It was back at the dawn of the Eighties that Washington DC’s Trouble Funk rolled into London town and “dropped the bomb” on the London crew. It’s hard to explain but anticipation had reached the fever pitch and was set to explode inside Hammersmith Palais on that most memorable of nights. Upon walking into the venue the sense of panic grew, the noise was overwhelming, the whole place was vibrating the the sound air horns… ‘”Were they on already…has it all kicked off… what’s going down? We need to get in there!” Once in there we were amazed to find the whole place was simply responding to the dj set. When Trouble Funk finally hit the stage to the sound of that Go Go anthem of theirs the place went wild.
Trouble Funk
I don’t think I’ve experienced anything quite like that other than seeing Parliament/Funkadelic at Hammersmith Odeon. That said, there were no theatrics with Trouble Funk, it all was down to a raw uproarious blend of live swinging, up-tempo, muscular 70’s funk with bags of synth, a 60’s style horn section and heavy, insistent percussion topped off with a dose of booming call and response vocals. It was mayhem.
This town had the Go Go bug and had it in a serious way. I can vividly recall, not long after the Trouble Funk session, being backstage at the Forum watching the Godfather of Go Go, Chuck Brown, filming the crowd and shouting, “Folks in DC never gonna believe this!”
So, thanks the visionary programming of Adrian Gibson (AGMP) and in celebration of their 35th birthday Trouble Funk are rolling back into town from Chocolate City. Friday night at Islington Asssembly Rooms is already Sold Out! You need to get yourself sorted for that XTRA Saturday session. My good friends Snowboy and Chris Phillips are poised to set the vibe and have already got some baad-ass vintage Go Go vinyl in their boxes. So, what’s to say except “Meet Me At The Go Go!”
TROUBLE FUNK : Venue: Islington Assembly Hall
Date: 15/16th March 2013 Doors: 19:00 Gate Fee: £25.00
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