Deliver the War

With enough hits to coast on the nostalgia-tour circuit till we're all submerged in melted glaciers, Long Beach Latino-funk unit War are instant feel-good ear food. In their prime (the Me Decade), War brought the humid, cowbell-intensive funk and loads of hummable melodies that stick in your head all day-and sometimes all night. Their repertoire ranges from ebulliently festive ("Summer," "Me and Baby Brother," "Galaxy") to paranoiacally ominous ("Four Cornered Room," "Slippin' Into Darkness"), from trippy ("Spill the Wine," "City, Country, City") to frat-boyishly annoying ("Why Can't We Be Friends?"). Even if keyboardist Lonnie Jordan is the only original member present tonight, when War bust out "Low Rider" for the encore, there won't be a dry armpit in the house. Trust.
Sun., Dec. 30, 7:30 p.m., 2007