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Some friendly advice: If you’re going out to catch The Funkizon live, you’d better bring a second pair of shoes because you’ll burn through the pair you’re wearing before the end of the first set.
The quintet, made up of Anthony Drouin, Nigel Hall, Kyle Patten, Roderick Pinkney and Spencer Nelson, played two sets of its experimental funk and left the capacity crowd wowed at the Stillwater Canal Co. on Thursday night. The band showed why many area music fans consider them to be the best band to call University of Maine home in a long time.
For close to two and a half hours, The Funkizon kept the dance floor full of people getting down to the band’s original music.
“We’re not into covers at all,” guitarist Drouin said. “Maybe sometime we’ll add an Earth Wind and Fire tune to the set, but right now we’d rather spend the time writing something new.”
The songs “Crunch” and “Seven Fourths Groove” featured inspired interplay between Drouin and keyboardist Hall. Hall sounds like Herbie Hancock behind Bernie Worrell’s rig, while Drouin’s play brought to mind the early days of Eric Krasno & Lettuce.
Before the first set ended, someone in the crowd yelled “We want the funk!” Hall responded, “And you’re going to get it!” before launching into “Oh Yeah,” another Funkizon fan favorite.
The rhythm section was ultra-tight by the second set. Bassist Pinkney solidly locked up with drummer Patten, giving percussionist Nelson the necessary space to excel.
“Trey [Anastasio] refers to the bass player in his solo band, Tony Markellis, as a pillow of groove,” Drouin said. “Rod [Pinkney] is a lot like that. He’s the foundation of the funk.”
When the band finished its second set, complete with a sit-in from the bassist from the band Melee, the crowd, which continued growing through the set, cheered “more funk” until The Funkizon responded with an encore.
The Funkizon play their first Bumstock Festival on April 25. In addition to their set, the band will back up the Brooklyn-based hip-hop group Little Egypt, which will open Saturday night for headliner Fat Joe.
“We’ve been practicing [Little Egypt's] songs and are really looking forward to it. We had a great time playing with them at the WMEB Local Band Showcase, so doing it again really made sense,” Drouin said.
The thing about The Funkizon is how accessible the music is. Whether you’re a jazz aficionado looking for creative improvisation or the other side of the spectrum, someone who just wants to dance, The Funkizon has you covered. Catch them if you can.
Related Posts:- Boston-based acoustic act plays to dismal crowd for Frequency finale (December 4, 2006)
- Funk Thrust: This is the sound of partying (April 27, 2009)
- Dr. Radical prescribes funk (October 2, 2003)
- Boombazi brings funk to UMaine Thursday (December 12, 2005)
- Local band displays spunk and funk (February 16, 2001)
