Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton
Calvin Simmons Theater at Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts
10 10th St, Oakland
April 25, 2025
Through thirteen presidential administrations, George Clinton has funked on, and when he landed Parliament Funkadelic’s musical mothership at the Calvin Simmons Theatre at Lake Merritt last weekend, we were alerted to how much we need his message of radiant togetherness in this era of cold-blooded divisiveness. The event also brought together two Midbrow writers, Tony Daquipa and Jeff Kaliss, who sat down two mornings after to compare perspectives and reactions. Tony wears multiple hats as an employee of the City of Oakland, a musician working in traditional Filipino music and contemporary jazz, and an active freelance writer. Jeff is a veteran journalist and author covering a multitude of musics. Here’s what they talked about.
*
J: Where else have you seen P-Funk?
T: I’ve been to the last five Farewell Tours. The last show before COVID Shelter in Place was George Clinton at the Cornerstone, in Berkeley. Then there was the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, and the Fox. Last year was in Napa, a really nice outdoor thing. I was really excited just to even walk into the Calvin Simmons Theatre, it’s good news that it’s now open, and I really love Oakland and I want Oakland to succeed. But at first I was kind of disappointed, because there were a lot of empty seats in my area. I actually sat closer than what I had paid for. I never would’ve sat that close to the stage in some other venue.
J: We were further back, but it still felt intimate. And I could see up close that George was feeling good. I’m obviously much closer to his age [83] than you are...up there pumping and beaming, in a cleaner, brighter way than I’d seen him anywhere else, like at the former Yoshi’s in San Francisco and at Stern Grove. When my wife Louise and I would go say hello to him after those shows he looked tired.
T: I’ve been to shows where he spent 95 per cent of the show on a stool.
J: Most [of this show] looked like a perpetual birthday party. There were a lot of fine instrumental solos, including the electric guitarist. The trombone and sax played at the level you might expect at a jazz concert over at Yoshi's.
T: George has always been evolving, kind of like Miles Davis. And like Miles, P-Funk has been on the front end of trends, not following. George is amazing that he’s navigated all those changes and he’s still relevant.
J: Were you satisfied with the programming and the sequencing of the songs?
T: I absolutely was, but to be honest, I’m not a humongous fan of their newer music; though it’s not bad, it doesn’t turn me off. Even though I’m younger, I’m old school. I’m more of a Funkadelic guy than a Parliament guy. I like those first albums from the ‘70s, basically, the rock stuff, and my favorite song is “Cosmic Slop”. The ‘80s funk stuff is great, too.
J: I wrote a biography of Sly & the Family Stone, so of course I’m up for the funk. It was strategic for them to have held the hits, “Atomic Dog” and “Give Up the Funk” till near the end of the show, assuming that the majority of the audience would want to hear them.
T: Not my favorite George content, but at every show I’ve been to the crowd reacts to those songs, and it’s an exciting moment.
Dressed-down George Clinton pumps up the response to "Super Stupid" at the Simmons.
J: Did you think there was more or less funk in this show?
T: Less. The “third generation”, newer music, was definitely half of the show, [and] a bunch of Parliament hits, which are great. I’m not complaining.
J: What about the look of the show, including the performers?
T: The lighting was on a par with other shows, but there was no Mothership, even though it’s the fiftieth anniversary of that. In the ‘90s, there were so many people on stage, two drummers, lots of effects. They’re not making that type of money now, with big arena theatrics, but they’re free to kind of do whatever they want. Interestingly it was the most dressed down I’ve seen George, [he and others in] jeans, t-shirts, and baseball caps, more like how we dress. But there was a female singer with a big pompadour with lights in it, and a guitarist in his underwear at one point.
J: I think some of those younger performers may have been George’s grandkids.
T: The young man with golden dreads —he may have been one of them —was an amazing singer. [The 'third generation' of Clintons includes Garrett Shider, who sings and plays rhythm guitar; singer and guitarist Trey Clinton; drummer Benzel Cowan; and singer Tonysha Nelson.]
The Parliament Funkadelic Payoff!
J: I was impressed with how the audience was impressed. That helped this be one of the most immersive concert experiences I’ve had recently, to the point where whatever my professional or personal armor might be, I had no need of it. Just as some of the jazz may have been new to you, the hip hop was new to me, and I said to myself, you’re not going to be sitting down, you need to get up and move to this. And it worked! No part of the demographic seemed to be left out of the fun.
T: In Napa I’d felt that everybody there was just a real, real diehard George Clinton fan, and [the crowd] was primarily African-American and older. Oakland is one of the most statistically diverse cities, and at the Simmons there were young people, many of who seemed to be with older people. I would like for that new generation to love P-Funk the way you and I do.
J: What do you think is next for P-Funk?
T: I’m going every time they’re in Northern California. I’m going to keep going to every farewell tour George has, because he’ll just keep doing what he’s doing until the wheels fall off. And I’ll buy a t-shirt every time.
J: I think his wife, Carlon, is part of what keeps George going, she’s an inspiration, very supportive. This is not a farewell thing.
