Marin County Fair presents a Celebration of the Meters featuring Dumpstaphunk with George Porter, Jr.
Island Tent
10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael, CA 94903 USA
7:30 PM, Monday, July 4, 2022

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[7:30 PM] {performers out, let's get funky!}

1. [7:32 PM] ? (ND)
   {TH swap from bass to guitar}
2. [7:40 PM] Make It After All (ND)
   {TH swap back to bass}
3. [7:46 PM] Meanwhile (IN)
4. [7:53 PM] Do You (ND/TH/IN)
5. [8:00 PM] Where Do We Go From Here?
   {TH swap to guitar for the rest of the night}
6. [8:n PM] Justice
   {Add GP; drop ND, horns}
7. [8:16 PM] Cissy Strut » [8:20 PM] {ND back onstage} »
8. [8:23 PM] Soul Island » {horns back onstage}
9. [8:25 PM] ? “They don't see things eye to eye” / “like birds of a feather, we got to get together”
10. [8:31 PM] You've Got To Change (You've Got To Reform) » People Say (tease)
11. [8:37 PM] Funkify Your Life
12. [8:43 PM] People Say
13. [8:52 PM] Talkin' 'bout New Orleans
14. [8:55 PM] Hey Pockey Way
15. [9:01 PM] Fiyo on the Bayou
    [9:08 PM] {all done! Bows in front, then the guys head offstage}
    [9:10 PM] {PA up, then lights up; I guess we don't get an encore before fireworks}

Dumpstaphunk

• Nick Daniels III: 5-string bass, vox;
• Tony Hall: 5-string bass, guitar, vox;
• Ian Neville: guitar;
• Ivan Neville: keyboards, Hammond B-3 organ, vox;
• Mike Olmos: trumpet, harmony vox;
• Deven Trusclair: drums, harmony vox;
• Alex Wasily: trombone, harmony vox.

• George Porter, Jr.: bass, vox.

Our original plan for today is to leave home around 5:30 PM, but seeing that traffic is light on the holiday, we delay until nearly 6 PM instead. And as promised, the ride to San Rafael is quick and easy, but things change as soon as we turn onto Civic Center Drive: instead of rolling on into a parking lot, we're stuck in a line of cars, inching along slowly. It takes us 10 or 15 minutes to drive the last mile, looping past the fairgrounds and eventually finding parking in the Autodesk office park. Ugh! It turns out that this location brings a silver lining, as we're directed across a pedestrian bridge to a rear-entrance gate to the fair, where we sashay through with hardly a pause: far better than retracing that last mile in a walk back out and around to the main gate!

It's a mob scene inside – typical hub-ub of a big county fair – with plenty of distractions. On our walk across the fairgrounds, we stop for Ting to take a few pictures, arriving at the Lagoon Stage about 15 minutes before show-time. Just right for filling my water bottle at the hydration station and schmoozing with other folks who've arrived early!

The band is ready to go at 7:30 PM, and by the second tune, the crowd is up on their feet and the aisles are packed with dancers trying to get up closer to the stage. Party time!

At first I'm a little worried that George is absent, but soon enough I notice that the band is playing tunes off the latest Dumpstaphunk album: good enough reason for George to sit out. And once a bar stool is brought out and placed before the unused microphone in front of Ian, I know it's gonna be star-time pretty soon. Yay!

When George joins up, the repertoire shifts to classics from the Meters. It's fun to hear Dumpstaphunk's take on these tunes, particularly with the punch and roll of the horns. A good horn section makes everything more better, don't you think?

The show wraps up a little after 9 PM. No encore tonight, but I'm guessing that the band was paid to play a 90 minute set, so we probably got a bit of bonus without the theatrics of walking offstage and then coming back. Ting and I contemplate hanging around for fireworks, but the idea of being trapped behind thousands of cars on a one-lane exit road is singularly unappealing, so after saying goodbyes, we head for our remote parking spot, then hit the road.

The fireworks begin as we're leaving, so we get to see a few bursts … and the show is enough to mess up traffic on Highway 101 (distracted drivers are a menace!), but we make our getaway without too much trouble: back home in about 40 minutes: that's pretty ideal!

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

While we're waiting for Ting, enjoy this photo collection posted by our friend Chris!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2022 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2022 event list! ☸ On to the next event!