George Clinton to get funky at the Omni

Funk master George Clinton comes to the Omni Sunday night.

The Godfather of Funk is coming to Toledo on Sunday night.

George Clinton, the 70-year-old mastermind behind Parliament, Funkadelic, and any number of funkified musical incarnations, is bringing his tour to the Omni, 2567 West Bancroft St. The concert will feature Parliament -- the James Brown-inspired hardcore rhythm and blues/funk band -- and Funkadelic, his guitar-oriented psychedelic-oriented offshoot.

Clinton is single-handedly responsible for melding funk and rock and without him artists like the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who utilized Clinton as a producer), Kid Rock, and Rage Against the Machine likely wouldn't exist. His shows are notoriously long, free-form jams that feature any number of signature songs such as "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)," "Flash Light," "Dr. Funkenstein," and "Aqua Boogie."

His bands have featured dozens of musicians over the years, including R&B greats Maceo Parker, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, and Fred Wesley, and the numerous albums for which he's responsible have received tons of critical accolades.

Clinton also is active in trying to protect musicians' copyrights, something that is likely important to him due to the sheer volume of grooves he's spawned and the proclivity for other artists to sample them. Here's an excerpt from his Web site -- georgeclinton.com -- about the issue:

"We're calling upon all of our fans to come together on a mission of utmost solidarity in support of the P-Funk Army. Our mission this time is not to rescue dance music from the blahs, but from the very forces of zero funkativity that are misappropriating the ownership and copyrights of our most classic recordings."

Doors for the Sunday concert open at 7 p.m. and the opening band is The Right Now. Tickets are $30 in advance and are available at all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com, and at Culture Clash, 419-536-5683, and Ramalama Records, 419-531-7625. Tickets will be $35 at the door, night of show.