named Tiffany Austin.  Niki J Crawford only performs on the song Strike on this EP.

The difference between the three vocalists is surprisingly very difficult to pinpoint. Fannie Franklin was Orgone‘s original vocalist and when she stepped away, her duties were aptly filled by Niki J Crawford who had even toured with the band last year. Tiffany Austin is new to their mix and part of Orgone’s extended family. But for those on the concert trail, you can expect to see Fannie Franklin back behind the microphone for this leg of the tour.

Orgone has gone back to the basics that they broke out with on The Killion Floor and have managed to maintain that same old school sound that sounds as if the album was an underground treasure that you somehow missed from the 70′s. Even the recording has that analog quality and Orgone has begun to make a habit of distributing their releases on vinyl making time-travel truly possible here, so audiophiles will be in funk nirvana very soon.

The album is filled with hipped swaying grooves, intricate horn parts and tight licks. The opening track Ronin has the almost cliche wah-wah guitar and rolling horn lines that are the perfect backdrop for any bellbottom movie. Then you finally get your first taste of new singer Tiffany Austin with Don’t Say Stop followed by Orgone’s original vocalist Fannie Franklin on Say Goodbye which have the perfect recipes that sound like lost N’Dea Davenport tracks. The two singers sound like replicates of each other with Fannie delivering with her original intense style.

The succession is then broken up by a stutter-stepped song entitled Powerfeed that features a buzzy synth that serves as the jugular for most of the structure with dashes of brilliance including flute solos and stabbing horn sections. Then Niki J Crawford rages in with Strike showcasing the EP’s most aggressive offering that has bouncing shuffle beats and vocal punches, but then Fannie Franklin puts the wheels back on the tracks with the title track New You with a poppy Lisa Stansfield-esque curveball.

The album then closes with a track entitled Vigilance that struts down the streets of 70′s Detroit on a sunny day with bellbottoms, stacks, afro picks, silk shirt and gold chains that occasionally stops to do a quick spin, stops, points at you with both fingers and shouts out, “Alriiiiight.”

We have no choice but to give the new Orgone EP, New You Part 1, an unequivocal 5 afros. The only downside is that you can only get it at their online store, at one of their shows, or win some from us coming soon via our Facebook page.

So head to OrgoneSpace.com, see where they’re playing and support them. This is super funky with a taste of acid jazz to boot and about as good as an EP can get.

Tal Bergman who has drummed for everyone from Rod Stewart to LL Cool J put together a collection of artists to create an album that would show homage to the funk of the 70′s and 80′s. He pulled in guitarist Ron DeJesus who has played with The Emotions and Tito Puente. Then he added keyboardist Renato Neto who most know from Prince’s NPG, but who has also played with Sheila E., Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. Next up was classic rock God Joe Bonamassa who has shared the stage with Eric Clapton, Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company) and even B.B. King. Then on bass guitar he brought in the venerable Mike Merritt who most know as Conan O’Brien‘s bass player from the Max Weinberg 7, but who has also been with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Chuck Berry and Bruce Springsteen just to name a few.

The result is a 10 track album called We Want Groove that is filled with funk jams hearkening back to the 1970′s and 1980′s class of funk. The era that began to heavily blur the lines between jazz and funk forever distorting and scattering the genre into obscurity. Their job was to revive and redefine that funk era and they did so very well.

From the driving force of the opening Octopus-E (which you can get for free by the way), to the fast rolling Living Color‘esque Spaztastic, to the title track We Want Groove with its stabs that are eerily reminiscent of Prince’s Sexy MF, this completely instrumental album is filled with instant sing along funk classics.

While most of the album’s tracks are hard hitting funktastic grooves, the collective also included a couple of slow jams to bring the energy flow in line with a full on joyride. Funk junkies who love to sing along to verse-less grooves will be in fatback heaven here. Most of the jams lack solos that muddy up the mix as if they feel that the groove is moving right along even though at some moments that is its detriment.

Case in point, Renato Neto who is truly one extraordinary player, doesn’t have nearly enough solo on this album to showcase his capabilities. Even drummer Tal Bergman got in a Madhouse style drum solo on the album’s track entitled Animal. But for Renato, a tickle here and quick tickle there isn’t anywhere near as much as most people familiar with his work to scratch the itch. We can only hope that there is more to come that will put Renato in his rightful glorified spot of righteousness. A second volume, maybe?

