While the fundraiser to help preserve the historic YMCA wasn’t necessarily a radiant success — the fest’s outdoor street stage in downtown St. Pete endured a drenching all day until organizers finally moved the rained-out party to Ferg’s — the performance by George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic went on as planned, if at a different venue. Pay-what-you-can tickets turned into a free-for-all walk-up as Clinton presided over a surging crowd of bodies in front of the diminutive Ferg’s stage, getting down as P-Funk cycled through a set of Afro-futuristic hits — “One Nation (Under a Groove)” and the like. Even the cops standing with crossed arms on the sidewalk seemed to be in a mellow mood, ignoring or ignorant of the occasional scent of greenery wafting on the late night air.
