Coming out at around 8:30, Matisyahu’s backing band consisted of the bassist, guitarist, and drummer from Dub Trio, a second guitarist, and a keyboardist as well. When Matisyahu took the stage, the place was as full as I like to see shows there, or maybe a little more, but it was a pretty tame crowd. I did notice a number of parent/child dyads in the crowd, a healthy smattering of yeshiva boys, lots of nice Jewish boys and girls (mostly in their late teens and early 20s), and a fairly sizable proportion of music loving goyim. Opening with Heights which transitioned into On Nature, I was impressed by the fact that having seen him before, the new band made a huge difference. Whereas his prior band was heavy into reggae beats and jam guitar riffs, the Dub Trio led band was WAY heavier and more thumping in a hip hop-meets-rock booming bass and chunky rhythm guitar. I suppose I developed a different appreciation for Matisyahu as an artist independent of any backing band. I’ve listened to Light a number of times and have enjoyed its radio friendly appeal. The live show was a bit of a contrast in its far more intense, driving rhythms occasionally interrupted by haunting and reverbed-out Yiddish-Hebrew inspired vocal riffs. The set lasted for two hours and closed with a version of King Without a Crown that lasted for over 30 minutes. Toward the end, Matisyahu climbed up on the high speaker stack and was standing, holding onto the light supports while singing and beatboxing before climbing down to a lower speaker where he sat, keeping the audience captivated all the while.
Overall it was an enjoyable show with a great crowd – look for the links to the audio interview with Matisyahu in the next day or so. If you'd like to download the show via bittorrent, Z-man's great recording is available here. Check it out if you want - you'll also have to know how to listen to or decompress the flac files, but a little bit of googling should get you pointed in the right direction.
WERD!!
-drew