Event: The Time in Concert
Venue: Mohegan Sun Casino's Wolf Den in Uncasville, Connecticut
Date/Time: December 31st, 2007 9:00 pm EST
To view pics of the night onstage and backstage, please go to:
www.myspace.com/lollypop and click on pics. You can view them in the
Lolly and The Time NYE album. Photos courtesy of Brooke Aldridge.
The Time set up the fun store for two nights here in Connecticut, Dec.
30th and 31st. We had originally planned to attend the first night but
a snowstorm in the Northwest Hills kept us home. Gi Dussault and I
sans Electric Man and Soulsistah # 1 made the 90 minute trek on New
Year's Eve.
The Wolf Den is a great venue and the shows are free. We have seen The
Time several times here. Gi and I were seated at a table at the front
of the stage right between Morris Day and Ricky "Freeze" Smith. Our
tablemates included two nice ladies who lived by the casino and didn't
even know who was playing that night, and a couple who were into the
funk and were recapping a recent George Clinton Wolf Den show.
Jellybean Johnson and his lady strode in and greeted us warmly and we
said we would see them after the concert. Bean had on a cool
Minneapolis winter coat.
The Playas:
Morris Day: vocals, orchestration and vocals
Jellybean Johnson: drums and backing vox
Monte Moir: keyboards and backing vox
Tori "Sir FreakJuice" Ruffin: guitars and backing vox
Ricky "Freeze" Smith: bass and backing vox
Jeff "JMac" McNeeley: keyboards and backing vox
Sylvester David Jr. Aka Sly Shizzle: mirror man, percussion and valet
Dynamite Danny : valet and steps
JB: emcee and protector of valuables
Jesse: manager
Eddie (former drummer in Brick): guitar tech
The Show
The lights were dimmed and the clock ticked and the prerecorded mashup
of Time hits was played. A tremendous night of MPLS funk and roll
commenced with the rocking "Skillet". Tori Ruffin was blazing on the
six-string and the band was in fine spirits and looking dap. My only
surprise was not seeing Rhastus up there playing his cowbell during
"Skillet". I later found out he was booked for a gig in northern Florida.
The Time blazed through smoking versions of "Cool", "Get It Up", "Oak
Tree", and "777-9311". Though we have seen the band countless times
since the Triple Threat Tour during the early 80s, they always manage
to put new twists on classic Time songs. For example, there was a
midsong break during "Pandemonium" which sounded great. I always love
the North Side Minny part of "Ice Cream Castles" . Back Da Booty Up!.
Instead of the overextended "Gigolos Get Lonely Too", the Time perform
a slow jam medley with "Gigolos" as its centerpiece. Vocally, Morris
sounded as fine as ever and his his dance steps were supreme.
Gi and I were seated so close that we could watch nuances of all the
performers and revel in their superb musicianship. Monte Moir, with
his three keyboard setup, exhibited why his versatile playing is so
crucial to The Time's sound. Plus, I always enjoy his joking and
stepping with Morris. Jellybean drove the train with power and
finesse. He leaves it all on the stage and you feel as if he has gone
ten rounds with Holyfield and won by a unanimous decision. Tori Ruffin
delved between heavy metal rock, rhythmic funk, gutsy blues, and jazzy
riffs. At point, he climbed some railings in the Wolf Den and played
guitar all the while and managed to jump back onstage not missing a
beat. Ricky "Freeze" Smith layed down some phenomenal bass and
injected his unique style into a band that has been clocking it since
the early 80s. One talented brotha. Nice to see Jeff McNeeley manning
the other keyboards. He brought some classic playing and coolness.
Nice coat JMac.
The Mohegan Sun crowd consisted of hard-core Time fans, people who
only know the band from Purple Rain, and folks who wouldn't know The
Time from a Timex watch. Our great friend, Jerome Benton, would have
had this New Years Eve crowd bouncing off the walls with his innate
talent to work a crowd . Everyone misses him dearly. But the new cats,
Sly Shizzle and Dynamite Danny, bring some nice talent and enthusiasm
as well. They are being given more stage responsibilities and are
grateful and humble about being in the band.
Touching moments: Morris Day introducing his wife of 21 years to the
audience. He said she keeps him in check most of the time. Also,
Morris prefaced "The Walk" by asking us to listen to the lyrics and
that it was time to end this was in Iraq.
Funny tidbit: During "Ice Cream Castles", one lady came up to Morris
and said she used to work with Otis Day. When she left the stage,
Morris said for her to say hi to Otis.
Backstage
Always great to catch up with the fellas every few months and see how
they are doing. The night was festive as it was New Year's Eve. Very
nice to see the bandmates wives and girlfriends here for the weekend's
shows. All of the ladies were kind and we hope to see them more at
upcoming shows. Morris bounced in and out of the backstage area and
gave us a warm hello.
It was a pleasure to meet Brooke Aldridge (the former Lolly Pop) who
was in town to see the weekend's shows. The Minneapolis star told us
about some of her new projects and we really enjoyed talking about the
changes in the music industry with her. She is style personified!
Monte Moir is currently hard at work at completing his second solo CD.
He has a high-tech home studio out in Minnesota. Jellybean is also
playing guitar on tour with Ronnie Baker Brooks. Tour dates at
www.ronniebakerbrooks.com. Plus, he, St. Paul, Chance, Kip Blackshire
and Eric Leeds have wrapped up work on The Truth's new album. Tori
Ruffin has been gigging across the country in support of his band
FreakJuice's outstanding new CD "Like U"
(www.myspace.com/freakjuicmusic). Cop this baby and have an eargasm.
Freeze has been extremely busy writing and producing out in LA. He is
producing Katt Williams for a funky music CD.
Will a new Time record be released? The fans have been clamoring for
one for years. Time will tell. But we hear that some medicianal funk
will be available this spring . We will keep you posted.
Thanks to The Time for their genuine hospitality and red carpet
welcome for us always.
Sidenote: Gi and I were so pumped up from the show. That I took the
wrong highway and a 90 minute drive home took 3 and a half hours. We
wound up in Massachussetts. But we had a great night.
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