NonCOMM Recap: Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band bring a funky revue to Free At Noon

Paul Schaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band | photo by Emma Silverstone for WXPN

Strutting to the stage with a funky and frenzied cover of Kool and the Gang’s “Hollywood Swinging,” long time late night television bandleader Paul Shaffer played a lively set with his combo of veteran players, The World’s Most Dangerous Band.

Made up of Felicia Collins on guitar, Anton Fig on drums, Will Lee on bass and Sid McGinnis on guitar, with horn players Tom Malone, Frank Greene, and Aaron Heick, the band blew through selections from their new covers record,The World’s Most Dangerous Party.

“The breakout star is Felicia Collins,”Shaffer told the crowd of his guitarist. “People don’t understand the magnitude of talent we’re dealing with here.”

After giving a shoutout to her family’s Philly roots in Tacony, Frankford and Germantown — “My parents live on Upsal Street!” — Collins showed the crowd what Shaffer meant, leading the band in a Michael Jackson tribute with covers of “Lets Dance, Let’s Shout” as well as “This Place Hotel” and “I Want You Back” by The Jackson Five.

Between Shaffer’s goofy and charismatic banter and the band’s top-notch playing, the set was a nonstop dance party, with a cover of Lloyd Price’s “Just Because” striking some disco vibes, leading into the infectious energy of Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames’ “Yeh Yeh” and a closing rendition of Soul Brothers Six’s “Some Kind of Wonderful.”