The Motet does so well in its home-court markets of Colorado and parts of the West Coast that getting the whole, swollen, funk- and jazz-tastic lineup out East usually requires a special occasion.

In this case, that occasion is the resounding success of Funk Is Dead, a funkify-the-Grateful-Dead concept that The Motet intended as a one-off — one of its annual Halloween interpretations, to be exact — but has taken on a life of its own thanks to fan interest.

It’s been the catalyst for finally bringing the band back to East Coast markets it rarely plays. The band has sold out every Funk Is Dead show so far, says drummer Dave Watts, and will finally bring the production to a short run of four East Coast shows – Philly, D.C., Baltimore and NYC – at the end of April.

A production, it is. The Motet’s membership has always been somewhat elastic in the 15-plus years Watts has been running it, and on top of the core – Watts on drums, Garrett Sayers on bass, Joey Porter on keys, Dan Schwindt on guitar and Ryan Jalbert on guitar – the Funk Is Dead shows also showcase Gabe Mervine on trumpet and Matt Pitts on tenor sax, and three vocalists: Kim Dawson, Jans Ingber and Paul Creighton.

Hidden Track caught up with Watts – a Boston-to-Colorado transplant who now lives north of Boulder in Lyons, Colo. — to hear about the Motet’s latest adventures, in Dead-land and beyond. (Of particular note for New York-based fans is that at following the NYC Funk Is Dead show, April 29 at the Highline Ballroom, least three members of the Motet will be also joining the last night of the Kung Fu residency at Brooklyn Bowl on Monday, April 30 – Watts and Porter with side project Juno What?! and Sayers as an announced special guest.)

HIDDEN TRACK: How did the Funk is Dead concept come about for you guys?

DAVE WATTS: Well we do this every year – cover music for Halloween – and typically it’s funk music from the ’70s and ’80s: Tower of Power, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, we did Michael Jackson one time. One of our favorite ones we ever did, though was Talking Heads. With that, the audience knows every song and gets excited and sings the material, and that’s exciting for us because the energy level jumps a couple of notches. With Earth Wind & Fire and Tower of Power it’s great but it’s a handful of stuff that we love and no one really knows, so we were looking to see what group would be ubiquitous, with the audience recognizing all the material. The Grateful Dead seemed to be part of that.

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This installment of Cover Wars was penned by Pete Mason of PhanArt.net fame. Pete wrote the book on PhanArt, literally, and also co-authored the PhanFood Cookbook.

Life During Wartime by The Talking Heads (not to be confused with the Pinhead Gunpowder punk song, or the 2009 movie from Todd Solondz) provides a view of NYC living in the late 1970′s as a metaphor for those who were living in the Big Apple during the Second World War. Lines such as “The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I’m getting used to it now” and “I got three passports, couple of visas, don’t even know my real name” are near apocalyptic in their emotional provocations.

The refrain is catchy and memorable, sung with enthusiasm by crowds, “This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around … I ain’t got time for that now.” Seen in Stop Making Sense, the song has joggers in ’80s era wardrobe dancing behind the rubber-legged David Byrne. Life During Wartime is a powerful song and seems to bring out a strong performance from the groups that play it in concert.

The Contestants:

Artist: Widespread Panic
Live Video: 7-28-2008
The Skinny: One of the more well-known covers of Life During Wartime comes from Widespread Panic, a band heavily influenced by Talking Heads. John Bell’s gritty voice, as well as the band’s rocking throughout the song, create a dance frenzy and increases the energy of the crowd when placed in the second set.

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Once again we’ve got an all-video edition of Intermezzo as we highlight some of the memorable moments that took place both on Halloween and over this past weekend.

Let’s start with Z-Man’s video of Widespread Panic covering Outta Mind (Outta Sight) from the encore of the jam titan’s Halloween show along with Postcard, Porch Song and a fun version of Werewolves of London featuring the entire crew…

Widespread Panic – Outta Mind (Outta Sight), Postcard, Porch Song, Werewolves of London

LazyLightning55 gives us our fill of HalloWeen with this Goin’ Gets Tough From The Getgo from Ween’s show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City…

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Words: Alexander Wolff
Images: Jason Woodside

Denver is one hell of a place to be a live music fan on New Years Eve. With multiple acts that have big draws setting up shop for more than one night, one has choices. Quite a luxury indeed! So, with Widespread Panic and STS9 both having headlined multiple-night runs in town, you are surely wondering what else went down around Denver on the last two nights of 2010.

[All photos by Jason Woodside]

East coast experimental Americana outfit Railroad Earth was booked for three nights at the Ogden Theater leading into the start of 2011. The group wound up playing four after announcing a January 1st performance during the show on the 30th. That night, the first set started off with a bit of a lull, the band having selected slower numbers that were lacking in any sort of extended improvisation, albeit tightly executed. Both the first exploration of the night, as well as the highlight of the show came in the form of a swelling, spacious jam out of Head that they pushed with a four-on-the-floor rhythm to a nice peak before bringing it home.

The second set did not disappoint, as the band came out hard with a guest vocalist for Mighty River and Peace on Earth, and a rocking double-fiddle jam in Reuben’s Train. Out of 1759 came an extended jam setting up the segue into Seven Story Mountain, and they kept the energy going through the rest of the set into the encore. A solid showing.

The Motet, one of Colorado’s best kept secrets, played to a sold-out crowd at Cervante’s Masterpiece Ballroom on New Year’s Eve; now that sounds like a party. Before The Motet would bring the funk parade to the dance floor, there was an interesting set of music to get through first. Boston roots-reggae act John Brown’s Body played a wonderfully impressive set of music. With their thick dub lines, syncopated horns, spacious improv and tight vocals they got the dance floor kicking and skanking. READ ON for more…

My favorite set from Jam Cruise came from The Motet plays The Talking Heads featuring all-star musicians Dave Watts, Fuzz and Carrie, Kyle Hollingsworth, Joey Porter, Liza Oxnard and Paul McDaniel. Check out their version of Life During Wartime filmed on the Pool Deck at Jam Cruise 8…

Motet plays The Talking Heads – Life During Wartime

The Motet were joined by SCI keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth for Girlfriend Is Better during their Music of the Talking Heads shows…

The Motet – Girlfriend Is Better