P-Funk rounds out Fling show

Tickets will cost $15 Clinton is coming. No, not Bill. George, as in George Clinton and P-Funk. P-Funk will join the Roots, the Samples and Sonic Youth on April 22 for the Spring Fling concert, Fling concert planners announced last night. College junior Mike Parker, the co-director of the concert committee of the Social Planning and Events Committee, said he found it difficult to describe the band. "Ohhh. Aaahhaa. Ooo,ooo,ooo. It's impossible to describe them," he said. "They are the original funksters. Over the past 25 years they've been playing everything form Hendrix-style rock and roll, to funked out disco tunes." Fling Co-Director and Wharton junior Gil Beverly was equally troubled when asked to describe the band. "P-Funk. By the name, they're funky," he said with a chuckle. "Their sound is based on a lot of funk, a lot of funk guitar and a lot of strong rhythms. They're hard to describe." Lead by "high priest and ring leader" Clinton, P-Funk has 18 musicians, Parker said. Using every musical medium -- from vocals to horns to guitars -- the band is known to play for hours straight, often drawing single songs out for 15 minutes. Over the years, P-Funk has released songs under various labels, such as Funkadelic and Parliament, to evade problems with record labels. Some of their more popular songs are "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)" , "P.Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Bop Gun" and "Flashlight." According to Parker, the band has recently regained popularity because rappers -- most notably Snoop Doggy Dog -- have taken background music from the funk band. And according to Wharton senior Haile Johnston, co-director of SPEC Concerts, P-Funk is probably the band that most influenced rap music. Although P-Funk is the last addition to the four-band ticket, Parker said it is by no means a lesser entity. "This band's stature is, in terms of record sales and all that, the biggest one of all those performing," he said. Wharton and College senior Vivek Tiwary, co-director of the SPEC concert planning committee, added that P-Funk will help to further diversify the Fling ticket. "There's really something in there to satisfy every musical taste -- except for maybe country or classical," he said. The concert -- which will be held, rain or shine, on Hill Field -- is projected to be six and a half hours long. The length of stage time for each group increases according to their position on the ticket. So, the Roots will play for about 45 minutes, then the Samples and Sonic Youth will play respectively for an as of yet undetermined amount of time and P-Funk will close with a two-hour performance. Tickets will be sold to University students with PennCards at the Annenberg Center for $15, and non-students may purchase tickets for $25 through Ticketmaster. All tickets are general admission and will be on sale during business hours starting April 3. About a week before Fling, tickets will also be available on the walk. Because the concert is so long -- it will start at 6:30 p.m. and end at 1:30 a.m. -- people will be able to come and go after their hands are stamped. Beverly was optimistic about the concert. He said he expected to sell over 1,000 tickets to students and between 5,000 and 6,500 to non-students and guests.

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