The name George Clinton is synonymous with funk. George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic are scheduled to land in Eugene at 7 p.m. Sunday at the McDonald Theatre.
For the past three decades, Clinton has been the forerunner of numerous musical groups. He started the doo-wop group The Parliaments, then created the rock band Funkadelic. Through the years, various incarnations of these groups showed up as Parliaments, Bootsy’s Rubber Band, Parlet, The Brides of Funkenstein, Jimmy Jam & the Tackheads, George Clinton (solo artist), the P-Funk All Stars and finally George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic.
Nick Rossoff, security manager for the McDonald Theatre, has seen some incarnation of George Clinton ‘s group play more than 20 times.
“It’s a rotating cast of characters, and you never know who you’re going to see,” Rossoff said. “The concerts are long and loud.”
Like Clinton himself, the current group has a long history.
Rossoff said that Parliament/Funkadelic started out as a singing group called The Parliaments and a backup group called Funkadelic. The legendary Maceo Parker was in the group in the early days and part of the original horn section, Rossoff said.
Rossoff said that the more than 25-member group usually includes six or seven guitar players, two or three bassists, four horn players, three keyboardists and five or six back-up singers.
“It’s just crazy,” he said. “They play rock, they play funk, they play blues, they play jazz. They bring it together.”
Brendan Relaford, buyer for the McDonald Theatre, has also seen the group about 20 times and has been a fan of the group for as long as he can remember. He said that George Clinton shows are amazing because of the non-stop barrage of funk.
“It’s one of the best you can see,” Relaford said. “There’s a guy on stage in a diaper. Big guys dress as little girls. They get wacky.”
UO Cultural Forum National Music Coordinator Alexis Stevens has wanted to bring George Clinton to Eugene since she was hired last year.
“He’s the master of funk, you know,” she said.
Stevens recently saw Lucinda Williams at the McDonald Theatre and is excited to see George Clinton in that venue.
“It will be a really fun show,” she said.
Rossoff said that the venue can seat anywhere from 800 to 1,200 people when the seats are taken out.
“At George Clinton, there will be a lot of standing room,” Rossoff said. “We keep working on the room and the sound, and it keeps getting better.”
Rossoff said that there are several definitions of funk. It can be a funky smell or a funky attitude.
“He (George) likes to think of it as an attitude, a style. Being funky and free, free and funky,” Rossoff said.