Funk greats Lettuce perform Wednesday in Bend.

Way back at the end of 2008, The Bulletin asked local guitarist, booking agent and concert promoter Gabe Johnson for his top five things — shows, albums, whatever — of the year. Fourth on his list was “Rage!,” the second album from what was then a modestly known funk band known as Lettuce.

Next week, Johnson’s own Parallel 44 Presents will bring Lettuce to Bend’s Midtown Ballroom for a night of world-class psychedelic funk and dance-floor mayhem. It’s the beautiful circle of life in action!

Lettuce is more than just a funk band. They’re one of the best funk bands going, thanks to their omnivorous approach to making music, as heard on their 2019 album “Elevate,” which was nominated for a Best Contemporary Instrumental Album Grammy award. Give it a spin and you’ll hear why, as flecks of rock, hip-hop, jazz, soul and electronic music fly by in the torrent of trippy, ambitious funk.

Lettuce basically sounds like the best funk band from the farthest corner of the cosmos dropping in to show us Earthlings how it’s done.

Lettuce: $30; 8 p.m. Wednesday; Midtown Ballroom, 51 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend; midtownballroom.com.