Chromeo has once again announced their Funk On The Rocks concert, but this time with a twist. The concert will return to Red Rocks for its sixth iteration on May 31 and will be headlined by Chromeo and Thievery Corporation both with full live bands in tow. Also joining the funk overlords will be Big Freedia, Adeline and Peanut Butter Wolf.
The upcoming edition is a return to form for Funk on The Rocks, that has seemingly gotten less funky over time. With previous headliners like Flume, ODESZA and Glitch Mob, Funk on The Rocks had gotten to a point last year where we felt like we needed to challenge Chromeo to actually make Funk on The Rocks about funk music. They even saw our review and promised they would heed our call.
With this most recent lineup, all signs point to Chromeo accepting our challenge, and for those who’ve yearned for an actual funky time a the amphitheater, the group has finally delivered.
Tickets for the upcoming performance go on sale this Friday, January 18 at 10 a.m.
But they really HAVEN’T listened at all. Yeah, it’s cool that they’re bringing a full band, but Theivery Corporate is more electronica, Freedia doesn’t do funk at ALL, he makes twerk music, and Adeline is more so pop than funk. She’s the closest thing to Chromeo on the lineup. Peanut butter wolf is cool but not exactly funk either. Seems like they want to keep it mostly about white acts and gimmicky acts rather than really keep it about funk. Because we all know funk music is black music. So for them not to get an actual black funk band on the lineup is weird to me. They could have had Zapp, Confunkshon, Cameo, Gap band, Dam Funk or even The APX. But they rather keep the narrative closer to poppy funk as much as they can. This is not a real funk lineup. Smh.
We understand what you’re saying, but this lineup is a massive step in the right direction. When you play host to acts like ODESZA and most egregiously Glitch Mob on a “funk” lineup, there’s something wrong. Hopefully, they continue to make it more about funk, as that’s what people come out for, and with this departure of a lineup, there’s hope that that will be the direction they head in.