Parliament-Funkadelic, the musical collective headed by funk pioneer George Clinton, landed the mothership back in New York City on August 22 at the Palladium Times Square for a groove-filled evening of dancing and laughter. The legendary bandleader, songwriter, and vocalist was joined by an eclectic cast of all-star musicians that included longtime members Michael “Kidd Funkadelic” Hampton on guitar and bassist Lige Curry, alongside members of the Third Generation of Parliament (3GP) that includes Clinton’s stepdaughter, Scottie Clinton, and vocalist Thurtdelic, who just released his latest album, “Psychedelic Therapy.” The group performed a career-spanning setlist of hits, fan favorites, covers, vamps and jams that interweaved everything from rap to rock and roll under the funk umbrella.
George Clinton has led Parliament-Funkadelic through over six decades of musical innovation, pioneering a unique sonic brew that evolved as the times did and utilizing a revolving door lineup of collaborators and musicians that has included bassist Bootsy Collins, late keyboardist Bernie Worrell, and trombonist Fred Wesley. This year marks 50 years since the group released “Mothership Connection,” a landmark record that conceptualized Afrofuturism and solidified p-funk’s place in cultural history through their cosmic imagery, contemplative social humor, and unparalleled groove. The album included perhaps p-funk’s most recognized mainstream hit, “Give Up the Funk,” which has fueled dance floor mania and popped up in various hip-hop sampling for decades.
Photo by Johnny Knollwood
Michael “Kidd Funkadelic” Hampton, performing with George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic at Palladium Times Square on August 22. 
Greg Thomas, performing with George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic at Palladium Times Square on August 22. 
Greg Thomas, Michael Hampton and Thurtdelic, performing with George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic at Palladium Times Square on August 22.
On Friday night, Clinton and his collective performed “Give Up the Funk,” and lots of other hits that included songs like “Flashlight,” “One Nation Under a Groove,” and “Atomic Dog,” which kept audience members moving and singing along to the unifying funk anthems. Seated for parts of the show, Clinton frequently rose to lead the audience in chants, claps, and hand waves, dropping bits of uncanny wisdom reminiscent of — and sometimes directly quoted from —- records like “Free Your Mind,” “Mommy What’s a Funkadelic?” and of course, “Maggot Brain.” Many of the group’s most recognizable compositions are open-ended by design, giving space to the horn players to develop and express new and exciting improvisational ideas on classic songs and allowing elements from totally different tunes from different eras to converge, like when the group initiated a chant from the 1970 song “Music for My Mother,” over a cover of House of Pain’s “Jump Around.”
The musicians onstage mirrored the music – wild, uninform, individualistic, free. Despite the range of musicians who performed onstage, and the variety of the music, all who “tore the roof off the sucker,” in the Palladium that night were united under the p-funk umbrella. While all is far from being well in the world, it might do us well to take a page from the p-funk handbook — listen closely — for we under George Clinton’s command are all “One Nation, Under a Groove.”