Our evening began with a few members of Parliament/Funkadelic performing as a warm up act for the full scale show. They called themselves the P-Funk All-Stars. Their steady bass lines and beats backed a constantly rotating cast of vocalists who did their best to get the audience ready for the upcoming insanity.

The best opening act was when the House of Blues dropped the screen to show the final game of the Rockets/Blazers game. The crowd erupted with each made shot and got their attention completely to the stage. Right about half-time, the curtain rose.

The attention never broke away as the members of Parliament/Funkadelic took the stage and kicked into Funkentelechy. The song featured Michael “Kidd Funkadelic” Hampton tearing up leads like I’d only seen on video to that point. Garry “Starchild” Shider acted as musical director for the first three songs until George Clinton hit the stage at the end of Cosmic Slop.

From there, the party did not stop for nearly 3 hours. Sir Nose D’Voidoffunk stalked the stage with his anti-Clinton messages, a local politician made a quick stage stop for some face time and everyone danced like children. It was a sight to behold as the chaotic appearance of the stage created layers of funky tunes that had everyone moving.

Despite getting up there in years, Clinton keeps the party moving and does not waver in his duties. The amount of personnel changes, vocalists and flat-out jams that weave in and out of each other is mind-blowing. The vision behind it is astounding.

About 90 minutes into the set, when most bands call it a night, Clinton declared the night was only about half way through and folks had better get their phones out to call into work. Everyone cheered but I remained skeptical, hearing other bands say the same thing and end three songs later. Clinton was not about to give up the night so easily.

The second half of the set was filled with hits like Flash Light and Not Just Knee Deep. Clinton left nothing behind for the night, except perhaps Maggot Brain, which was constantly being yelled out by someone in the audience throughout the night. The funk was brought to Houston and at the House of Blues, Houston responded by dancing the night away.

Do yourself a favor next time Clinton and company make it to Houston, pull on your dancing shoes, accept exhaustion at work the next day and dance into the wee hours of the night. That’s what I did and it was totally worth it.