CONCERT REVIEW: Lakeside and the Bar-Kays brought the funk (and the sequins) to North Idaho

Four men dressed to the nines in pirate gear and sparkling with varying degrees of sequins marched onto the stage at the Coeur d'Alene Casino and Resort. Each was in lockstep with the funky beat propelling them toward their mics.

Welcome to the original Lakeside show. They played alongside another '60s- and '70s-era funk and R&B band, the Bar-Kays, Saturday night in Worley, Idaho.

The nine-piece group kicked off the show with fan favorite "Raid" before lead singer Eddie Guyton asked the crowd which Lakeside song was the first to bring the Dayton, Ohio, band national and international attention.

The obvious answer — "Fantastic Voyage" — is apparently wrong, Guyton told the crowd before the band launched into "It's All the Way Live," a 1978 Lakeside track repurposed by rapper Coolio in 1996. Perhaps that's what Guyton was referring to.

Throughout the hour-plus set, the band took it easy on the ballads and leaned heavy on the boogie. By the time they played "Fantastic Voyage," which hit No. 1 on the R&B charts in 1980, only about a handful of squares were still sitting in their seats — the place was jumpin'.

Next up were the Bar-Kays, playing as part of their 50th anniversary tour. Although they were missing pirate hats, they didn't hold back on the sequins and glitter.

Bassist James Alexander — the only remaining original member of group, who originally were Stax Records studio musicians and soul legend Otis Redding's backup band — was joined by eight others as the Bar-Kays ran through "Sexomatic," "Let's Have Some Fun," "Shake Your Rump to the Funk," and "Too Hot to Stop."

About halfway through, lead vocalist Larry Dodson, who is retiring at the end of 2017, told the crowd a story. He razzed a youngster who came down to their hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, to "pick our pockets" for one of his hit songs. Then the band launched into "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson. The duo was sued for copyright infringement by electro-funk band Collage in 2016 for that song.


"We love Bruno," Dodson said.

The Saturday evening crowd at the casino was about equal parts Pokémon T-shirts and gym shorts, jeans and cowboy hats, and fly-as-hell silky shirts and fedoras. By the end of the Bar-Kays' final song (Sam & Dave's "Soul Man"), only the old fogeys refused to dance.