We don't have water coolers here at The Day. Astoundingly, we have fountains of beer. It's pretty great.

As such, I was having one of those by-chance "fountain of beer" conversations the other morning with a colleague. He remarked that he'd recently seen a concert by '80s alt-rock stalwarts the Violent Femmes and that, not only was a big percentage of the crowd made up of college-age folks, they sang along with every song. The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago at a festival when I was astounded at how many kiddos knew the lyrics to material by Anthrax, Ghost and Slayer.

I hope this awareness of Music Past is consistent when it comes to an appearance Saturday by soul/funk great Maceo Parker at Connecticut College in New London. After all, as one of the premiere sax players in modern times, Parker's sinewy tone and relentless groove for years fueled James Brown's band (in the '60s) and Parliament/Funkadelic (the '70s).

But that's hardly the extent of his bio. Parker has played and/or recorded with Prince, De La Soul, Ani DeFranco and the Red Hot Chili Peppers — and, for the last 15 years, has led his own hell-hot band on festival tours and recordings like "School's In."

Conn students? If you've always wondered what it would be like to blow the roof off of Palmer Auditorium, this show is the one to see.

Maceo Parker, 8 p.m. Saturday, Palmer Auditorium, Connecticut College, 270 Mohegan Ave., New London; $7 Conn students, $14 other students, $25 senior citizens, Conn faculty and staff, $28 general public; (860) 439-2787, onstage.conncoll.edu.