06 Feb 10

... Who are you rooting for - Saints or Colts? ....
... Bears! ...



Hey, blogspot readers, fun times were aplenty at the Elbo Room during Super Bowl weekend! The Saturday night crowd packed this popular Lakeview venue for rockin' entertainment all night long. Upstairs, keyboardist Steven Mullan (currently on a winter tour with Caleb Lovely) performed a double set of originals and covers. Visit www.stevenmullan.com or www.myspace.com/stevenmullanmusic for more information.

Meanwhile the lineup downstairs featured hot performances by Manny Capozi, Mahoney, Kicking Cans Band and Arkady. SouthSide heard great things about Mahoney (www.mahoneyband.com or www.myspace.com/mahoneymusic)and hopes they return soon for a full review. Also she recommends checking out the energetic workout of 80s alternative/pop rock sound by Workout Music. Fans enjoyed the fast paced jazzercise performance while dancing to songs such as Sounds Like Church and Working It. Visit www.myspace.com/workoutmusicband for more information.

Now, blogspot readers, let's take a music journey back in time. A time when funk/soul music ruled the charts and Don Cornelius had the youth groovin' on Soul Train. Well reminisce no more ...what was old is quite new again. Funktion (pronounced "function" but with a "k") rocked the basement lounge with hot R&B sound and cool funk rhythms. This band, from Kalamazoo, MI, brought back the classic 70s music yet performed in a slight modern twist. Bursts of trumpet and sultry conga beats had this crowd instantly dancing to the Funktion groove. And that, blogspot readers, was barely into their opening song, Make You See.

Funktion's set was alive ...energetic and full of that fresh funk sound whick everyone (including this reviewer) moving to their songs. Besides the base funk/R&B sound, there was alo a touch of that Stax rhythms and rock riffs off the guitars heard in certain songs. Sometimes you could hear some lyrical freestyle verse behind the R&B music. With music like that, how could you not feel the groove and dance? For example, off their current EP, Funk Prelude, Step Into It (which has plenty of airplay on SouthSide's CD player) really had this crowd rockin'. Or listen to the funk anthem for 2010, Funk Year, for that classic Parliment sound. Still there was no slowing this band down at all. Too much funky music to stop your booty from shaking or doing the electric slide with the band. Though the fun had to end, Funktion closed their set with a song about hope in Better Dayz.

This reviewer highly recommends catching that funky fever with Funktion at their next show. For more information, visit www.funktionmusic.com or www.myspace.com/funktionkalamazoo.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide