Classy tribute to the Godfather of Soul
Bootsy Collins
Tripod, Dublin
Monday July 07 2008
BOOTSY Collins has described James Brown as the father he never had and, like many parent-child relationships, theirs was an often fraught one.
Having joined Brown's already famous band in the late 60s, the then teenage Collins, a bass virtuoso whose funky slap style would influence generations of loose-limbed players, chafed against the Soul Godfather's dictatorial personality. Required to live an almost monastic, on-the-road existence he eventually rebelled, departing for the less authoritarian environs of George Clinton's Funkadelic (if Brown was a strict father figure, then Clinton was the indulgent uncle who always let you stay up past bedtime).
However, Collins never forgot his debt to his mentor and after his death in late 2006, resolved to celebrate his legacy by touring with many of the musicians who had shared a stage with Brown over the decades. He has recruited Brown's original backing crew, The JBs, along with vocalist Vicki Anderson, who graced a slew of Brown smashes; and Tony Wilson, an uncanny JB soundalike, who leaps from the wings in a blinding canary suit and pivots on his heels in an uncanny impression of the departed singer.
There's plenty of white-hot funk, yet few curveballs, in a setlist that cleaves fastidiously to the classic Brown songbook. But then Collins is here not to re-invent Brown but to hold true to his memory. The show climaxes with a ferocious salvo of classics: 'Get Up (I Feel Like Being) A Sex Machine', 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag' and, naturally, 'I Got You ( I Feel Good)'. It's exactly the sort of tribute Brown would have appreciated: sweaty, sultry and untainted by cornball sentimentality.
- ED POWER
