Coachella: Sly Stone is no ‘Hot Fun’
Kevin Bronson on
3
Who: Sly Stone at Gobi Tent Mojave Tent
In 3 Or Fewer Words: Sly very stoned.
I’ll Remember This Forever Because: Drugs are very, very bad. I realize the irony of saying this since I watched a big chunk of Coachella on painkillers this year. They were prescribed, but that’s splitting hairs. Drugs can destroy lives sure. But they can destroy legends, who simply should sometimes remain in the past. For everyone’s sake. The crammed-full Gobi tent waiting to see Sly Stone at 7 p.m. were placing bets on whether the funk legend was going to show. Then the hot-and-bothered crowd was greeted by a man who asked if they wanted to get funky – to which they responded with a deafening roar – only to be told the show was””˜postponed.” They let Sly know with a thunder of boos exactly what they thought of drugs. Hell no. Not today. Not on their funkadelic watch. The show was rescheduled, for 10:45 at the Mojave Tent (opposite Gorillaz on the main stage) … “maybe,” as the announcer cheekily added. Sly finally appeared onstage wearing a white wig, sequined jacket and the look of a lost soul on A&E’s “Intervention.” He doddered Ozzy-style around the stage, spun around in an Office Max styled leather chair and often forgot the keyboard riffs to his own songs. Stage hands and backing band members would come over to help him and he would wave them away like Hasselhoff eating a hamburger. Then he’d slump over in his office chair as the band stretched and hammed it up through a number with no vocals until he sprung to action again in spurts and fits (for renditions of “Dance To The Music” and “Hot Fun In The Summer Time”) only to peter off mid-song, and meander. He finally walked side stage into the VIP area, still singing, and kept walking backstage, never to appear again. I gotta give credit to the panicked backing band, who were sweating and working hard. They gave a go at performing “Thank You” as a final number without him, but at that point the crowd had dwindled. It was very Indio Courtyard Inn bar band. Minus the dignity.
What I’d Tell My Friend Who Was at Main Stage: Kevin Bronson owes me tickets to the next Gorillaz show.
– Ali McLean (Ali on the Air)
P.S.–A video has surfaced.
Well Sly did say “Fuck Rehearsals!” and clearly, he had the wrong idea.
In addition, I was lucky to see him around this time last year at Zanzibar where he was coherent, affable and energetic. He was on stage for forty five minutes, sang all of his lyrics, danced and even played a guitar to which his daughter exclaimed, “I’ve never seen my Dad hold a guitar let alone play one, ohmygod!”
So I’d like to think that he was suffering from heat stroke and lack of rehearsals because i’ve seen him put on a great show and last year he couldn’t even stand up straight he was hunched over like the humpback!
Well said!
I was surprised when I saw that he’d been booked at Coachella. I saw him in April 2008 at the House of Blues Sunset Strip, when he came on very late (no surprise), left the stage for long stretches at a time, including for the final time with the band still playing on stage and about 15 minutes until closing time. Fed up, I headed out to the parking lot, where I saw that Sly had beat me out there and was getting into a car. I figured word had gotten out from that show and no one would give him another shot. I retain my love of his music, but the man himself is a walking casualty of drug abuse.