Connecticut based funk-fusion group Kung Fu continued kicking doors down with energetic 4/20 set that was full of surprises for those at Toads Place on Monday night. The night got under way with strong sets from Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan and Viral Sound. They had the Toad’s crowd on their feet ready for a night of hard-hitting funk from a local favorite.

It wasn’t long after Kung Fu took the stage that they had the entire place grooving with a few of their down-tempo high-funk hits like “Gold Coast,” and “Cramp Your Style,” featuring the smooth lead vocals of bassist Chris DeAngelis. The night really picked up with when Kung Fu played “Scrabb,” which on this night featured a longer then usual, hard hitting drum solo from Adrian Tramontano. Adrian had everyone going crazy, with their hands in the air cheering as he rocked the crowd. They followed this up with the hard hitting song “Tsar Bomba,” their title track from their 2014 release.

A special announcement followed after Kung Fu, as usual, crushed one of their crowd favorites, “Gung Ho.”  It turns out the Kung Fu’s bass player Chris DeAngelis was celebrating his birthday on this night. Instead of us all giving him presents, he gave us an amazing bass solo that still has me shaking my head. He began with a few chords, and then started looping drum beats, which of course he made by tapping and knocking his bass. Once the loop was running and everyone was dancing with the groove, he started playing the classic hit “Africa” by Toto. Everyone in the place went absolutely crazy and hands went up in the air as we all started singing along to this masterpiece of the early 80’s.

Check out this video of DeAngelis performing “Africa” from a month earlier:


This truly special moment was followed up by keyboardist Todd Stoops and the rest of the group presenting Chris with his birthday cake. Making a wish and blowing out the candles, he showed his appreciation to the Toad’s crowd thanking everyone for sharing this special day.

Not minutes after the birthday celebrations were over, Kung Fu closed the set with their super funky jam “Samurai.”  As the band left the stage, we all clapped and cheered in anticipation of an encore jam that Kung Fu has become well known for. I was hoping we’d all be going insane with those “Hollywood Kisses,” but what we actually got was so much more.  The band took the stage, but this time it was guitarist Tim Palmieri behind the drums and Adrian Tramatano on lead guitar and vocals.  Kung Fu closed out the night with an energetic rendition of Led Zeppelins “Immigrant Song,” quite literally putting the icing on the cake. 

Happy 4/20 everyone!

– Review and Photos courtesy of Scott Orkus