PRINCE TRIBUTE: NU-BREED ALLSTARS
(with Rhythm Republik)
At B.B. King's Blues Club - NYC (3/15/04)
Mabili & Roslyn!!
At 8:40pm,
Rhythm Republik started their set with "Disposable Culture" and
"Gypsy Woman", a soulful song featuring some perculating bass by Mark
Bass. "Nights are Longer Without You" and "All Saints Fall"
were followed by "Psychic Toll", featuring some great jamming by the
band, especially the fiery drumwork of James Williams!! "For The Last Time
2 Forever" was a beautiful ballad by Mabili and Roslyn! Dedicated to all
of the bad stuff going on (the hostile situation in Iraq, the train bombings in
Spain, etc.), Rhythm Republik performed the Prince classic "Money Don't
Matter 2Nite"............well done, Mabili ("much better than 'well
said' ")! "Git to Forever" was some funky shit with some spicy
keyboardisms by Pearl, funky bass by Mark, and some nasty lead guitar riffs by
Amadou Gaye! (the theme of the song was "no religion is better than
another") The last song was (of course) "Mystikal Luva/Finger
Lickin'....Hot in the Kitchen", with moi (me) joining Mabili onstage
singing "Finger lickin'.......hot in the kitchen!" (I wanted to say
"Finger lickin', taste like fish!" but that wasn't actually allowed!
Hmmm...okay.........next time...."Make a wish.....taste like fish!")
The Rhythm Republik set was over at 9:40pm.
Click here for pictures of
Rhythm Republik
Sharief Ali and Mabili!!
At
10:05pm, the Nu-Breed Allstars began their set with 2 rappers rapping some
lyrics 2 the melody of "Sign O' The Times"........the song "Song
O' The Times" featured Sharief Ali on funky guitar and lead vocals!
"Pop Life" featured a beautiful woman on lead vocals and another
beautiful 1 on funky bass guitar.....unfortunately, the music was 2 mellow 4
the normally funky version......it came off pretty weak. "A Love
Bizarre" featured 2 hot women (from the Black Lily series) on lead vocals
and Mabili as a sex-struck dog, drooling at the legs of these 2 fine women. (O,
and Mabili was on additional vocals 2!) "7" featured a white woman
who sounded very good on lead vocals......the music did the Prince song
justice. The audience participated with some chanting on "The
Cross"....featuring a white dude who brought the house down on some lead
vocals! Funky "regular-2-the-tribute-shows" Carlton J. Smith was on
hand 4 the lead vocals 2 "Lady Cab Driver"........the boy drove the
song on home, baba!! C.J. was so funky that he had 2 throw in "17
Days", 4 good measure! Mabili and Roslyn were the spotlight on "Nothing
Compares 2 U". "White Mansion" was done by Sharief, with Sharief
substituting some lyrics with some humorous stuff of his own! Sharief was
playing a ditty called "Do U Lie?" with Mary Harris chiming in
"Do U lie, do U lie?" Mary was holding down the drums & lead
vocals on "EYE Feel 4 U"! The guitarwork on "Little Red
Corvette" was spectacular! "Old Friends 4 Sale" featured a very
good vocalist. "Sometimes It Snows in April" was some very
melancholic stuff, while the anthem "Purple Rain" sounded great......the
guitar breakdown near the end was beautiful (EYE gotta rent "Purple Rain
(The Movie)" again!) "Kiss" featured a black guy doing some
excellent falsetto lead vocalization.........the boy is great!! Jen Durkin
(from Deep Banana Blackout, Bomb Squad and Bernie Worrell & The WOO
Warriors) performed some lead vocals on "It's Gonna B a Beautiful
Nite" and the band was seriously cookin, especially with Nikki Glaspie
(from the SAM KININGER band) on drums! Zook (from OTIS FUNKMEYER) performed
lead vocals on the funky "Sexy M.F.", with the funky horn section and
the audience shouting "U Sexy M.F.")! The Nu-Breed Allstars ended the
show at 12:20am. Members of the Nu-Breed Allstars and EYE went 2 C Prince at
the afterparty at CLUB BLACK, about 2 miles away. OOOWWOO (PRINCE SCREAM)!
Click here for pictures of the
Nu-Breed Allstars
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