Insider View, Part 2
Five Can’t-Miss Picks for the Second Weekend of iFest
By Susan Darrow
April 22, 2010
The first weekend of iFest 2010 is in the history books, and plenty of you journeyed downtown last Saturday and Sunday to see high-energy sets by Ozomatli, Joe Ely, Marcia Ball, Mighty Diamonds, Eddie Palmieri, and the dozens of other performances and attractions spanning the 16-acre festival grounds.
1. George Clinton – The Ultimate Funk Master Returns to Houston
Do you want the funk? If so, the place to be on Saturday night will be the Bud Light World Stage, when the architect of funk, George Clinton, returns to iFest by popular demand. Expect a groove-filled evening of hits like “Flashlight”, “Do Fries Go With That Shake” and “Atomic Dog”. If there were a roof on Sam Houston Park, rest assured that Clinton would tear it off.
In tribute to King Sunny Ade, the legendary world music pioneer who was slotted to play immediately before Clinton Saturday night, Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic will be playing a special extended set Saturday. Sadly, King Sunny Ade has canceled his entire North American tour following the deaths of two members of his band in a car accident late last week. As a show of support and sympathy, Clinton and P-Funk will play a super-sized set dedicated to King Sunny Ade and his fans beginning at 7:30 PM Saturday (instead of 8 PM as originally planned).
Visit the iFest web site for the complete revised World Stage line-up for Saturday, which begins at 1:30 with a set by acclaimed pan-African dance band Emman LeGrand and the African Rythmix.
2. Guilty as Charged: Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women
On any given day, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Dave Alvin is likely to dazzle you with a blazing rock-and-roll show or delight you with moving acoustic storytelling – or both. “There are two kinds of folk music,” Alvin likes to say. “Loud folk music and quiet folk music. I play both.” A founding member of the seminal roots rock band The Blasters, Alvin has also played with both revered punk band X and the rockabilly group the Knitters. Alvin’s current touring ensemble features an all-star, all-female cast, the Guilty Women. They’ll appear at 8 PM Saturday night on the Louisiana Stage opposite George Clinton – and Clinton’s newly expanded set means you have plenty of time to check out both stages. Don’t miss this chance to hear one of the most important voices on the Americana music scene.
3. Shop ‘Til You Drop
We hate to see iFest 2010 come to an end, but there’s no more fitting conclusion than a set from one of Britain’s greatest reggae bands, Steel Pulse. The members of Steel Pulse, who got their start opening for the Clash and the Stranglers more than 30 years ago, drew inspiration from the spiritual and political roots-reggae of Bob Marley and Burning Spear. See this Grammy Award-winning band, featuring founding members David Hinds and Selwyn Brown, at 6:30 PM Sunday on the Bud Light World Stage.
The Houston International Festival rolls again from noon-10 p.m. Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25, from noon-8 p.m. For tickets, a schedule, a map, and more, go to ifest.org.
Darrow, currently in her 12th year (give or take) of working with the iFest team in some capacity or other, figures she’s been attending the Houston International Festival for at least 20 of the 40 years the festival has been around, which makes her feel pretty old.
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