Saturday night at the Greek Theatre Funk N’ The Greek took place. This special show was headlined by Morris Day & The Time and Cameo. In total there were seven Funk/Soul/R&B groups all spanning from the late 60’s to mid 80’s all with major hits.
The show started with a DJ set at 5:30 P.M. and the first act was Club Nouveau. Due to the amount of artists and venue curfew, each group's set time was fairly short ranging from 15 minutes for the earlier groups to an hour for Morris Day & The Time. Each group was founded in all different parts of the U.S. After the DJ set Club Nouveau (Sacramento, CA) with all three of its original singers only played three songs ending with their biggest hit, a cover of Bobby McFerrin’s “Lean On Me.” The next group was duo Yarbrough and Peoples (Dallas, TX) performing their number one hits “Don’t Stop the Music, and “Don’t Waste Your Time.”
The Bar-Kay's (Memphis, TN) really set the bar for the rest of the evening. Formed in 1965, Bar-Kays have had over 30 charting singles and their song “Too Hot the Stop,” was the opening song of the hit movie Superbad. This really was a multi generation show with each group being founded between the mid 60’s to mid 80’s.
Before the Original Lakeside (Dayton,OH) took the stage, there was a short intro video with the theme song to the movie series Pirates of the Caribbean being their walk-out song. Lakeside hit the stage in their pirate attire performing “It’s All the Way Live.” Lakeside formed in 1969 and over 22 years had released more than 15 hit singles including the number one hit “Fantastic Voyage.” The S.O.S. Band (Atlanta, GA) was the 3rd to last group to play. From 1980-1991 S.O.S. Band released eight albums, three of which went Gold. To get the stage set for Cameo there was another DJ set.
Cameo (New York City, NY) was once a 14-piece band and from 2001-2016 took a long hiatus. Cameo had over 40 charting singles over 3 decades. And in 2019 released their first single in 18 years. Of Cameo’s 17 studio albums, eight went gold and one went platinum as well as three hit number one. Of all the Funk/R&B groups to emerge during the 70’s Cameo was one of the top. To get the stage ready for the final act Morris Day & The Time, 13-year old DJ Livia did an incredible set with her family Monster Kids who all performed on America’s Got Talent in 2016. DJ Livia has also performed for the likes of Kim Kardashian and Kayne West, opened for The Jacksons, Black Eyed Peas, performed on Ellen, and has amassed over 330,000 instagram followers.
Closing the show was the legendary Morris Day & The Time (Minneaoplis, MN). One of Prince’s greatest gifts to music was The Time and this year they celebrate their 40th anniversary. One of the greatest writing/production duos came from the Time which was none other than Jimmy Jam (keys) and Terry Lewis (bass). The group now consists of three original members Morris Day (Lead Vocals), Monte Moir (Keys), and Jellybean Johnson (Drums). The Time has been a part of pop culture since 1981 with their role in Prince’s Purple Rain (movie) and appeared in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and during the Grammys in 2017 performed along with Bruno Mars honoring the late Prince. The Time was also featured in the Grammy Salute to Prince in 2020.
Morris Day & The Time played a great set ending with their biggest hit “Jungle Love.”
This was an unforgettable night of legendary funk groups.
