“The funk party of the year” kicked off by honoring George Clinton, the pioneer of funk and leader of Parliament Funkadelic.
The P-Funk Festival was the first of its kind and was held at Phipps Farm all day April 11.
Clinton, a Tallahassee resident who will turn 85 in July, was recognized with a proclamation before the music started bumping.
The Amos P. Godby Band got things started, before Leon County Commissioner Nick Maddox read the proclamation in front of a crowd of dozens sitting in lawn chairs and holding umbrellas as they tried to beat the heat.
The proclamation stated “whereas, George Clinton is a pioneering musician, composer, and producer, whose visionary leadership of Parliament Funkadelic, defined the musical genre known as funk. reshaping the sound, popular music, and profoundly impacting multiple generations of celebrated artists… therefore, be it proclaimed by the Board of Leon County Commissioners of Leon County, Florida, that we do hereby recognize the inaugural P-Funk Festival and joining citizens of Leon County and City of Tallahassee in celebrating 85 years of Funk history. Honoring George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelics extraordinary contribution to music, culture, and artistic innovation.”
Other elected officials and candidates who attended included Leon County Commissioner Rick Minor; PJ (Andres) Perez, candidate for Tallahassee City Commission; Talley Kaleko, candidate for Circuit Judge; and Second Judicial Circuit judge Lee Marsh.
Moments after Clinton was handed his award, Pharaohs of Funk took to the stage to get the party going.
The rest of the day was stacked with performances by musicians including Tallahassee native Kendra Foster.
As night fell, hundreds of fans began to fill-in as close to the stage as they could as the time drew near for the legendary George Clinton to take the stage.
Clinton’s stepdaughter, Scottie Clinton, performed to songs with her dancers dressed in neon apparel.
Thurtdelic played some head-banging beats with a guest appearance by Clinton to help hype up the crowd.
Donned in a gold mosaic vest and matching captain’s hat, Clinton got the crowd to bob up and down.
The crowd eagerly awaited Clinton’s headliner performance. Some shouted to Clinton “what are you going to do George?”
Clinton responded with “whatever the party calls for!”
The moment Clinton took the stage, the crowd was ready to get funky.
Clinton jammed out with Parliament Funk on the main stage as hundreds sang along with them.
See more photos at Tallahassee.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Our best photos of ‘funk party of the year’ and George Clinton
Reporting by Alicia Devine, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
