Yo! Put your hands up! I saw the Legendary Roots Crew last night, here in Portland, Oregon. They put on a really fun show and had the crowd jumping off the walls. I went with my little brother and we both had different reactions to the show. He is a die hard Roots fan and was blown away by their performance because they played all the songs he wanted to hear and he felt they were just awesome. I like the Roots but am not as familiar with their entire catalog of music so as a result I didn't know a lot of the songs. One major roadblock to my enjoyment of the show was that I could not understand any lyrics, other than the ones I knew from the 3-4 songs they played that I recognized. I think this was a combination of bad sound (everything was real muddy throughout the evening) and the double edged sword of having a live band. The Roots band is amazing, consisting of Quest Love on drums and some other guys whose names I don't know on Keys, Bass, Guitar and Percussion. They mixed up the music quite a bit, incorporating rock, reggae and the blues and musically were really cool. However, I think that the amount of music going on underneath the rapping by Black Thought and Scratch contributed to the muddy sound and inchoherent lyrics. In addition to the poor sound (imho), the crowd was very young and I was constantly being pushed and prodded by teenagers which is pretty annoying for me. This is a part of any live concert experience and with as many shows as I've been to, it wasn't that big a deal.. One other complaint I have is that I'm just not into all the crowd interraction stuff. I understand that hip hop is all about the synergy between the crowd and performers but I was really sick of throwing my hands in the air and saying oh before the opening act was even halfway through their set.. Like Steve Harvey said in Kings of Comedy, rap shows are a lot like church in that the crowd is constantly following directions.. Shut up and rap those lyrics that I can't understand, please! All that being said, I still had fun, but I felt it could have been way better, but not so much because of the group's performance. Anyway, I'm curious if any of you have experience with live hip hop shows. If so, are the lyrics usually that incoherent? What do you think of the crowd interraction, etc.? There are quite a few other hip hop acts (Cypress Hill, Gangstarr, Pharcyde, Deltron 3030) that I really enjoy but this experience might make me hesitant to go see them live.
I forgot to mention that I saw them a few years ago at Seattle's Bumbershoot festival, but it was not the entire lineup. That show seemed much better because it was outdoors so maybe that makes a difference with the sound as opposed to an indoor club show.. At that time, I didn't know any of their songs so I guess I didn't expect to understand any lyrics, but I don't recall it being as much of an issue.
who's opening for DMB in Houston?? I haven't heard yet. The best was when Bela Fleck opened for them a couple of years back.
I am going to see them at Field Day Fest on June 8th and 9th along with Beck, Beastie Boys and Radiohead. Come out to Long Island for the two day arts music and camping event
across110thstreet, you suck! I'm jealous.. That lineup is incredible.. Radiohead puts on one of the best shows I've ever seen! I'm not too hip on Beck but I'd love to see the Beasties. Unfortunately, I currently live on the West Coast and I'm moving in August to Boston, so I can't afford to fly out there for this festival..
