Review by Donna Erichsen
Photos by George Bekris
Grand Funk Railroad rocked the Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun. Yes, we all know it’s not the original band, but there will always be the Grand Funk of then and the Grand Funk of now. As someone who saw them for the first time in 1970, I came into tonight’s show with high expectations. Those expectations were met and frankly exceeded. I admit it’s not and never will be the same band selling out stadiums in the 1970s and that Mark Farner’s energy and sound is no longer part of the band. Singer Max Carl comes as close as I think anyone can.
Current Grand Funk members have long pedigrees and fan followings of their own so they sounded right and engaged freely with the audience. The band has fine-tuned the collection to give each member a small tribute to their roots, keep the mainstream “bread and butter” hits in the mix, and still come in at a little under an hour and a half. With 45 years of history, how do you pick a mix that can please everyone?
The night started out with “Bottle Rocket,” “Rock & Roll Soul” and “Footstompin’ Music.” Mid-concert was “Second Chance,” a tribute to Carl’s earlier days with .38 Special. Don Brewer threw down about a 10 minute drum solo that he pulled off flawlessly and was a crowd pleaser. Mel Schacher and Tim Cashion with “Inside Looking Out,” then Bruce Kulick coaxed his guitar through the electric version of the Star Spangled Banner. “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “The Loco-Motion” went over great and had fans up and dancing.
The Mohegan Sun Wolf Den is an intimate venue with only a couple hundred seats, therefore artists and audience interactions are easy. When Carl started with “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home),” it quickly turned into a sing-along. We all knew these songs because they are the soundtracks of our lives. The amazing thing is they are also the soundtacks to our kids’ lives. Truly ingrained in America’s fabric.
The encore of “We’re An American Band” had most of the crowd on their feet and enjoying the moment. This brought back the memories everyone has of blasting down the road, head banging the summer nights away, air guitaring the well-known notes of our youth. All in all, it was a very good night with a mix of old and new.
This is a Grand Funk Railroad that is still great, just a little different. Looking around the crowd, all I saw were happy and smiling faces. The band ended the night with a smiling, happy crowd. Hey, isn’t that what we all came out for? “Feelin’ good, feelin’ right, it’s Saturday night”
