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The Time – The Flamingo Room –
They didn’t
let me down.
The duo
reached their zenith each night at the crescendo of If the Kid Can’t Make U Come – with Lewis ‘going to church’ while
Johnson played the blues. Likewise the big finish to Jungle Love (I gotta bear skin rug) shook the building with Jesse’s
large wavy resonations.
I recall
the following songs or snippets of songs being performed…
Get it Up. A first song that makes perfect
sense – although its impact would have been greater had the show started later
when more folks were tipsy. One disappointment for me was the fact that they
didn’t play the whole thing. To me – Get it Up’s fire comes near the end (Ahhhh
oh oh oh ahhhh). Plus I was really eager to hear Jesse solo which also is late
in the original tune.
I am not
sure of the set list order but I believe Cool
was next (incredibly funky all the way through the chants of “
Jerome
Benton is simply the best hype man in music. He was drawing oohs and ahh’s from
the audience for his spectacular dance steps. He still does the splits
(Locker’s style) with gusto and quickness! He was constantly in motion doing
all the signature dances with Morris Day in unison.
…777-9311,
The Stick, and Wild & Loose were all in there somewhere early. A mini rock n
roll segment was next with Blondie, The Skillet, and My Drawers. …Jimmy Jam serves as emcee while also playing keys. He
introduced “piano-man” Monte Moir (I learned – pronounced Moy-er, rather than
At this
point – keyboardist’s Moir, Jimmy Jam, and Morris exit the stage leaving Jesse,
Terry, Jellybean Johnson (drums), and Jerome for what I will call Jesse’s
segment. He leads into it by playing the solo from the end of Let’s Go Crazy
(Prince). Jesse then takes his time – finally settling into a wickedly nasty
bass, drum, and guitar only version of his own hits I Want to be Your Man, followed by Can You Help Me, and Free
World. I’m not sure everyone in room felt this part of the show but I sure
liked it.
Jam then
reappears to introduce his Grammy winning production partner Terry Lewis. They
run through What Have You Done for Me
Lately, and Black Cat – two
Janet Jackson songs. Signing both songs is Heidi Marie who suddenly appears
without introduction. (I thought it odd that they didn’t have Jam use his
considerable credibility to establish who Heidi Marie is before she comes on
stage.) She looked hot in a skin tight cat suit making Jesse blush as she
grinded against him during the Black Cat guitar solo.
A new song
“See Thru” featured a trio of
dancers from the X Burlesque show. Fantastic energy carried the throwaway party
song. Morris’ solo segment included Fishnet,
and the Oak Tree. Gigolo’s Get Lonely Too and Jerk Out were in there somewhere as
well.
The
interplay between Morris and Jerome is still an amusing part of the
performance. They clown heavily during Ice
Cream Castles when all the “sexy and a little bit nasty” women in the
audience are invited on stage to line dance. In the Wednesday show – Cherrelle
of Saturday Love fame was among the ass wigglers. Her rather large backside did
not go unnoticed by Morris and Jerome who kidded her – saying “I’m gonna tell
your momma”. …The show closes with The Walk (not long enough!), The Bird, and the aforementioned Jungle
Love as an encore. During the Wednesday show – NBA World Champion P.J. Brown
was among those on stage doing the bird.
Additional notes: I bumped into Jerome in the
elevator Wednesday afternoon and he was as cool, and as nice as you would want
him to be. He actually paused a phone conversation to chat with me – thanking
me for coming to see the shows. …