Bear and the Beasts Cannot Be Tamed

Music festivals are no joke. On the extreme bad end of the spectrum, there’s Woodstock ’99 where bros rioted after overindulging on drugs and alcohol, getting sunstroke and listening to nu-metal, which science has shown rots the brain.

Get Funky With The Main Squeeze at the Westword Music Showcase

Maximillian Newman was sitting in a backyard and toying with the chord progression in “Maggot Brain,” the epic ten-minute-long instrumental that kicks off Funkadelic’s 1971 album of the same name. It was how he passed a lot of time at the height of the covid pandemic lockdowns.