I've always loved the Time (the original 7)

I believe the shows/direction need a total reinventive facelift

If you were in charge of their setlist / stage design / tour manager

what would you do to take the Time to the next level?

1. a stage backdrop like a mix of Sign o the Time and the Times earlier 'on the corner' scene

.

2. a new setlist including music from the Time 1981-1990 + Condensate and some 'Prince' songs mixed in: Party Up, Uptown, Pop Life, Let's Work, Trust

.

3. 'guest' artists shows with songs mixed in with Time w/Sheila E (Jill Jones) perform A Love Bizarre, Erotic City, Shortberry Strawcake, Cindy C, Movie Star, Baby I'm A Star, Can U Help Me, Housequake,

mix in some Jesse Johnson: Can U Help Me, Crazy, Special Love, Free World etc

.

Morris & Jesse should break out in ruffled shirts when doing some Prince songs

.

do a show with a more Rock driven sound

[Edited 10/8/14 9:35am]

I would also somehow get Morris Day on the drums whether playing back up to Jesse or leading a song from drums

This would be an easy job. These guys have been playing shows for 20 years as if they only had 2 big songs.

However, it seems to me that Prince has a love hate relationship that leans more towards hate.

I always thought it would be funny if they ran around with slave written on thier faces.

If Prince would let them be:

You would always have an encore of "The Bird" and "Oak Tree" or "Black Cat"

Play 2 or 3 of their best songs from their original records. Play one of Jesse and a couple of Morris.

Let these guys show their range on different nights, would be great.

Throw in some of Jam and Lewis. I always thought it would be cool to get a female voice with The Time backing them and I always considered that to be Janet Jackson.

Play the three songs off GB. Mix in Jerk Out and Chocolate and another two from Pandemonium. I agree do a Prince song here and there.

Finish up with different Condensate songs, would this be a concert one might pay $50 to see?!

This show has about 20 strong songs that I would have a good time listening to and watching.

scs2000 said:

This would be an easy job. These guys have been playing shows for 20 years as if they only had 2 big songs.

However, it seems to me that Prince has a love hate relationship that leans more towards hate.

I always thought it would be funny if they ran around with slave written on thier faces.

If Prince would let them be:

You would always have an encore of "The Bird" and "Oak Tree" or "Black Cat"

Play 2 or 3 of their best songs from their original records. Play one of Jesse and a couple of Morris.

Let these guys show their range on different nights, would be great.

Throw in some of Jam and Lewis. I always thought it would be cool to get a female voice with The Time backing them and I always considered that to be Janet Jackson.

Play the three songs off GB. Mix in Jerk Out and Chocolate and another two from Pandemonium. I agree do a Prince song here and there.

Finish up with different Condensate songs, would this be a concert one might pay $50 to see?!

This show has about 20 strong songs that I would have a good time listening to and watching.

I was also thinking Janet Jackson

Get Jill Jones too and that would be some cool female vocals/connection

I agree, the set is too narrow. They really need to break out of that usual performance. When they get together the Time is electric. Maybe bring on the other guitarist to back up Jesse

donnyenglish said:

Play stuff from condensate.

ditto. best album to date. They gave up on it before it even came out

trax said:

donnyenglish said:

Play stuff from condensate.

ditto. best album to date. They gave up on it before it even came out

With the exception of Morris playing the drums ( which he was gonna do and Jellybean was gonna play guitar on Black Cat but for whatever reason it did not happen), the fellas pretty much did that in the Las Vegas '08 run there are full reviews posted in the archives on this site, they even played "See Thru" which was left off of "Condensate" and there was also talk of the fellas taking promo pics with clocks on their faces during the name use debate to mock Ol' Uncle P, I would never want to see the fellas cover Prince songs ( don't go there with that's all they'er playing now jokes either, y'all know what I'm taling about), but the "Let's Get Crazy, Let's Get Nuts'" chant would be cool right before going into "Skillet". What's good Hollywood, Manray 10, & Rhastus, Peace

Debating whether I should comment on this or not.

Rhastus said:

Debating whether I should comment on this or not.

Well I hope you're not thinking that inserting a bunch of Prince and associated artists material is the way to go....heaven forbid.

eyelikefonkymuzic said:

With the exception of Morris playing the drums ( which he was gonna do and Jellybean was gonna play guitar on Black Cat but for whatever reason it did not happen), the fellas pretty much did that in the Las Vegas '08 run there are full reviews posted in the archives on this site, they even played "See Thru" which was left off of "Condensate"

I wanted to see these shows and I'm sure they were what we are probably talking about.

Now that I know I will look it up some write ups of these shows.

Talking crazy but what would Time fans do if they could get a DVD/live cd of the Vegas perfromances?

