“Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty is so big, it done gone & shook The Torch Club.”

As I crossed 15th Street, I could hear a hard-driven bass drum beat beckoning to me like I was part of a tribal homecoming. The front door was vibrating and as I pulled it open, the powerful explosion of saxophone, trombone, bass, keys and a rippin’ lead break wrapped itself around me, sucking me in. Oh yes, yes, yes – this was the real deal. Funk was bumpin’ da Torch Club.

Anything can happen in the Torch Club on a Wednesday night. In fact, if you looked at their weekly music schedule like a poker hand, Friday and Saturday is always a pair of Kings. Thursday night is a possible three of a kind, and Wednesdays are a wild card.  Tonight, was definitely on the wild side. Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, six mavericks ranging in age from 28-32, had taken the stage.

Traditional and Techno-laced Funk music was pouring out onto the busy dance floor. The crowd was mixed. The regular patrons and members of the Blues Society took their usual perches while three Hippie girls in tank tops and long skirts noodled on the dance floor. Four considerably older gentlemen (all very well dressed) stomped their own Funk into the floor in isolated parts of the club, like go-go dancers from the 70s. A group of suits from Chicago took their jackets off and ordered another round and two younger men from Houston Texas, who thought of checking out another club, decided to stay.

It was a circus of sound. I sat still, watching, as everything around me kept turning. People grooved between tables while a glittery sequined Asian girl got up on stage and danced with the band. Don, the bartender, squeezed the duck horn hanging from its ceremonial place above the bar. The sound was like a cherry on a very, VERY funky banana split. Everything and everyone was a different flavor but it all fit together when you put it on the spoon.

The members of the band are exactly the same way. Each one is from a different geographical area (Detroit MI, Newcastle AL, Lorenburgh NC, Florida, Virginia)  but they all now live in Asheville, NC. The Big Fat Booty Band has been around for 9 years and three of its original founding members, Greg, Al-Al and JP, are still dedicated to the same mission: bringing Funk to the people who love it. When I asked Greg how six people can produce such a massive sound, he said it’s because it all comes from the heart; that when you have six people who are all there for the same purpose, you get one result everyone wants. He also cited their countless hours of preparation and creative edge as a large part of their success.

The band travels back and forth across the country year round and lands in California two or three times a year. Much of their fan base is in Southern California where they recently were re-booked for a festival in Long Beach but they are excited to be making their way North more often. He asked that I mention how great it was to meet everyone who came down to the Torch Club tonight and that they appreciated the opportunity to be here in town.

I went outside and sat down on the cold cement bench, resting my back against the front wall of the club. It was quiet for a few minutes and I was enjoying the cool air. I closed my eyes and thought about how I was going to write this review. How do you explain traditional Funk?

The beat started again and the wall behind my back pulsed.  The beat was joined by those horns and the pulsing felt like it was going through my bones.  I couldn’t sit. I had to go back in.  I had to have more…

I can only hope Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band will be back, so all of you that missed it this time can get a ticket for the ride through the funhouse.