Yes, that is an actual screenshot from the video! Posdnous, Trugoy & Maseo didn’t bring a band, but they brought the hits. Here I present the full 53 minute video in 5 parts. Shot with a Canon Vixia HF21 using a Sony ECM-MS908C stereo external mic and a 6 foot tall tripod. I recommend watching in HD.
De La Soul (1 of 5) The Grind Date, Oooh!, All Good?
De La Soul (2 of 5) Potholes In My Lawn, Much More, Stakes Is High, Buddy
De La Soul (3 of 5) A Roller Skating Jam Named “Saturdays”, Me Myself And I
De La Soul (4 of 5) Ego Trippin’, Oodles Of O’s, Breakadawn, It’s Like That, Itsoweezee
De La Soul (5 of 5) Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
I also shot The Funky Meters set and I’ll be sharing it soon. Here is a little preview of The Funky Meters playing the Star Spangled Banner > Fire On The Bayou during the annual fireworks display:
I had the pleasure of spending last Christmas in New Orleans. I was also fortunate enough to catch George Porter Jr‘s annual Birthday Bash at the Howlin’ Wolf on the last night of my stay (before driving 12 hours back to Kentucky the next morning).
With George’s permission, I mounted my new HD video camera to the side of Nick Burlison’s audio recording rig, and when the crowd poured out onto the chilly St. Peters Street at 3:15am I had nearly 4 hours of footage! I even shot a few songs from the front row with my iPhone4, which allowed me to make a 2-cam mix for several tunes. The audio on this one is simply top notch. It’s a matrix mix of Louie Liokis’ on-stage schoeps mics and a soundboard patch.
The night began with a 90 minute set from George Porter’s Runnin’ Pardner‘s band. This set featured several classic Meters tunes like Borro, What’Cha Say, & The Dragon, as well as a reworking of Curtis Mayfield‘s “Check Out Your Mind” which exemplifies the way George holds down the groove. George’s wife brought out a cake and his granddaughter came out and sang a diva-like rendition of Happy Birthday. The set ended with a solo performance of a song from George’s new EP of Christmas songs, “Christmas In New Orleans.”
The second set was a free for all of guest players: Stanton Moore, Anders Osborne, Kirk Joseph, Brian Stoltz, June Yamagishi, Tony Hall, Russell Batiste, Eric Bolivar, Terence Higgins, etc. Seven different drummers and five different guitarists! At one point, you had a triple guitar threat of Tony Hall, June Yamagishi, & Brint Anderson ripping through Them Changes & Third Stone From The Sun.
To close out the night, George brought out Billy Iuso & CR Gruver for some Grateful Dead tunes, topping it off with a cover of Sugaree, a song that George has really made his own while touring with Bill Kreutzmann & Papa Mali in their new band, 7 Walkers.
UPDATE with 2 new videos added on 12/27/13:
Christmas In New Orleans:
Is Pray > Dance To The Music > I Want To Take You Higher > Them Changes (w/ Third Stone From The Sun tease):
About ten years ago I packed some friends in my car and drove up to Cincinnati, Ohio to see The Funky Meters perform. The festival was free and they performed during the daytime, down by the river. The situation was ripe for my old Sony Digital Hi8mm video camera to capture it all. Ten years later it’s still one of my favorite videos. I used an external microphone (the same mic I still use today) so the sound quality is great, despite being a little “hot” due to the extreme volume (I can’t believe I didn’t wear earplugs back then!).
