Powerhouse funk-rock quintet Kung Fu added some extra flare to their show on Thursday night when they welcomed country music superstar Toby Keith to join them onstage at Washington, D.C.’s 300-capacity Gypsy Sally’s.
Related: Gypsy Sally’s, Popular Washington, D.C. Music Venue, To Close Its Doors
You wouldn’t be wrong in thinking that Kung Fu and Toby Keith is a highly unusual pairing. The serendipitous sit-in came to be mostly by chance. Keith happened to be out on the town in the nation’s capital with a 20-person entourage, and was itching to do some singing. He did some recon to achieve his goal: Find the best band playing in D.C. that night and jump in with them.
Toby wound up getting word that Kung Fu was throwing down at Gypsy Sally’s. He arrived at the club dressed in a baseball hat and jeans—a little different from his sharply-dressed companions—and jumped onstage as Kung Fu was playing their original funk vamp, “The Lurker”.
The Toby Keith-augmented group huddled up to sort out the remaining songs before finishing out the night together with Keith on lead vocals for Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine”, Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode”, and a strong encore of Eric Clapton’s “Cocaine”.
Kung Fu w/ Toby Keith – “Johnny B. Goode” [Chuck Berry cover]
[Video: Kung Fu]
Kung Fu continues their fall tour with 19 more shows throughout the remainder of the year including a run of The Who tribute shows dubbed “Kung Who” at Asbury Park’s Asbury Park Convention Hall (10/25); Cincinnati, OH’s Ludlow Garage (11/7); Erie, PA’s King’s Rook Club (11/8); and Ferndale, MI’s The Parliament Room at OTUS (11/9).
The band will finish off the year with a special performance at New Haven, CT’s Toad’s Place on December 21st for their annual Toys For Tots celebration. The New Motif and Strange Machines will offer support that night, which will mark Kung Fu’s final “Kung Who” show of the year, before the band bids farewell to 2019 at Bethel, NY’s Bethel Woods Center of the Arts Event Gallery on December 22nd.
See below for a full list of upcoming Kung Fu tour dates. For more information, visit the band’s website.