Could anyone fill me in on this? About 10 years ago, a large funk ensemble (featuring Vernon Reid on guitar) performed 1999 in its entirety in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY. And the b-sides from that LP were the encore. Was anyone reading this there? Is there any official account or even (please, Lord) a recording of it?

i was only discussing this the other day-apparently it was masterminded by ?uestlove.

i would love to hear from more about this gig

jonylawson said:

That rings a bell. I also think that if Vernon Reid DID have anything to do with it, it was prob. a show sponsored by the Black Rock Coalition. I've sent e-mails to ?uestlove on his MySpace page and one to the BRC. I'll let you know what they say.

saltobello said:

cool-let me know please

Maybe I was too high, but I thought it was at BAM. Musiq tore it up. I could be thinking about a different show, but that's how I remember it.

pfunkpilot said:

No, I bet that's it. I didn't see the show just heard about it and would not be surprised if my resource was incorrect on some details. What do you remember about it?

whoa this sounds cool

Well, thanks to pfunkpilot's tip, I dug up this info, from Rolling Stone, 1999:

"The Brooklyn Arts Museum (BAM) ended its Next Wave Festival on Saturday and Sunday with a party fit for a Prince.| A diverse line-up of musicians performed The Artist's 1999 album. Children's voices played over the loudspeakers asking "Mommy, why does everybody have a bomb?" filling the historic opera house as the band, led by Living Color's Vernon Reid, took the stage. Reid and company played a slow, psychedelic version of "1999" as the audience anxiously awaited The Roots' Black Thought. Black Thought captivated the audience with original rhymes based on the 1999 theme. The only disappointment was that Black Thought took the mic for only a few minutes, and then disappeared back stage until his quick bow at the end of the show.
The other performances included a bluesy "Little Red Corvette" by Joan Osborne and a smooth spoken word rendition of "All the Critics Love you in New York" by Carl Hancock Rux. N'dea Davenport, former Brand New Heavies singer, mesmerized the audience with her divine vocals. Many of the musicians tried out their best Prince-like squeals, including songstress Angelique Kidjo, who also tried out her "Prince shuffle." PM Dawn's Prince Be took on The Artist's persona as well, by donning a purple velvet outfit complete with ruffles.

The liveliest acts of the night were Coati Mundi and Corey Glover. Coati Mundi left the audience wondering if he was really "delirious" as he entered wearing a straight jacket, jumped about the stage, and put on boxing gloves to "fight the demons." Former Living Color frontman Glover got the somewhat reserved audience to its feet as he squealed, danced, and ran through the audience singing "Lady Cab Driver." Another featured artist, Bilal, "enjoyed himself" as he thrashed, gyrated, and slid across the stage. Bilal ended his performance in a satisfied heap as only an "International Lover" can.

The last scheduled act was blues guitar woman Toshi Reagon, who began a soulful blues version of "1999" before the familiar "1999" synthesizers kicked in and the rest of the musicians began playing. The BAM opera house turned into a real party as the entire audience jumped to its feet and danced. Lurking side-stage was a mysterious man in black. Could it be HIM? Sorry kids, no appearance by The Artist himself. Instead, the man-in-black turned out to be Chocolate Genius, Marc Anthony Thompson, who ended the memorable night with an encore performance of "Irresistible Bitch.""

saltobello said:

great-thanks-would have been a good night out!