Morris Day & The Time – January 23rd 2016 – Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino – Las Vegas, NV
Let’s get a few things out of the way to start: As a student who worships at the altar of His Royal Badness himself Prince, naturally I couldn’t help but be aware of who Morris Day & The Time are. However, I’m not a casual fan or observer – their importance to the Minneapolis music scene and impact on pop culture and just to the almighty funk in general is not only NOT lost on me, I celebrate it every chance I get.
Somehow though, after all these years I had still managed to NOT get my Jungle Love on live & in person with one of the funkiest groups ever.
I was about to change all that.
A couple of disclaimers however:
While yes, Prince wrote most/all of their early (& best) material & most casual fans would only need Morris Day there to try & relive their Purple Rain youth – Those that know will tell you that all seven members of The Time are crucial, essential parts of the puzzle.
Going into this, I didn’t know who was left – Years after lawsuits, acrimony and bitter feeling have clouded the waters between The Time and Prince, the band has continued to do their thing. Even after temporarily they had to stop using the name The Time, the reverted back to performing as The Original Seven.
That magical seven would be:
Morris & Jerome
Jellybean & Jesse Johnson
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis
Monte Moir
Besides Morris only Jellybean & Monte remain with this lineup being rounded out by Ricky “Freeze” Smith on bass & Torrell “Tori” Ruffin on guitar.
While original members have come and gone, this version of the band is capable and mighty of doing the classic material justice and adding their own spin to it.
The group took to the stage to a sonorous synth, turning their backs turned to the audience. Then Day came out in full zoot-suit regalia, diamond rings flashing, leading the band in Get Up then Cool – The act wouldn’t be complete without his valet bringing out a large mirror so he could wipe the sweat of his brow and primp.
One only needs to look to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’s Uptown Funk to understand the influence the band and its fearless pimp-suited leader have had on a younger generation. Day acknowledged as much when about midway through the hour-long set he said: “I can kiss myself I’m so pretty…where do you think he gets that stuff from, Las Vegas?”
His explanation for his profuse sweating was turned into a hilarious anecdote; he compared himself to a fine bottle of chilled champagne. “And what happens to a bottle of bubbly when it’s removed from a refrigerator? “It starts condensating from the inside out … ’cause it’s so cool inside!” he rationalized. Not many other performers can get away with that type of pomp and arrogance and make it sound so comical and believable.
At one point, he exited the stage only to reemerge in a white trench; taking it to sultry heights with Gigolos Get Lonely Too – His voice, honey-smooth, has held up wonderfully over the years. A lady was pulled from the audience who was willing to get a “little bit sexy and a little bit nasty.” This call was for an erotic guitar solo that later evolved into a gaggle of volunteers being pulled on the stage for a collective booty shake.
The set ended expectedly (& with great excitement) with their two biggest hits – The Bird and Jungle Love amongst much audience participation.
I myself, already dressed for the occasion in a custom three-piece suit as I was headed to the AVN Awards right after.
Sure, it wasn’t prime time, performing on prime real estate on the Strip but seeing Morris do the THE dance with his butler and landing the ‘gimme some skin” was still every bit as entertaining today as it was in 1984 when he so richly showed off his penchant for a good comedic bit in Purple Rain all those years ago.
Setlist
Get It Up
Cool
Shake it
Wild & Loose
Oak Tree
Fishnet Stockings
Jerk Out
Gigolos Get Lonely Too
Ice Cream Castles
The Walk
The Bird
Jungle Love
The Time proved that their time has definitely not come and gone and that they still know quite a bit about throwing a party. The schtick, comedy, and all-out funk, grooves and soul they sprinkle in there is icing on the big sexy cake they still serve.
