The Time got off last night, but first let me say this: The Fox theater was a little too stuck up for my taste; ushers kept telling people to sit down even as the band are asking people to stand up and dance. That was so stupid.

Anyway back to the show. They didn't hit the full super nova I wanted, but they did deliver. I thought the setlist was odd, but Morris and Jerome were phenomenal. They were locked in and as good as I've ever seen them. They haven't lost one step in all these years. Morris was funny and Jerome was busting splits like he was still a young kid.

Everyone I talked to seemed happy about the show. I can't tell you how satisfying it was to see the actual guys play and not the stand ins. I have to admit though Part Time was live as hell when I caught them in 1998 and this show did not have that same level of energy and continuity. Again it's the setlist. The best songs seemed to be cut short last night or missing all together and a lot of other songs played long. I wouldn't mind hearing "Mechanical Emotion", "Innocent", "Pandemonium", "Verbal Penetration", or some Prince songs throw into the mix if they aren't going to do long versions of the classic songs anymore. I want them going for the jugular, and at times they seemed a little too comfortable and safe up there to me.

Jesse Johnson's sound in the band is much more mature and sophisticated than I was expecting. He's very subtle, careful to play only what is needed and his guitar never hammers away at you or dominates the proceedings. Overall the band sounded more accurate and more gelled than Part Time, but somehow not as energetic. I can't get my thoughts together on that point, but that is as best I can explain it for now. I wish Terry Lewis had soloed.

Jesse's power trio mini-set was off the chain and Youtube clips can't do it justice. I did get a chance to tell Jesse how much I liked Verbal Penetration and he was cool simply saying thanks.

As good as The Time was, they probably got upstaged by Teena Marie though. That little woman took nothing for granted and funked it up like her life depended on it!! I forgot Detroit is Rick James territory too. Her band was tight and she brought the house down when she busted out SuperFreak. I guess she's going to have to play behind a curtain on if there any future dates with the band!

I'll add to this when I get more time.

When you say that they should´ve played "Innocent", are you talking about that Alexander O´Neal song or does the Time have an unreleased song called "Innocent" that I haven´t heard of yet?

Talking about the "more energetic" Part Time band .....maybe they are just more experienced and hungrier and in better shape than the original Time band, being on the road constantly in the past 15 or more years.

Surely the original band is always better simply because they are the original band but, realistically speaking, I don´t think that such enormously successful people such as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are still as hungry and energetic as they were in 1982. Maybe they´re just a bit rusty and need to do more shows to get back in shape, musically speaking (I´m not talking about physical fitness here ).

Do you remember the setlist? Did it differ drastically from the Part Time´s setlist?

KoolEaze said:

Do you remember the setlist? Did it differ drastically from the Part Time´s setlist?

Part Time included full versions of "Chocolate" and "Pandemonium" neither of which was played last night. They also played full versions of "Cool", "Jerk Out", "Girl" and "Wild And Loose". We didn't get that yesterday. But now that I think about it, on the Part Time show there was no opening act. Part Time probably had more time than the guys did last night. I can't remember the setlist completely from last night but it was essentially the same one Rhastus mentioned from the Vegas show I think. They played the song about taking away half and it was promising. That's at least one tight song for the new album.

I was there. Thought it was pretty C-O-O-L to see all the originals (yeah I was spelling with my hands with everyone else). Its the only reason I went...I certainly wouldn't have travelled from Canada to just see Part Time. So never having seen PT, I really couldn't make a comparison but it was the most fun I've had at a concert in a long time. Those ushers were a bit too stuck up though I agree. I would have tried to get on stage during The Bird but a beefy fellow was blocking the way so I decided against it. I was also surprised how many people left right before the encore. They hadn't played Jungle Love yet and you just knew it was coming even if they left the stage temporarily...but more room for me to dance. I must also have been the only person in the place who didn't absolutely love Teena Marie. Being a 90s kid, I didn't really know Jack about her but seeing as how she was supposed to be the opening act I think that hour and a half opening set of hers was a bit drawn out. It's like dang go headline your own show, but whatever.

Still, it was worth a two day excursion to Detroit. Would do it again in a heart beat.

KoolEaze said:

When you say that they should´ve played "Innocent", are you talking about that Alexander O´Neal song or does the Time have an unreleased song called "Innocent" that I haven´t heard of yet?

lol: ).

Talking about the "more energetic" Part Time band .....maybe they are just more experienced and hungrier and in better shape than the original Time band, being on the road constantly in the past 15 or more years.

Surely the original band is always better simply because they are the original band but, realistically speaking, I don´t think that such enormously successful people such as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are still as hungry and energetic as they were in 1982. Maybe they´re just a bit rusty and need to do more shows to get back in shape, musically speaking (I´m not talking about physical fitness here :

"Innocent" is basically Get It Up '85. lol Same basic groove only Jimmy, Terry, and Monte played it in a higher key, modified the bass and put Alex & Cherelle on lead & background. And you know after 30 years of playin hard people gotta understand if their fav bands don't roll as hard as they did back in 81'-83'. I'm not sayin they should slack on the music and show but if the boys are movin a little slower or playin your favorites a little different than the album verison so what? The way the biz is today we gotta support vets like Teena Marie and The Time while theyre still around

diamondpearl1 said:

KoolEaze said:

When you say that they should´ve played "Innocent", are you talking about that Alexander O´Neal song or does the Time have an unreleased song called "Innocent" that I haven´t heard of yet?

lol: ).

Talking about the "more energetic" Part Time band .....maybe they are just more experienced and hungrier and in better shape than the original Time band, being on the road constantly in the past 15 or more years.

Surely the original band is always better simply because they are the original band but, realistically speaking, I don´t think that such enormously successful people such as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are still as hungry and energetic as they were in 1982. Maybe they´re just a bit rusty and need to do more shows to get back in shape, musically speaking (I´m not talking about physical fitness here :

"Innocent" is basically Get It Up '85. lol Same basic groove only Jimmy, Terry, and Monte played it in a higher key, modified the bass and put Alex & Cherelle on lead & background. And you know after 30 years of playin hard people gotta understand if their fav bands don't roll as hard as they did back in 81'-83'. I'm not sayin they should slack on the music and show but if the boys are movin a little slower or playin your favorites a little different than the album verison so what? The way the biz is today we gotta support vets like Teena Marie and The Time while theyre still around

Hmmm... I don't think it was an age issue. I think it was more like the venue was snooty and supressed the crowd, the show was abbreviated, and The Original 7 are only kinda-sorta back together. It seemed to me like think there is still some internal politics in the band and it showed on stage. If you looked closely you could tell that they weren't one tight unit and that some want the band to represent one thing and some want it to represent another. I will say this it's probably time to drop the girls shake your azzs part of the show. I'm not saying don't be sexy but the woman in the tube dress was nearly 60 years old Friday night guys. You might want to think about having a little more class at this point in the band's history.

[Edited 6/13/10 9:24am]