After multiple listens, it’s only 1/2 of an afro short of a perfect score. The missing half afro is for the two slow jams that go on a tad longer than may be necessary including the aptly titled The Best Ten Minutes Of Your Life that is a great song, but with not nearly enough variation to carry it beyond the 5 minute mark. The closing slow jam New York Song suffers the same fate although it is redeemed by a hidden track called Mr. Clean that kicks everything back into gear again,…at the ten minute mark.

All in all, this is a great funk escape that snags a very honorable 4-1/2 out of 5 afros. While most people will tune in for a variety of reasons, this album is a “must buy”. It’s a culmination of 5 of the best musicians at their craft bonding for a common purpose and that purpose is funk. We can’t think of a better reason to get together than that. Until Volume 2 of the Big Ol’ Nasty Getdown hits, this collective is the best thing going right now for funk fans. Run, don’t walk to the Rock Candy Funk Party. Great name by the way.

Can Prince ever find the charts again as he rebukes all of the normal means to get him there?

Let’s face it. Prince isn’t winning any new fans. Very frankly, his actions scream that maybe he just doesn’t want to. And that’s obviously a silly statement because who wouldn’t want new fans?

What benefit would a musician gain by taking steps to send a fan letters threatening legal action against them for using your image without permission? By sending a “team of black lady lawyers” out into the world to find these “criminals” and send out cease and desist letters? From a marketing perspective, it seems totally ludicrous. Yet this is exactly the types of actions that Prince has taken against his fans in multiple instances.

What’s even more bizarre is how Prince was at one point a pioneer of internet technology. He was one of the first musicians to have his own video game, he launched a website for his fans allowing them unfettered access to some of his more private song collections and gave them purchasing opportunities for both new music and exclusive concert access in the form of pre-shows and meet-and-greets. Then out of nowhere, the plug was pulled.

Some speculate that it happened as a result of an accumulation of bad reviews on the site internally by fans, online fussing among the members, and the distribution of the “members only” material out into the general public. But when those killjoy actions began being implemented to the general public at large, things just went weird.

Many people wonder what his motive is and some have come to the conclusion that it’s simply a result of Prince doing everything in his power to make sure that he is in complete control of what’s being said about him and how he’s viewed.  Others contend that he is taking these precautions because he wants to make sure that every instance of his likeness via photo or video attains the proper monetary gain and if a photographer or videographer is not getting compensated for image use in a variety of places, he wants to put a lid on it.  Some say it’s both. Some say he’s just a _______________. Fill in the blank.

While no one will truly understand his motivation, it is very frustrating as a Prince fan to watch him strike out at the very means of marketing that only want to help offer him more publicity for his music. How can someone whole-heartedly complain that radio isn’t playing their music  and at the same time doing everything in their means to keep the buzz from growing? And what can Prince fans do about it, if anything at all?

The radio landscape has totally changed. They respond to what their fans are talking about because ultimately they make money when people listen. But if you’re not allowing those people to help spread the word about your music or efforts, you’re squashing that buzz. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are a prime example of an act that allowed people to run wild with their single Thrift Shop. They allowed file sharing and embraced any type of coverage they could attain. The end result was mass radio play, a record deal and a firestorm of publicity that made them household names in less than a year.

Prince has always been his own brand of marketing and part of his appeal was remaining an enigmatic character of sorts.  He doesn’t want there to be any possibility of a rogue clip of him not “at his best” to appear on the web. Essentially, total control marketing.

What Prince fails to see is the true virality of the internet and how bands that embrace it with all of its ugly dark alleys like torrent websites, bootlegging, and even – gasp – piracy, end up achieving unprecedented levels of album and concert ticket sales. The list of embracers such as John Mayer, Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews Band, Parliament, Funkadelic and many more all embraced the internet in all of its ugliness and reaped major rewards.

And on the flip side, those that have fought it such as Prince, Metallica and others, have had a very difficult time getting any traction in the public arena because they’re ultimately destroying their viral marketing. It just seems surprising that they are under a delusion that they’re actually stopping it. Or maybe they aren’t delusional at all.  This is not about people getting something for free. It’s the only way they know how to spread the word as lopsided as that may seem.

