On Friday, July 30, 2010, one of the founding fathers of funk brought his band to the Eastern Shore when George Porter Jr. and the Runnin Pardners played Moe’s Original BBQ & Blues Revue in Daphne, at 6453 Bayfront Park Drive.
Doors opened at 7 p.m. with the show following at 8, and tickets ran fifteen dollars — a modest cover for a bassist whose resume stretches across five decades of American music.
The Man Behind the Meters’ Sound
Porter is best known as the bassist and singer of The Meters, the New Orleans group he formed with Art Neville in the mid-1960s and which came to be recognized as one of the progenitors of funk. The Meters disbanded in 1977 but reformed in 1989; today the group tours as the Funky Meters, with Porter still on board.
Beyond his own band the Runnin Pardners, Porter’s projects have included the Trio with Johnny Vidacovich, the New Orleans Social Club and Deep Fried, along with his work in Porter Batiste Stoltz. His studio and stage collaborations read like a roll call of popular music: Dr. John, Paul McCartney, Robbie Robertson, Robert Palmer, Patti LaBelle, Jimmy Buffett, David Byrne, Warren Haynes and many more.
For Daphne, the date was a rare chance to catch a genuine architect of New Orleans funk in a small-room setting on the Alabama Gulf Coast.