Can You Feel the Power? - All Mighty Senators Crank Up the Booty Fresh Funk

report filed 8/30/00 7:58 am EDT - Getting ready to pack. Again. That's right, it's time once again for the Anytime/Anywhere traveling road show to hit the highway. Gonna have a little fun on the Carolina coast over the extended Labor Day weekend and then we roll north to New York City. The big apple. Gotham. Home of Times Square and Central Park, Broadway and the hard charging NY Mets! Ladies and gentlemen, we're talkin' pennant race... hoy hoy!!

OK, back to our regularly scheduled program. Caught the All Mighty Senators late last week at Peasants. Had a chance to chat with the band before they launched into their marathon set. Nice krewe. And oh-so-funky. The Senators have perfected their fun first, super hero brand of 'booty fresh' dance grooves.

Frontman and drummer, Landis 'You can call me Kool-aid' Expandis, is truly one of a kind. The guy is a star. Not to mention flamboyant. And that's an understatement. Look no further than the chief power generator's shiny mask and pink drums, complete with a fuzzy, cut-out in the front of the bass drum that's shaped like a big pair of lips. After a few drinks, it looks like the drums are actually speaking, moving in time when Expandis hits the bass drum... nice!

In fact the entire band is unique. For starters, guitarist Warren Boes is a monster. Ain't nuthin' that boy can't do on the electric six string. And then there's bassman, Jack Denning, who rumbles the bottom end like a mad robot behind his goggle-like, 'I can see you, but you can't see me,' shades. The guy is simply a funkmaster supreme.

Add a couple of horns, an occasional keyboard from the multitalented Dave Finnel, and you've got band that'll pack a dance floor quicker than you can say, 'Flex/Release.' Anyone who's never seen the AMS and considers themself a fun lovin' music freak needs to cross paths with these guys. Just ask anyone who has seen them...

New stuff: Bad Rap, Hip Hop Awards Ain't So Hip, a snappy little editorial for the Las Vegas Weekly, and a review of the new 3 Sets CD - Volume 2, from Lauan Records, featuring live music from Larry, Ancient Harmony, and Wise Monkey Orchestra.

Many thanks and praises to artist Sean Scott for sharing his wonderful paintings with us! Everyone here digs Scott's abstract, colorful images and we are totally stoked to feature some of his work here...

That's it amigos. There's a whole-lotta-stuff goin' on over the weekend, and if all goes well, we'll have an exciting image safari waiting here for you to explore, next week when our adventure in music journalism continues...