Luckily times are changing as Prince has begun to loosen up his reigns by allowing sites like Dr. Funkenberry to give folks early peeks at his material, advanced announcements of upcoming performances, and he has even brought another website online in the form of 3rd Eye Girl. But 3rd Eye Girl is a very far cry from what the famed NPG Music Club used to be and its “Buy Before You Listen” approach isn’t being embraced very well by some fans.  But at least it’s something. At least Prince may have come to the realization that the internet is not dead and won’t be for a very long time. If ever.

Maybe this is a sign of good things to come, but it won’t lessen the sting that most Prince fans have to endure as they can’t get their favorite Purple Artist on the airwaves because it just seems like he’s fighting it every inch of the way. It’s a shame to watch the brilliance of an artist tucked away in obscurity by choice where it seems that his only current desire is to entertain his current and loyal fans who are already fully aware of the avenues of where to locate new information and music.

For the rest of the world, they have no idea where he went to or if he’s even released any new music since Sign O The Times. They just see him pop up at venues like Coachella where he proudly showcases music that they already know. Fair weather fans who may own a cassette of Purple Rain tucked in a box in the garage somewhere or had to be acclimated by their hip parents and are simply there for that other new act that was playing at the festival but that wouldn’t have bought a ticket to his show otherwise.

The question remains if Prince truly understands the damage he’s doing to his own marketing or if this will just be written off by his diehard fans as just another facet of his genius that we will never grasp. Either way, we can only hope that he will open the doors to more avenues of outreach and pull back to allow more people to share his genius in the natural viral way that marketing happens in this digital age.

Many of us were alive to see his peak and it sure would be incredible to be able to validate what we know to this generation.

Head to the Facebook page now to check them out here!

We also have footage from Earphunk and Papa Grows Funk that we’ll post as soon as possible.  Plus an insane video of Parliament performing Atomic Dog as Funkatopia’s Mr. Christopher captured it all from ON STAGE!

It’s all coming as much and as fast as we can!

It’s truly a shame when you attend a show and you think, “How in the world is this event going unnoticed by the general public?” Such is the fate of Shanti Das and Marlon Nichols Atl Live In The Park Series.

Once a month they bring talent into Park Tavern located in Midtown Atlanta overlooking Piedmont Park and on April 16th, they managed to conjure up various members of the New Power Generation aka NPG including performances from Shelby J., Elisa Fiorillo, Liv Warfield and even a surprise appearance from Cherelle.

Even though Shelby Johnson aka Shelby J is probably the most recognized of the group, she opened the evening with a stunningly exquisite vocal performance of intense fluidity and superb jazzy vocal runs. Elisa Fiorillo turned on her 80′s charm and shocked the crowd with her smooth silky southern sounding sway. Then the crowd was treated to a surprise performance from Cherelle who exploded on the stage with high energy that got everyone’s juices flowing. Then the night was closed out by Liv Warfield with her infectious energy that lit up the room and her powerhouse vocals that put the cherry on top of the evening.

As for the event itself, the evenings are perfectly balanced and are a masterful mixture of mingling, music and good times. Starting with appropriate DJ hosted music and melding into the performances where each of the three main performers shared a band filled with NPG players. Each came to the stage to perform for about 20-30 minute waves of their own material and each performance seemed handcrafted to showcase their best material which led to a full evening of exceptional music from beginning to end.

Atl Live In The Park is essentially designed for maximum fluidity and even allows good access for media to the performers, photo opportunities, and elbow rubbing throughout the evening. The event is fairly underground but those “in the know” frequent the showcases every month.

Atl Live In The Park draws many hip hop artists and celebrities and any given night can offer a wealth of photo opps. With any member of NPG in the house on this particular night, it was a Prince fanatics dream for those that are heavily involved in the musicology. And from the various people we spoke with during our visit, the monthly get-together is always littered with celebs and folks you should know making it the perfect networking event for funksters and neo-soul heads.

That being said, the live sound was perfectly mixed and balanced and not too loud. About the only complaints we had for the evening was from the DJ booth where the music was too boomy and bass heavy making the sound muddy and at times the DJ was a tad too over-chatty in the beginning of the evening. But as a host, there was plenty of good crowd participation and he strung the evening together well from performance to performance.

Now that Funkatopia is aware of this gathering, expect to see more of us each and every month, because Atl In The Park is one of those events that you hear about the next day followed by “You should have been there.”  And with ticket prices only being $15 per person or $70 for a reserved table, it really is silly to be anywhere else.

• Check the Photos!

