Besides doing some homework on the day of the show by listening to their online offerings I was not familiar with Five Alarm Funk. That took nothing away from this highly entertaining and engaging set of funk music at the Rivoli. All nine members brought it to the stage, although many did not bring their shirts (while others lost them along the way).
The band centered around the drum kit that was center stage and occupied by the most cheerfully silly man in the world. Surrounding him were a bongo player, two guitars, bass, an equally charismatic keyboard player and the brass section - sax, trombone, trumpet. As they played full fun funk music they added even more with choreographed moves ranging from as little as synchronized swaying to dipping and ducking and all sorts of things. It may sound cheesy but in the show it just added to the let-loose feel of the night. They even took it steps beyond with skits as song introductions, such as mocking music critics. becoming Latin zombies, and an inexplicable gorilla costume that equally inexplicably had the chest cut out. This is likely a terrible explanation of the performance to anyone who hasn't seen it before yet the show itself actually included all of this. And it worked.
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