Finally! I have seen funkUs in a venue large enough to accommodate the immense sound produced from a band whose live performances have the tendency to imbue one’s mind, body, and soul with the power of pure volume. The stage at Hard Rock Live at Universal Studios Florida’s CityWalk was a welcomed change from the band’s regular Friday night venue, Kitty O’Shea’s Irish Pub, a quaint room with all the warmth and charm of a favorite local hangout. Friday nights at Kitty O’Shea’s are always a great time of sharing the love with funkUs and all the attending funki—the collective name of the funkUs faithful. However, in embracing the essence of funkUs, colossal sounds and energy exuded with unparalleled enthusiasm, the experience can be somewhat overwhelming in the confines of a smaller local bar.
This is certainly not to say that funkUs’ power is predicated solely by decibels, but rather by a volume that demonstrates a fullness of sound saturated by three able guitarists in the triumvirate of Ron Betts, Dave “the cat” Mann, and Jim “Mad Dog” Mahoney, while backed solidly by the vigorous rhythm section of John “Mojo” Jones on bass and Adam FreeMan on drums. With so much to offer, funkUs miraculously distributes even shares of talent in a musical dynamic of integrating their songs with a musical methodology allowing each guitarist to showcase his particular style. Interludes consisting of alternating guitar leads provide elements of individual distinction for each guitarist while, at the same time, compliment the other musicians in comprising each song as a whole.
For example, the driving rhythm of their opener, “Strobe Light,” features the unmistakable licks of “the cat” in a preliminary lead that accentuates the bellowing vocals of Betts. The power of Betts’ unadulterated vocals is highlighted by a whimsical rendition of “Rapper’s Delight” amid a song that culminates in a three-guitar-explosion of alternating leads and rhythm that gets the audience into a frenzied groove, an indication of things to come in a night of music that flat-out just makes you want to dance. The power of “Strobe Light” is more easily realized in a venue such as Hard Rock Live, a space that can accommodate the confluence of myriad sounds, as opposed to the smaller space of a local pub.
The vocal reins are handed over to “the cat” for “Love Comes Easy,” a favorite of the funki. Mann’s philosophical side emerges in a groove that lyrically contemplates the eternal paradoxes of socially contrived needs that pit love vs. money, while further bewildering the audience musically in a lead that makes clear: the problems of love and money don’t matter when you’re dancing.
funkUs’ music addresses the things that touch us all: the philosophical, the spiritual, and the real. Mann’s spiritual side is revealed in “The Mountain Song,” a song whose music Mann claims is inspired by jam-band greats Phish and moe. “The Mountain Song” highlights a typical funkUs set with an opportunity for pause and reflection. One is not necessarily caught up in a pulsating dance groove, but rather enrapt in a melodic euphoria, whisking one to the mountains of Tennessee where Mann wrote the song.
funkUs’ Hard Rock Live performance was appropriately capped off by “I Got,” a song that undoubtedly leaves a lasting impression upon those experiencing funkUs for the first time. Anyone who attended the set surely “got it all” in a performance that epitomizes what funkUs has to offer the music fan that frequents the jam-band scene. In the closing moments of “I Got,” Betts commands us, “Take a good look at my life,” in a whirlwind crescendo that puts the exclamation point on a set by which even the faithful funki were floored. It is to the advantage of the avid music lover, particularly those looking for ‘kind grooves,’ to catch a funkUs show, be it in a local pub or on a grand stage such as Hard Rock Live. One can sample a taste of funkUs on their CDs flavour and strobe light, as well as a few bytes at www.funkUs.com. One must get his or her feet moving to a funkUs gig in order to get one’s feet moving, for they never fail to please in an experience of an energized grooves and cosmic sounds.
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