As Prince’s 2013 tour dates continue to grow, the excitement does as well.  The tour keeps moving along the West Coast with his all girl setup 3rd Eye Girl displaying a rockier delivery than his past outings due to the raw sound of a 4 piece band. Browse to the tour dates below to see if he’s anywhere near you whatsoever.  Meanwhile…

Additional excitement was plopped on like hot fudge as the “man on a mission” Dr. Funkenberry broke the news that he received from Paisley Park that a new full length album is on the way from Prince called Plectrum Electrum. No details on the number of songs or the players involved, but any official Prince CD is always welcome to his hoards of fans. One rocked out song called FixUrLifeUp was unceremoniously released and features, yes you guessed it, 3rd Eye Girl, which could hint to what fans can expect when the new album hits the market.

And while you can strangely enough listen to the FixUrLifeUp song here that someone posted on Audiomack (for now), be sure to buy it when it hits iTunes. Let’s support it! We didn’t post the song! We just think you should hear it just like you would on the radio. Then go to the Wreckastow and buy it. Remember when people could hear the music before they bought it? Really cool concept.

But for now, get to a show!

APRIL 15 AND 16 VOGUE THEATRE IN VANCOUVER, BC
Buy Tickets

APRIL 18 AND 19 SHOWBOX AT THE MARKET IN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Buy Tickets

APRIL 21 – ROSELAND THEATER IN PORTLAND, OREGON
April 21, 8 p.m. Buy Tickets
April 21, 11:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

APRIL 23 AND 24 – DNA LOUNGE IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
April 23, 8 p.m. Buy Tickets
April 23, 11:30 p.m. Buy Tickets
April 24, 8 p.m. Buy Tickets
April 24, 11:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

APRIL 26 AND 27 – THE JOINT IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
April 26, 8 p.m. Buy Tickets
April 26, 11:30 p.m. Buy Tickets
April 27, 8 p.m. Buy Tickets
April 27, 11:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

APRIL 29 AND MAY 1 – MARQUEE THEATRE IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA
April 30, 6:30 p.m. Buy Tickets
April 30, 11:30 p.m. Buy Tickets
May 1, 6:30 p.m. Buy Tickets
May 1, 11:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

MAY 3 AND 4 – HARD ROCK HOTEL BALLROOM IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
May 3, 7:30p.m. Buy Tickets
May 3, 10:30p.m. Buy Tickets
May 4, 7:30 p.m. Buy Tickets
May 4, 10:30 p.m. Buy Tickets

MAY 7 AND 8 – THE CITY NATIONAL GROVE OF ANAHEIM IN ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA
May 7, 8 p.m. Buy Tickets
May 7, 11:30 p.m. Buy Tickets
May 8, 8 p.m. Buy Tickets
May 8, 11:30 p.m.  Buy Tickets

MAY 12 AND 13 THE OGDEN THEATRE IN DENVER, COLORADO
Buy Tickets

While Prince is busy tearing up the West Coast with his raucous rock version of his show 3rd Eye Girl, the members of New Power Generation who aren’t working on this particular tour, are staying busy.

On Tuesday, April 16th Funkatopia was made aware of a live music showcase by Shanti Das and Marlon Nichols at a small intimate venue that has gone mysteriously under the radar in Atlanta, GA (until now, of course).

Members of the New Power Generation including Shelby J, Elisa Florillo, Liv Warfield and possibly other NPG crew will be playing at this live music showcase called ATL Live On The Park which will take place in Midtown at Park Tavern.

What will be played or who else from NPG might make an appearance is unknown, but we can say with a definitive guess that Prince will not be there considering that he’s playing in Vancouver on the same night. Needless to say, this will be a very fun show for Prince fans with possibly a few surprises throughout the evening.

Tickets start at $15, but you can reserve a table for 4 for $70 or for 10 for $150. Considering that you can get 9 of your friends into the show for what it costs for a single ticket to see Prince, we’d say that’s a hell of a value. Yes, we’ll be there.

Head to http://atlliveonthepark.eventbrite.com/ and get yours.

Among the major performers in the mix will be George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Papa Grows Funk, Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears, Earphunk, and so much more.  There will also be comedy tents, kid’s areas, and much more.

The event starts on April 19th and runs through to April 21st at Candler Park in Atlanta. You can view the lineup on their site here. We mentioned that it’s free, right? You better get down there and represent!