I Got Funked in the Earhole by Orgone!

Words, Videos, Photos By: Bradley Darby

California funksters Orgone made a stop at the Old Rock House on Saturday night and brought along some friends from Chicago known as The Right Now to support them. It is safe to say that things got a little funky at the Old Rock House on Saturday night, just ask the break dancers or the hundred or so people moving their body to the oh-so-sexy grooves that both bands laid out for three and a half hours.
Orgone also paid a visit to Vintage Vinyl on Saturday afternoon, setting up and playing a 30 minute set for a small gathering of people, some there to see the band and some just shopping for records with a soundtrack. I had the opportunity to record this intimate show, and you can check it out below.



Meanwhile back at the Old Rock House, an eight piece soul group known as The Right Now kicked things off. Vocalist Stephanie Berecz has an amazing, soulful voice that you would expect to hear on a R&B diva and grabbed the attention of everyone in the room by the start of their third song, that is, if her stunning looks hadn’t done so by the first. Backed up by her 7 piece band dressed in shirts and ties, sans the drummer, The Right Now took the crowd by storm. The horn section provided us with some choreographed dance moves when they weren’t tooting their own horns. The set included a Chaka Khan cover of “Ain’t Nobody” as well as a few standout tracks “Ain’t Going Back”, “I Am Who I Say I Am” and “Can’t Speak For You.” Their full length debut, Carry Me Home is available now....I picked a copy up at the show and I am very impressed, I look forward to seeing them again in the near future. Get more information at www.therightnow.com where you can stream a few songs and find plenty of into. You can also stream the full set here.

The Right Now

Up next was the eight headed uber-funk beast from the west coast, Orgone. Hailing from the City of Angels, Orgone is a funk/soul/afro-beat group that features six “regulars” as well as a rotating cast of as many as eleven additional musicians to help out. Always containing a rhythm section with drums, percussion and bass, as well as a horn section, keyboards, and guitar. Saturday they chose to go with an eight man lineup. They also brought along a very special guest in Nicki J. Crawford from Louisiana to provide vocals on a few songs. The energy this band can exude at one of their shows is unparalleled, and it can be seen in either guitarist Sergio Rios as he is constantly dancing around with his curly hair isn’t flopping around. As the first song started, a break dancing circle began directly in front of Rios, with around five or six dancers passing off the break dancing torch to one another. At time a drunk girl would stumble into the middle and attempt to dance, but not long after she would be run out by the break dancer as they continued to bust a move throughout the entire set.

Orgone

Orgone wasted no time jumping right into some filthy funk with “Mantanza” from their most recent album, Cali Fever. After “Its What You Do”, Sergio Rios addressed the crowd for the first time by saying “Whats up St. Louis! we have a lot of fucking love for St. Louis” and then he introduced Nicki J Crawford for the first time for “Funky Nassau”, from The Killion Floor, that featured a fantastic percussion solo by Stewart Killen. After one more song, “You Got to Give It Up”, Crawford left the stage and the rest of the band played one of my personal favorites, “Hambone” as well as “Sweatshop.” Just under two hours after they set sail on the journey that is an Orgone show, they ended the set with a song that included no horns, a nice change of pace, and it sounded just as good as the rest.

Watching Orgone jam out some soulful funk while just feeding off of each others energy is an experience. I would highly suggest you check them out if given the opportunity. You can get more information on Orgone by checking out their website www.orgonespace.com

Orgone Setlist


The Right Now Setlist