Put the OG 7ven BACK 2gether & have Them play the hits as well as MORE from "Condensate"!! When I saw them 11/5/11 @ State Theater in Mpls., they played the "Hits", but only "Trendin" from the Condensate project. But 2 even get a "Full-Time" back 2gether, U gotta get rid of "Part-Time", which i sense Morris Day is unwilling 2 do since He has more control.

Ok This is the Time. They don't need to be doing Prince or anybody else's material. The one exception and I think it would be hilarious is if they did Party Up and Morris went around saying who wrote that.

As Far as them doing the solo material of the individual memebers. They did that in Vegas in 08 and it was awesome. Vegas was for them and the die hards. Most people who go just want to see Jungle Love and The Bird and see somebody bring Morris the mirror.

Nobody but me is gonna care if they play Sick or if I was yo Man. I'd love to see some more of Morris's solo material off his first two albums and I don't wanna leave you. That seems to be a song alot of people would like to see live.

From the Archives Vegas 08

I went and saw the Time at the Flamingo hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 24, 2008. This was my 4th show this year, my 40th over all and my first with all the original members.

This story starts as it often does with my trip to the show. I had to fly this time and I've only flown two other times in my life before this so I was definitely apprehensive about it. If a certain "cousin" of mine wouldn't have kept calling me telling me "don't you miss Vegas" I might not have gone. Anyway. I flew out of Pensacola around 6 p.m. Monday evening. Switched Planes in Houston and arrived in Las Vegas around 10:30 p.m. Monday night. I took a cab to the hotel and after I checked in I called a couple of the fellas. Unfortunately, all I got was voice mail so I decided to take a walk down the strip by myself.

I heard The Walk playing so I went to investigate and there was a cover band playing Time tunes. Something I had never seen before. I stayed and watched the end of their set and decided to leave when the Prince impostor came out and started to play Purple rain. After that, I grabbed something to eat and headed back to my room to conclude a rather uneventful first night in Vegas.

Saturday I got up and made a few phone calls to get the low down. I then got some breakfast and wandered around the casino. I saw Morris in the lobby waiting for his ride and talked to him while he waited. A little later, I bumped into Jellybean and caught up with him. While I was talking to him, Terry came by. Bean introduced us and I was talking to him when Monte and Jerome showed up. They were going to eat and invited me to tag along so I had lunch with Monte, Terry and Jerome. After that, Jerome and I hung out for quite awhile. It was so good to catch up since I hadn't seen him in person in over a year and a half. We bumped into Jimmy Jam and his family in the lobby. Jerome introduced us and it was nice to finally meet him.

Around 5:30 p.m the band had a sound check and I was invited to tag along. This was the first time I had ever seen Jesse Johnson in person and I was just amazed by the blues licks he was throwing out there just tuning up. Finally the band decided to run through a few numbers. The first was Cool and then The Skillet. This was one of the Coolest things ever, aside from sound people, I was the only person in the room. I was front row center, my own private Time concert. Morris actually came down and asked me how it sounded while the band was still playing then he would go to different areas of the venue to see how it sounded. When they did the Skillet, I thought I was going to die. They have been playing it live the last few years, but they cut it off before the solo. When Jesse kept going and did the full version, my jaw dropped to the floor. Jellybean told me later the look on my face was priceless. That right there alone was worth the trip, but man o man, that was just the beginning.

The band went to change and get ready for the show. I came back to pick up my VIP ticket. They were giving me problems at first, but eventually I got my ticket and found my seat in a booth near the front. There were several celebrities in attendance. Johnny Gill and Barry Bonds were one booth over from me. George Wallace and Kevin Smith were also in the house.You could hear Jesse tuning up behind the curtain. Finally the moment everybody had been waiting for was upon us.

Here is the Line-up
Morris Day- Vocals and Cool
Jerome Benton-Valet, Dancer, background vocals and general mischief maker
Jimmy Jam-Keyboards and MC
Monte Moir-Keyboards and lead vocals
Terry Lewis- Bass
Jellybean Johnson- Drums
Jesse Johnson-Guitar and lead vocals

Here is the set list with my ever insightful comments to follow
1. Intro
2. Get it up
3. Cool
4. Girl
5. Wild and Loose
6. 777-9311
7. The Stick
8. Blondie
9. My Drawers
10 Fishnet
11. The Oak Tree
12. Jerk Out
13. The Skillet!!!!!
14. Be Your Man
15. Can You Help Me
16. Free World
17 If you were here tonight- Monte on Vocals
18. What have you done for me lately?
19. Black Cat
20. See Thru-NEW SONG!!!
21. If the Kid can't make you come
22. Ice Cream Castles
23. Gigolos get lonely too
24. The Walk
25. The Bird
Encore
26. Jungle Love

