I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: November 19, 2025] Ghost Funk Orchestra

I was really excited to see the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets again.  I had no idea who might be the support act (last time it was Acid Dad which was awesome).  I didn’t know who Ghost Funk Orchestra was and wasn’t really sure what to expect, but the name is fairly apt.

They are an orchestra–at least on stage there were some nine people up there.  Although Ghost Funk Orchestra is the brainchild of composer/multi-instrumentalist Seth Applebaum and it started as a one man band.

But for our show on the right side of the stage were a trumpeter, a baritone sax player (Stephen Chen, the only person whose name I got because he was very very popular–he also plays with San Fermin) and a trombonist.  Their bass player stood with them as well.

I was delighted with how no one in the band looked like anyone else–Chen dressed in a button down shirt and the bass player wearing what looked like a cowboy outfit with large silver buttons (stars?) down the outside of his pants.  The trombonist had long hair an a beard while most everyone else had short hair.  It felt like a motley crew thrown together to make great music.

Their drummer was in the back and then on the far side were the two guitarists, including Seth who was the spokesperson for the band.

When they started they played a really funky instrumental jam.  That went on for a minute or two and then the singers came out.  Two women, one was named Romeo (it was tattooed on her leg).  I liked their voices, although honestly I preferred the instrumental parts more.  It also felt like the singers had not performed live very much (I doubt that this is true)–one seemed to be trying too hard and the other not hard enough.  Or realy it felt like they were friends they’d invited to sing with them. The singers were having a lot of fun and the sounded great, it just looked a little like a show where your friends are playing rock stars.  Seth joked that the stage was so big and they’re used to cramming themselves into tiny stages.  So maybe the singers just had too much room.

But whatever.  Because the band sounded great.  I don’t normally love horns all that much, but they had the perfect use of them–Chen’s baritone sax as a lead soloing instrument was inspired.  And the trumpet worked perfectly as melody or accent line.

There were a couple of slower songs, but they all toyed with the funky.  Lots of wah wah and horn blasts.

Some of the songs were slow and sultry (Drop Me a Line) and others were more introspective (Why?) which has a great fuzzy guitar line.

When the main vocal parts weren’t mind blowing, it was assured that there would be a great instrumental section in the middle (great soloing from all involved).  I also got a kick out of the names of the songs (some with good introductions), like Blockhead, Fuzzy Logic and King of Misdirection.

The final two songs kicked it up even more.  Your Man’s No Good has a great funky riff and sounds like a 70s movie soundtrack.  This one featured a lot of baritone sax player Stephen Chen.  I’ve never seen a saxophone player get into as much as he did and with that huge baritone sax he was really rocking.

But the best title (and song) had to be Walk Like a Motherfucker.  A slinky guitar riff opened the song as the horns jumped in.

They were a ton of fun and a great opening band.  The Porn Crumpets said that they were their favorite opening band that they’ve had and I can see it.

They’re a great live band.

instrumental
Drop Me A Line ≅
Nova €
Why? ♥
Blockhead ♥
Fuzzy Logic ≅
King of Misdirection ≅
Your Man’s No Good ♥
Walk Like a Motherfucker ♦

€ A Trip to the Moon (2024)
♥ A New Kind of Love (2022)
≅ An Ode to Escapism (2020)
♦ A Song for Paul (2019)