Dam-Funk @ Mission Santa Cruz

I’ve had the privilege of catching Dam-Funk live three times on Canadian soil. 

On the first occasion, he was a guest DJ at The Goods years ago. I barely knew of him at the time, and I don’t believe I saw his photograph on the Stones Throw website prior to the Goods performance. At the end of his set, I approached him and asked if he was Gary Pants. He smiled and told me he was not Gary Pants but Dam-Funk. Stones Throw Records fans will understand what I did. From that night, I never mistook Dam-Funk again. 

On the second occasion, the "Ambassador of Boogie Funk" DJ and producer made his second Montreal appearance at the now defunct Saints Showbar.

Unfortunately, I missed his performance at Le Belmont in October 2010 because of my pilgrimage to Mecca, the CMJ Music Marathon.

When I found out Dam-Funk was going to be performing on the opening night of Pop Montreal, I was prepared to not let anything stop me from attending. 

As I approached Rachel Street, I saw a cluster of people on the sidewalk and knew that was where I should head.  Familiar faces greeted me prior to my midnight entry into the venue. 

I walked to the stage and saw Dam-Funk apparently talking to a few technicians about the turntables and equipment. Those issues caused a slight delay in the progression of the performance but Dam-Funk more than made up for it. 

Dam-unk had the midnight movers around me dancing for nearly two hours. That Pop Montreal night was the most amount of time I have seen and heard Dam-Funk perform. As he is a master of boogie and funk of the early 1980s, I was expecting to hear slightly more songs I would not recognize than ones I would. Thankfully for me, and all in attendance who had a vested interest in knowing what they were grooving to, he spoke about the songs he played. My want list was introduced to a handful of new entries before his performance ended.

I was exceptionally thrilled to hear One Way’s "Give Me One Chance" during Dam-Funk’s set. I bought the album with that song on it twice this year with the hopes of getting the choice of playing a cleaner copy on The Suite Delight radio show someday soon.

Dam-Funk later performed what I believe to be one of his newest songs live. Pop Montreal has come and gone, but to check out his latest material, a quick browse at the Stones Throw website will bring you up to speed.