WOW. This was probably the longest show they have ever done both song wise and total length of the show. It was at least 1 hour and 45 minutes long. The show started with the band playing and Jimmy Jam introducing all the members of the band. They then went back to the beginning with Get it up as the opener. The Keys were incredible. The addition of Jimmy Jam and the old school model keyboards they were using gave it that sound you got when they first did it back in the day. Next was Cool with Jimmy and Monte switching and playing each others keyboards. Morris and the band then gave a lesson on the half beat. They started with the one and a half, then the 7 1/2 and then the 11 1/2. That shit was funky as hell. Girl followed which was nice to see as it is my favorite ballad by the group. Wild and Loose brought the tempo back up and this was definitely a party. 777-9311 was next. Jesse was getting some feedback in the beginning, but by the time he got to the solo he had it fixed. The solo was to die for. I'm sure my jaw dropped again.

The Stick kept the funk rollin' and again the keys were just incredible. Jesse went off on Blondie with Jerome supplying the backing vocals. The rockin' continued with My Drawers and I was a happy camper indeed. Jerome came to the center of the stage for Fishnet doing what he does best gettin' the audience hyped. The man can definitely work a crowd. The Oak tree and Jerk Out followed.

This next section was the highlight of the show for me. The band launched into the Skillet. I can't even describe it. Morris left the stage to let Jesse do his thing and he certainly did. When he hit the solo, my big toe shot up in my boot(well actually my Stacy Adams) As incredible as the sound check was, the show version was even better. At the end of it, he launched into some straight up Hendrix riffs off the Cry of Love album, might have been In from the storm, but I'm not 100% sure, but what ever it was it ruled. Jesse was playing this funky ass rhythm and then did the OH, OH,OH from Be your man. I about died for the the billionth time today. This was power trio time. Jesse, Terry and Jellybean. No Keyboards. After a few verses they then went into Can You help me. You gotta be kiddin' me. Just when I thought I could take no more they went into the chorus of Free world. The audience got on its feet and I was pleasantly surprised they got such a reaction from a B side. Jesse left the stage for a well deserved break

Jimmy Jam fell back into the roll of MC and introduced Monte. Monte then sang If you were here tonight, the song that he wrote for Alexander O'Neal. Just in case you didn't know, the man can sing. Jimmy then talked about some of the things that they produced and the lovely Hedi Marie came out and sang What have you done for me lately. Jam introduced the next song that Jellybean originally wrote and played guitar on Black Cat. Bean stayed behind the kit and Jesse just kept tearing that shit up. It was very Cool to see all the members acknowledged for their work outside the band

A new song by the Time? 18 years of waiting and it was finally here. A funky little number called See Thru. Morris had some eye candy to help with the song. Three smokin' hot chicks from the X rated show thats also going on in the casino. Nice. if anybody doubted if they could come up with anything new and exciting, I think those doubts were smashed after this performance. Now normally I cringe at this next part, but Jesse was playing some serious Blues Licks during if the kid can't make you come, The blond that got pulled up there to dance with him really got into it as well. Ice Cream castles was next followed by Gigolos get lonely too.

The Bird started and Jerome went and got Johnny Gill, Barry Bonds and Kevin Smith to join the rest of the crowd on stage. Too Cool. The band left the stage, but came back later to close it out with the encore of Jungle Love. Can I say it again WOW, Double WOW. This was hands down the best concert I have ever seen and I've seen just about every Cool band there is to see. This is it right now. If you can make it out there, you need to take the trip to Vegas and see history in the making.

I went backstage after the show and it was packed with family members and friends of the band. Johnny Gill, Barry Bonds and the blond that got on stage were all hanging out as well. The band went and did a meet and greet after the show so we all just kind of hung out and visited waiting for them to return. I meet my Man JD and his lovely wife before the show and we spent the time backstage telling stories about other times we had seen the fellas. The fellas finally came back we took pictures and got autographs. I finally met Jesse and he is just the Coolest , laid back dude you ever want to meet. I got him to sign my Pink Be your Man 12 inch single. Kick ass!!

Everybody went there separate ways after that. I went and changed clothes after that and met Jellybean and Monte down in one of the bars. It closed at midnight so we made our way to another one and had a good ole time. Monte left after awhile, but Bean and I closed that place down. The perfect way to end a perfect day

Rhastus said:

Ok This is the Time. They don't need to be doing Prince or anybody else's material. The one exception and I think it would be hilarious is if they did Party Up and Morris went around saying who wrote that.

As Far as them doing the solo material of the individual memebers. They did that in Vegas in 08 and it was awesome. Vegas was for them and the die hards. Most people who go just want to see Jungle Love and The Bird and see somebody bring Morris the mirror.

