Bells back in Y-town with Kool & the Gang

KC & The Sunshine Band partied like it was 1979 in the opening slot.

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Ronald Bell stepped to the mike.

“This is Y-Town!” he roared. “I was born in this town ... St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in da house ... Y’all ready to turn this Y-Town upside down?”

With that, Kool & the Gang tore into “Hollywood Swinging” and “Jungle Boogie,” with Ronald’s brother, Robert “Kool” Bell, stepping up to lay down the bass line.

The Bell brothers were born in Youngstown, and even though they lived here only for about a decade, Friday night’s concert at Chevrolet Centre was like a homecoming, with between 2,000 and 3,000 fans showing the supergroup plenty of love.

Clad in white, the 11-piece R&B group reeled off a string of hits from the ’70s and ’80s, including “Fresh,” “Joanna” and “Too Hot.”

K&TG’s crazy-cool horn-drenched jazz, thick funk grooves, sweet guitar licks and vocal harmonies move easily between eras.

But that didn’t stop them from using a rapper to add a hip-hop flair to “Jungle Boogie.”

The band mixed in songs from its new album, “Still Kool,” which was released last month and lives up to its name. Jirmad Gordon, the band’s new vocalist, crooned over harmonies and horn lines in the smooth, jazzy “Steppin’ Into Love” from “Still Kool.”

KC ¶ The Sunshine Band

KC & The Sunshine Band brought the disco during its opening set.

The 56-year-old Harry Wayne Casey (aka KC), clad in glittery jackets, strutted the stage and mixed it up with his spike-heeled dancers for a solid 80 minutes.

Party means different things in different eras, but in the ’70s, it meant “Shake Your Booty.”

After that opener, KC and company got the crowd on its feet and kept it there for the rest of the night with “Boogie Shoes” (“I want to put on ... mymymymymy boogie shoes .... and boogie with you”).

Unlike Kool, KC keeps his dancing feet planted in the disco era, although he’s got a sense of humor about it after all the years that have gone by.

Pointing to a young teen in the audience, he said “We were your mother’s NSync.” Then he pointed to himself and gave a visual premonition to the teen: “This is what Justin Timberlake is going to look like in 30 years.”

Of course, with KC’s catalog of timeless disco (yes, I said timeless), there’s no need to stir any fresh ingredients into the pot.

After a temporary slowdown with “Are You Ready” and “Please Don’t Go,” the disco demigod and his 10-piece band delivered one booty-shaker after another.

The energy never flagged during a stretch that included “Keep It Coming Love,” “Baby Give It Up,” “That’s the Way I Like It” and a set-ending exhortation to “Get Down Tonight” — which they did.

dastolfo@vindy.com