The year is 1999. The place is your very own backyard. The event is the landing of the mothership and a whole lot of rhythm goin’ round.

Funkateers and Clones of Dr. Funkenstein get ready for the return of P-Funk legend George Clinton. The Godfather of Superfunk is armed with his Bop Gun’ and ready to funk you up.

I love it when we do college shows it’s a new group of funkateers, Clinton said. We always make sure to keep the show fresh with a new set each time to keep getting fresh fans.

George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars will headline the second-annual Spring Thing at 4 p.m. Saturday in support of their latest album Dope Dogs. This year’s concert will be held in Lot 56, the parking lot behind the SIU Arena. The free event is sponsored by the Student Programming Council.

Clinton says about 30 people will accompany him on stage for the three- to four-hour live performance.

All the original P-Funk All Stars will be out there are so many things we like to do, Clinton said. The Funkadelics will perform, and Parliament will be out there. We’re going to do some of the old records and some new things, too.

Andrew Daly, executive director of SPC, said he booked Clinton and his entourage to headline the concert because of timing and diversity.

They are about one of the most diverse acts out there, and our goal is to bring out a diverse crowd, Daly said.

The mothership is set to land at 4 p.m. and will entail all of the usual funkiness we have come to expect from the P-Funk All Stars. The group members have maintained their spaced-out look with their shiny-silver jumpsuits, rainbow-colored afros and oversized diapers throughout the years. Clinton will be geared up in his patented colorful dreadlocks and tie-died dashiki.

Clinton said the stage costumes are designed to make the group look like pimps from outer space.

For those who are unfamiliar with the sound of the P-Funk, Clinton describes it as pop, mid-tempo, funky New Orleans music. The story of how the P-Funk movement began is one Clinton tells with an unusual sense of humbleness.

In the mid 50s, Clinton formed a doo-wop group called The Parliament. In 1967 they had a hit record called (I Just Wanna) Testify, which was written and produced by Clinton. The group was signed to Motown records, but with competition from label mates like Smokey Robinson and The Temptations, the group felt they needed something to set them apart from the rest.

When I worked for Motown it was like a family thing, but the music was changing and we were different from anything else on Motown, Clinton said. If you didn’t want to compete, you had to come up with your own style.

As a result, The Parliaments adapted to the psychedelic times of the 60s and changed the name of the group to Parliament,

and the group Funkadelic became their backup. As the years went on, other groups such as Bootsy’s Rubber Band, The Brides of Funkenstein and The Horny Horns were added to the list of P-funk All Stars.

In 1968 the music scene was psychedelic and blues and we were right in the middle of it, he said. We were all about dancing and getting down.

Today, Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars remain living legends in the music industry. Clinton has continued to write and produce for other artists and still pump out the hits with the P-Funk All Stars. He and Bootsy Collins are working on a new Funkadelic album titled The Last Time Zone and Parliament’s new album, Radio Friendly.

Parliament is responsible for such hits as Atomic Dog and We Want the Funk. These hits have become anthems for all funkateers young and old alike. Clinton says he tries to appeal to all age groups and likes to have a diverse audience.

When we see the crowd grooving, that lets us know that we kicked it off right, he said. They be out there eight to 80, blind, crippled and crazy.

Students are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the band and the Spring Thing concert.

Carita Bailey, a senior in English from Chicago, is among the hoards of excited fans.

I’ve been a fan of George Clinton for as long as I can remember, Bailey said. I’m excited about his visit because his music has affected every generation every crowd loves his music.

Geoffrey Gilliams says that P-Funk inspired other forms of music.

It’s going to be really cool to see George Clinton at SIU, said Gilliams, a senior in radio and television from Chicago. He helped develop P-Funk and a lot of rappers and artists today use that in their music.

The hip-hop industry has definitely reaped from the benefits of the mastermind of Clinton. With songs featuring rappers like Too-Short, Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre and Outkast, Clinton shows that he is a versatile artist and has what it takes for longevity in the music business. Despite the constant criticism of rappers for sampling older music, Clinton says he enjoys working with rap artists.

I like working with the young guys, he said. Sampling is a way to keep funk alive and working with those artists makes me appeal to a new group.

Clinton says that he is not the founder of the Funk, but he and his group changed it tremendously and the Funk will live forever.

It didn’t start with us. The music (P-Funk) has been around a long time but we championed it, Clinton said.

We picked up on a vibe and got out of our own way to let the music come through us, he said. We made it our motto and it has been one nation under a groove ever since.