Nobody but me is gonna care if they play Sick or if I was yo Man. I'd love to see some more of Morris's solo material off his first two albums and I don't wanna leave you. That seems to be a song alot of people would like to see live.

I gotta be honest though. When the Condensate project fell apart I was crushed and I still don't think I've gotten over it. I know how badass the fellas are and it really hurts.

OldFriends4Sale said:

I've always loved the Time (the original 7)

I believe the shows/direction need a total reinventive facelift

If you were in charge of their setlist / stage design / tour manager

what would you do to take the Time to the next level?

Change up the entire show. It's the same exact song and dance. Nothing has changed with Morris Day and the Time but time. This isn't 1984 and Purple Rain was 30 years ago. It's not even about getting the original band back together because that went nowhere. Just change it up. Please.

Rhastus said:

Ok This is the Time. They don't need to be doing Prince or anybody else's material. The one exception and I think it would be hilarious is if they did Party Up and Morris went around saying who wrote that.

As Far as them doing the solo material of the individual memebers. They did that in Vegas in 08 and it was awesome. Vegas was for them and the die hards. Most people who go just want to see Jungle Love and The Bird and see somebody bring Morris the mirror.

Nobody but me is gonna care if they play Sick or if I was yo Man. I'd love to see some more of Morris's solo material off his first two albums and I don't wanna leave you. That seems to be a song alot of people would like to see live.

Movie Star would be cool because it's about Morris Day, Baby I'm A Star are so egotistically Morris

It doesn't seem too likely that Morris will change much about the shows. I'm not sure he really needs to, except to freshen things up and give those of us that have seen them lots of times a new experience. If I could change things I would add Appolonia and/or Jill Jones to the band for some shows and bring back Jerome Benton.

funksterr said:

It doesn't seem too likely that Morris will change much about the shows. I'm not sure he really needs to, except to freshen things up and give those of us that have seen them lots of times a new experience. If I could change things I would add Appolonia and/or Jill Jones to the band for some shows and bring back Jerome Benton.

But your reply is why he needs to,

OldFriends4Sale said:

funksterr said:

It doesn't seem too likely that Morris will change much about the shows. I'm not sure he really needs to, except to freshen things up and give those of us that have seen them lots of times a new experience. If I could change things I would add Appolonia and/or Jill Jones to the band for some shows and bring back Jerome Benton.

But your reply is why he needs to,

I've skipped some recent shows because I know it will just be the same old thing. I miss Jerome and the banter between he and Morris. But they do a lot of ribbon-cutting type gigs now, and, tbh, their setlist is probably perfect for that. I would like to see a show that draws more on their status as Prince protoges and the Purple Rain era. I think they should do more to appeal to Prince fans and collectors, but more than likely, Prince wouldn't like it, and that's probably why they aren't doing it.

funksterr said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

But your reply is why he needs to,

I've skipped some recent shows because I know it will just be the same old thing. I miss Jerome and the banter between he and Morris. But they do a lot of ribbon-cutting type gigs now, and, tbh, their setlist is probably perfect for that. I would like to see a show that draws more on their status as Prince protoges and the Purple Rain era. I think they should do more to appeal to Prince fans and collectors, but more than likely, Prince wouldn't like it, and that's probably why they aren't doing it.

There is nothing like the original people that were there during the times.

I remember when Eddie M starting playing with Sheila E again, the energy just went up a few more notches.

Isn't Jerome doing some kind of 'mini musical' thing. Which is also why he isn't with the Family/FDeluxe?

I agree, take advantage of the protege status. Have fun with that 1981-1984 period, do some shows with Sheila E, call up Brenda Bennett-Jill Jones, etc

I don't think Prince would mind it. Nothing he can do about it really.

I think one reason Jellybean is probably more committed to FDeluxe is that the creativity is more open. I think Morris should expand his shows to him playing percussions. And I do think they should do some 'Prince' songs that fit with their image: Pop Life, Uptown, etc

babynoz said:

trax said:

ditto. best album to date. They gave up on it before it even came out

great great album - love it, a lot

OldFriends4Sale said:

I've always loved the Time (the original 7)

I believe the shows/direction need a total reinventive facelift

If you were in charge of their setlist / stage design / tour manager

what would you do to take the Time to the next level?

I'd tell them to compose new songs and quit playing ONLY the same ol' songs they've been playing for the last 20 years!

Also IDK about the shows now but I saw them twice in 96 and it was disappointing to death despite my joy to be able to see them live: they just played the songs and kept them 3 or 4 minutes long, no extended 10 minutes jams when I actually expected nothing but extended 10 minutes jams, and honestly I felt no love for the material from any of them: they seemed more bored than anything else.

Ni disrespect intended, I love the guys, but if u're gonna be a nostalgia act at least do it the way George and the P-Funk Allstars do it and jam the ol' tracks to death.