George Clinton debuted a new mothership during Parliament-Funkadelic’s Sunday night performance at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.
Roughly an hour into the set, Clinton’s group was rocking through a rendition of their classic tune “Mothership Connection (Star Child).” As you can see in the YouTube video from D.S. Craighead below, bright lightings, extraterrestrial noises and a plume of fog engulfed the stage as the metallic vessel descended from the rafters. Clinton, dressed like intergalactic royalty, soon exited the spacecraft and launched into Parliament’s 1978 No.1 hit “Flash Light.”
In a pre-show conversation with Vibe, Clinton noted that his new mothership was “made from the same blueprint as the first one,” but with technological updates like a modern lighting rig and lighter metal materials.
George Clinton’s Legendary Mothership
The original mothership stage design debuted in 1976, coming on the heels of Parliament’s groundbreaking 1975 album Mothership Connection. That tour saw Clinton and his band sparing no expense as they stopped in major arenas across America. Each night, Clinton emerged from the alien spacecraft, with colorful lights and pyrotechnics welcoming him. The mothership became an iconic part of Parliament-Funkadelic’s history, conceptually created to bring the funk to all mankind.
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Rising costs associated with maintaining and transporting the mothership led to the 1,200 pound prop’s eventual retirement. The original mothership was scrapped and sold for cash in the ‘80s as a means to pay off some of Clinton’s debts.
The “Atomic Dog” singer brought a new version of the mothership back in the ‘90s, designed as a clone of the original. That version has since been put on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
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Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
