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Home > Blogs > Arts and Entertainment > Archives > 2008 > August > 30 > Entry
O-H-I-O! Players, that is
KETTERING — The wait to hear Dayton’s pioneering funk band The Ohio Players give its first performance at Fraze Pavilion had to wait a little longer than expected Friday, Aug. 29, when first heavy rains, and then rain-damaged sound equipment, delayed the start of the much anticipated show.
While the influential group is a popular draw on the touring circuit, it rarely performs here, in the band’s hometown. Dayton’s United Way hosted Friday night’s concert as the kickoff to its annual fundraising campaign.
The arrival of a replacement soundboard at 10 p.m. enabled the 10-man veteran ensemble to take the stage by 10:20 p.m., raring to go.
Any remaining sound glitches got worked out as the group opened with an extended jam of “Skin Tight,” one of the original hit singles that helped launch the Players into the national spotlight in 1974.
And the hits just kept on coming, anchored by longtime members James “Diamond” Williams on the drums, Billy Beck on keyboards, Clarence “Chet” Willis on guitar and Robert Kuumba Jones on percussion.
“Jive Turkey,” also from 1974, came next, followed by the good-humored 1973 “Funky Worm,” featuring Beck’s vocals, silly-voiced intro and all.
A tight “Who’d She Coo?” featuring the group’s solid three-man horn section, followed, leading into a slow-grooved R&B medley, which concluded with a heartfelt “Heaven Must Be Like This.”
The tempo soon picked back up, however, with a horn-drenched “Sweet Sticky Thing,” an R&B chart-topper in 1975.
The rain delay prompted Fraze to ignore the neighborhood’s normal 11 p.m. curfew. Good thing, too, because the band was really starting to cook.
“You made us feel just absolutely wonderful up here today,” Williams, who has assumed leadership of the group, told the cheering crowd. “No rain can stop us.”
A soulful rendition of “I Want to be Free” segued into the familiar opening riff from the storied single “Roller Coaster.”
The popular song, which in 1975 topped both the R&B and pop charts, on Friday night featured a hot bass solo by Darwin Dortch and some extended improvisational passages by the horn section, before morphing into “O-H-I-O.”
The exuberant audience participation for “O-H-I-O,” including synchronized arm movements, was a highlight of the evening.
The show concluded with smoke filling the stage as the Players prepared to launch into their biggest hit, “Fire.”
But first Williams reflected on the song’s meaning.
“After 9/11, I thought differently about it,” he said. “I thought about what we should burn up. … Tonight, in our fire, we’re going to burn up hatred. Put it in the fire. We’re going to burn up segregation. Put it in the fire. Racism. Put it in the fire.”
The veteran musicians proceeded to burn up the place — metaphorically speaking, of course — before leaving the stage at 11:45 p.m.
Here’s hoping their next local show isn’t so long in coming.
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