Funk Flex to perform at Yard Goats game
Hip-hop DJ lined up to play as a thank-you to fans for 2021 season
Funk Flex, the pioneering hip-hop DJ known for his “bomb drop” sound effects, will give a special postgame concert at Dunkin’ Donuts Park following the Hartford Yard Goats’ final Saturday home game of the season, Sept. 18.
The long evening is being presented “in appreciation for all the wonderful fans and sponsors who have made this 2021 season in Hartford a great success,” according to a Yard Goats press release announcing the Funk Flex show.
The concert will take place immediately following that night’s game between the Yard Goats and the Portland Sea Dogs. The game begins at 7:05 p.m. Admission to the concert is free with a ticket to the game. Tickets are available by phone at 860-246-GOAT, online at yardgoatsbaseball.com, or in person at the Dunkin’ Donuts Park box office.
Funk Flex was an active part of the original 1980s hip-hop scene in the Bronx, becoming an influential DJ in the 90s not just at clubs (including the iconic venue The Tunnel, which closed in 2001) but on radio. Now in his 50s, he can be heard Mondays through Thursdays from 7 p.m. to midnight, and for several hours on weekends as well, on New York’s Hot 97 FM, his home for over 20 years. Funk Flex also runs his own website, Inflexwetrust.com, where he shares his tastes in music, fashion, sports and technology. He co-founded the Litdigitaldjs crew, which has its own smartphone app and includes among its members DJ Khaled and Swizz Beatz. He has hosted several series — some about music, others about cars — on MTV and the Spike cable network. In 2017, he was inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame.
Funk Flex is no stranger to Connecticut clubs, though this may be his first ballpark gig here. He did a threehour DJ set as part of an “All White Day Party” at Sazon Y Mambo in Bridgeport on June 5.
Minor league teams across the country took a huge financial hit in 2020, when there were no games, and are not fully recovering in 2021, with a shortened season and a decrease in attendance. As a result, many teams are trying to find new ways, including non-baseball attractions, to draw more people in to the parks.
The Yard Goats have been innovative in this area even before the pandemic, staging events such as golf, music or watch parties since Dunkin’ Donuts Park opened in 2017.
This season, the Goats have drawn 195,848 people, or an average of 4,776 per game, to Dunkin’ Donuts Park. Those are the best attendance figures in the Double A Northeast league, but is about 1,300 per game short of seating capacity in the Hartford stadium.
Pre-pandemic, the Yard Goats averaged attendance of 6,193 in 2019 and 6,014 in 2018.
An added factor in the lowered attendance and income was a rainier than usual July.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has been leading efforts in Congress to send aid to minor league franchises hurt by the pandemic.