MCTGeorge Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars will headline the spring W.I.L.D. concert, announced Team 31 Thursday night.
The announcement was made at the Cascada concert in the Gargoyle and Clinton will be performing at the biannual event on Friday, April 25.
No opening acts have been finalized at this time, according to Dione Drew, co-chair of Team 31.
The initial reaction of the crowd at the concert was mixed, with some shouting excitedly and many others wondering who George Clinton was.
Drew said that Team 31 booked Clinton a couple weeks ago and is very excited to host the funk music legend. However, she did note that the quality of the concert is directly proportional to Team 31’s budget.
“With the budget that we’ve been given, we’re doing the best we can,” she said. She mentioned that Team 31 cannot afford big names, “because SU cut our budget by $15,000 this year.”
Drew also noted that the inflatable couches which proved popular at last fall’s W.I.L.D. will be returning this spring, hopefully in greater numbers.
George Clinton has been a driving force in funk music since the 1970s when he started blending acid rock with more traditional R&B.
His band went through several incarnations, calling themselves alternatively Parliament, Funkadelic or some combination of the two. They now only perform live and go by the moniker George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars.
The band has featured such musical greats as Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins, but it is Clinton, with his raspy voice and outlandish hair, that has garnered the pop culture notoriety. It was the P-Funk All Stars who performed at the epic party in the Jeremy Piven film “PCU,” and Clinton has worked with artists as diverse as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Wu-Tang Clan.
Those students who were familiar with Clinton and his music seemed enthusiastic by the choice.
“That’s incredible,” said senior Adam Olansky. “Let’s say that it’s about time they got an old-school act.”
Other students were not sure who he was, but were optimistic.
“I’m really interested in seeing what he can do,” said sophomore Faith Steffen, who has never heard of George Clinton before. “I think he’s something new and different for W.I.L.D.”
Students can learn more about W.I.L.D. and Team 31 at wild.wustl.edu.
-additional reporting by Kat Zhao