A Tribute to Sly Stone in San Francisco

Something wonderful happened in San Francisco last weekend (Jan 17-19) as UnderCover Presents served up one of the most celebratory musical events to hit San Francisco in some time. In a daring move, they presented a performance of the landmark album, "Stand" by Sly and the Family Stone, performed in its entirety by a different artist and band for each song.

An ambitious undertaking and the skeptic may well think this would never work. But, as it turns out, nothing could be further from the truth. As can be easily imagined, there was some down time as there were necessary stage changes between songs, but as the night progressed, this became barely noticeable and that can be attributed to the stellar performances delivered by each and every artist who took the stage, who did exactly as Sly himself wished: they took us higher.....a lot higher! The album, "Stand" is a staggering piece of work as it was created at a time of social upheaval and it is phenomenal in the number of classic songs that continue to cast their shadow in today's world and for the optimism it expressed. It's worth noting that this celebration ran for three sold out nights at The Independent over the very weekend we celebrate and reflect upon the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Surely, this was an event that reflected the great dream to which he alluded. This was a diverse gathering of many artists representing a broad range of musical styles; from funk, to jazz, to hip hop, to electronic, folk, and more. And, as evidenced by the images in this set, one can see the passion that was on display on this and each of the three nights.

This was the third concert UnderCover Presents has produced using this format. In the past they've covered Joni Mitchell's, "Blue" and Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" with the next one in the works as they prepare to tackle Paul Simon's "Graceland." May they continue to enjoy the great success they so richly deserve.