One Nation Under Groove

August 17, 2023

One Nation Under Groove

While I was in the vicinity, on the National Mall, I wanted to pay a visit to the World War II Memorial. One reason is that it is one of the few memorials on the National Mall that I had not previously seen, but the second and more personal reason is that I had heard that there is a “Kilroy Was Here” carving hidden on the memorial and I really wanted to find it and see it.

This summer, when visiting Massachusetts, Kathy and I along with her father Jim, Aunt Kathy and her brother Chris had driven from Marshfield to the recently dedicated Kilroy Square in Quincy. It was here that Kathy’s Grandfather James J. Kilroy began the phenomena that became Kilroy Was Here. He worked at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy during the war checking the work of riveters paid by how many rivets they installed. Usually, inspectors made a small chalk mark which riveters used to erase, so that they would be paid double for their work. To prevent this, Kilroy marked work he had inspected and approved with the phrase "Kilroy was here" in more durable crayon.

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While Kilroy's marks might normally have been painted over, interior painting was a low priority in the rush to launch ships, so Kilroy's marks were seen by thousands of servicemen who sailed aboard troopships built at Quincy. A “New York Times” article noted that he had marked the ships as they were being built as a way to be sure that he had inspected a compartment, and the phrase would be found chalked in places that nobody could have reached for graffiti, such as inside sealed hull spaces.

Anyway Kilroy was Here became famous and now I find myself a member of the Kilroy clan by marriage, so I was curious to see the meme at the memorial. It took some looking but I located the meme behind a fenced section near the Pennsylvania column (There are columns representing each state and territory). It was great to find it and to see Kathy’s family memorialized on such an important monument but it was even better getting to explore the monument in close detail as I looked, it truly is a beautiful and meaningful reminder of the sacrifice made by so many.

So my final evening in DC, I spent going to see an iconic figure in music history, George Clinton and Parliament/ Funkadelic at the historic Lincoln Theatre on U Street. I was really excited to both see George Clinton again, I had seen him three previous times dating back to the early 80s. Clinton is one of the holy trinity of Funk music (along with James Brown and Sly Stone) and his shows are always over the top musical affairs with the P-Funk collective of revolving musicians maintaining the legacy of funk.

The theatre is historic and beautiful, first opened in 1921 and renovated in 1994 after falling into disrepair, the theatre has hosted a whose who of performers including Duke Ellington, Pearl Bailey, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. It has hosted jazz legends and modern rock bands alike and continues to have a full slate of shows featuring everyone from Chrisse Hynde, Janelle Monae, Billy Idol, Henry Rollins, Brian Wilson and more. 

The opening act was a funk-fusion band from New York called Blu Eye Extinction, who were really tight and played about a 45-minute set. Then the headliners came out and the funk really kicked it up a notch. There are times when you have certain expectations when seeing an iconic figure, but then it just doesn’t pan out. First off there were simply too many musicians sharing the stage with up to 22 people on stage performing at once. While they sounded ok, it just came across as chaotic and not really very good. Poor George Clinton seemed to me like nothing more than Fred Sanford on stage trying to recapture long past glory.

The funny thing is, as bad as the performance was, and it was pretty bad, I had an amazing time. It was so fun. The crowd loved it and was really into it and people were dancing, singing along and just having an amazing time. It was infectious and fun, which just goes to show that you can have fun at a pretty bad show. The rumor is that this is Clinton’s final tour, which may not be a bad thing. He is after all a music icon. 

https://georgeclinton.com/