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Live review: Morris Day and the Time
(David Weaver FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN)- Photos: 2010 Urban Music Festival
To anybody who dropped $20 — or $50, in the case of VIP tickets — for the Urban Music Festival based largely on the prospect of a lengthy show by headliner Morris Day and the Time, there’s really only one thing to say:
Sorry.
The organizers of the annual festival deserve full credit for putting on an event that ran (for the most part) smoothly and where the vibe was overwhelmingly relaxed and friendly, as families camped out in chairs savoring the music and enjoying the cool evening air. And Prince contemporaries and 80s hitmeisters the Time couldn’t have asked for a finer opening act than R&B crooner Joe — quite possibly the most generic one-word stage name of all time — who got an audience of thousands singing along. To judge by the faces in the crowd, when Joe sang that he wanted to “take you on a sexual journey,” more than a few were willing to go along, meaning that the audience was primed and ready for a rollicking performance by the famously entertaining Day, a consummate showman if there ever were one.
And as the clock struck 9:30 p.m. — the scheduled start time for, er, the Time — they waited. And waited. And waited.
When Day and the ever-svelte Time finally took to the stage an hour late, at 10:30, there was only enough time for them to tear through a four song set — consisting of “Cool,” “Get It Up,” “Wild and Loose” and “The Bird” — before running up against Auditorium Shores’ 11 p.m. deadline. That meant a set originally scheduled to run an hour and 15 minutes was shortened to a paltry 25.
In all fairness, the Time made the most of that 25 minutes. The band overcame an initially tinny sound mix with a blustering, theatrical live performance. Day had a rock-solid rapport with the audience — particularly in the call-and-response refrain of “Cool,” and when bantering with Jerome Benton during the famous “Bring out my mirror, I miss myself!” routine that’s become one of Day’s live trademarks. Live, the Time’s rock-influenced 80s funk jams are infectious, and it was encouraging to see the entire crowd at the Urban Music Fest rise from their chairs to dance to signature single “The Bird.”
But even the best filet mignon is underwhelming when there’s only two ounces of it, and a Morris Day and the Time show without “Jungle Love” seems roughly akin to a Kiss concert without “Rock and Roll All Nite.” The overall verdict? Good show, but the portion size was just too small.
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Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: Reviews, Urban Music Fest
Comments
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By kris baca
April 4, 2010 4:51 PM | Link to this
This was the most unorganized show I’ve been to in my life. I drove from San Antonio and payed $100 for vip seats to watch my favorite group The Time for 15 minutes. The band had to play 1 minute sniplets of songs just to end on time. It wasn’t the bands fault it was the idiotic promoters and stage crew. Thats ok you promoters got your money and you got one over on me for $100, but never again. I haven’t been screwed that good in a long time.
By Dissapointed
April 5, 2010 9:39 AM | Link to this
Travesty on auditorium shore. The music community of Austin were deprived of three of best acts in the music world. I have been to festivals nationwide (no not comparing to the great Funk Festival in L.A.). This was by far the worst managed performance I have ever witnessed in my life. The police and so called people who put this thing together do not realize how lucky they are to be in Austin. Not one act heard the the chant of MORE !!!. When Morris said you don’t have to go home but you gotta get the hell outta here, I couldn’t believe how quickly and quietly the crowd made it to the exit. Maybe you guys (people who put this travesty together should visit a real urban festival in say like Oakland,Baltimore, what the heck Houston. You will see that the price of taking up to 90 min. to prepare for the next act and the headliner only doing a 25 min. set can lead to some very disruptive behavoir. I guess the people in Austin are used to getting screwed,I on the other hand am not. I procrastinated since the first festival on attending, I am not saying I will never attend another, I know the festival was a financial success so the $200 I dropped that day will not matter. I just ask that next year when I read that all was wonderful,until then I say good luck and hope that something was learned from this.
By Dwayne Smith
April 5, 2010 10:54 AM | Link to this
The review was better than the concert. How do you make this a family friendly event and stop parents from bringing food and drinks in? Kinda dumb!! Do you think that we could afford to buy a drinks for 4 kids. We had to keep going back to the car to visit the cooler. Next year we wont come.
By D. Flem
April 5, 2010 6:31 PM | Link to this
to.urban festival organizers, thank you for a wonderful five years of this outstanding event. coming from the sf bay area, to austin in 2005,my fiance and i have been starving for r%b entertainment in the austin area.i am very distraught over the sound problems in the last two years, which put a damper on my enjoyment of this event, twenty minutes of the main attractions was just not enough, i truly hope that sound arrangements are taken care of, for next year event, anticipating a prosperous next year, thank you, D. Flem
By austinite #1
April 7, 2010 10:22 AM | Link to this
what a great lineup spoiled by poor sound. i love urban music and am glad austin finally has a festival devoted to it. lets hope next years show is trouble free.