Nearly half a century ago, a gleaming silver vessel descended from the rafters of a New Orleans arena and changed the course of American music forever. This summer, that same spirit of cosmic rebellion and rhythmic transcendence will reclaim its throne.
George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic are headed back to the birthplace of jazz, and they are not arriving quietly.
The iconic collective, widely regarded as the architects of modern funk, will headline a landmark set during the ESSENCE Festival of Culture at the Caesars Superdome, and they are hauling the Mothership with them. The more than 1,000-pound spacecraft prop, an artifact of one of popular music’s most audacious theatrical traditions, will make its grand re-entry into New Orleans airspace during a performance that promises to blur the line between concert and celestial event.
50 years in the making
The significance of this homecoming is not lost on anyone who understands the mythology surrounding Clinton’s empire. In October of 1976, P-Funk debuted the Mothership at what is now the Caesars Superdome, launching the P-Funk Earth Tour with a spectacle that audiences had never witnessed and have never forgotten. Fog machines, chrome suits, alien theatrics, and a relentless groove machine redefined what a live performance could be…