I'm sorry...I haven't...
Every single one has been an amazing performance...but not one has been as good as I thought it would be...maybe some of it is my own fault...I'll explain.
I've seen them 7 times already.

1. Okayplayer 1 NYC Hammerstein Ballroom...ok our fault We bought fake tickets so we had to make friends with the security guards...for pushups situps pullups and a whole lot of ass kissin we got ourselves inside. Sickass shit...but we missed such a large percentage that it was only a sampling...

2. Okayplayer 2 NYC Hammerstein Ballroom...Sick intro, played hardware...and sooo many amazing guests. There were only about 6-7 actual Roots songs. One of my favorite shows of all time...but not satisfied as far as a Roots show.

3. Area One Jones Beach. Night One - Great Performance but just a sampling...too short, too little interraction because of the time slot...not their fault..not our fault...just the way it goes.

4. Area One Jones Beach Night Two - Same Deal.

5. Summit Music Festival - One of the best performances I've ever seen by anybody...I was blown away..apparently it could have even been better too...Black Thought was sick...doesnt matter they were insanely good..only problem was...maybe 30 people there total who really liked the roots...whatever the case it was fun to see all the hippies start to feel it. Set list was nice...only made me psyched to see them again in a real east coast venue with them playin a new set.

6. New Yorkers Against Violence - 4 song set!...I've never seen a more dynamic 4 song set in my life...i was off the wall...and then they left!...I couldnt believe it ...so i had to sit through a huge set of John SPencer Blues Explosion which was not nearly as good...a surprise performance from Michael Stipe Bono and Moby...but the Roots set was sooo short...very disappointing.

7. Lincoln Center...I'm so sorry...I'll admit it was fuckin great. BUT, Firstly as far as roots songs go...with the exception of maybe the silent treatment, a few variations in solos, 2 new songs, and some breakdowns in the songs...like All For the Money in You got me...IT was the SAME EXACT SET as the Summit Festival...even the same routines..."Excuse me, brother ?uest, have you ever...yadda yadda...Inspecter Gadget-Dynamite" YEa i know...I'm sorry it was the same thing...If i wanted to hear it again I'd listen to my high quality Summit CD. Still great show, still great performances...still in awe...I wasn't shocked at all. I wish the Roots would play a higher variety of their material. And I also wish that every time i saw them they wouldnt have to be so typical...Its always. Set ending with you got me - and then solos...and I have to sit through the same solos over and over. THey should at least finish with a song/and or find a way to put the solos into the set. Not to mention all the aspects of Lincoln center...not that hot.

Sorry for the rant..I really love the roots...everytime i see them im in awe. I jsut wish I could see one solid set perfect like i do witha lot of other bands i love. I guess im a spoiled bitch. Peace. Adam

,
RiG AIM-ELVATION22

I've been to Okayplayer 1 and 2, area one, all that. But, I've also seen just them. Like last weekend, I saw them at the 9:30 club. It was just the roots, and they played for about 2 hours and 20 minutes without stopping. They probably did 20 songs, solo's, a little bit of everything. I loved the okayplayer tour, but if you are looking for that satisfying roots show, you will probably have to go and just see them.

>7. Lincoln Center...I'm so sorry...I'll admit
>it was fuckin great. BUT,
>Firstly as far as roots
>songs go...with the exception of
>maybe the silent treatment, a
>few variations in solos, 2
>new songs, and some breakdowns
>in the songs...like All For
>the Money in You got
>me...IT was the SAME EXACT
>SET as the Summit Festival...

But the songs they played at Lincoln center were their core songs.

Like what they arent going to play "Adrenaline" or "The Next Movement" come on now.

With all those guests they were planning on having their songs had to be the ones sure to get your casual Roots fan amped. Then they filled the rest of the set with guests instead of the obscure Roots songs to make the die-hard fan happy

i think you are being really unfair

and as far as the other shows, you should have known what to expect waaaaaay before you ever set foot in the door

Giving You True Lesson Moderation Since'03
******

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>and as far as the other
>shows, you should have known
>what to expect waaaaaay before
>you ever set foot in
>the door

that's so not true, and if it was, i really feel sorry for both the group that's playin' and the listeners.

yes he should have been prepared, and set length seems to be his biggest gripe

everybody knew that area:one was going to be a 45 minute roots show

everybody knew that the Roots werent doing a lot of their songs on the okayplayer tour, it was a showcase for A LOT of artists

you should have guessed that the Roots were going to get less time at the benefit that the artists who organized the event and were headlining

Giving You True Lesson Moderation Since'03
******

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this is what happens when u go to every single show the roots ever have. duh. this is the same for any band/artist.

try staying home the next few times they come.

& then!, well, then - buy a ticket after you've missed them a few times, see if it's different then.

they didnt play adrenaline....but your right

-------------------------
love what you do
and do what you love

> Set ending with you got me
> - and then solos...
> and I have to sit through
> the same solos over and over.

The roots used to do their solos during the middle of their set, probably around '94 & '95. I saw them perform a matinee show at the old 9:30 Club (which at the time was the new 9:30 Club) and ?uest was off cuz it was his birthday or something. Rhazel beatboxed the entire set and found time to do a solo in between. The set only lasted for an hour tops cuz Rhazel was freakin exhausted. I will never ever forget that shit, truly amazing.

Mad spoiled...i listen to alotta hip hop..but alongside that I listen to alot of jazz, funk, rock, and jambands especially ...everytime they play a show its entirely different. To hear the same exact core songs as I heard at Summit definitely was a disappointment. The same songs, routines and then solos was rough. Even ?uest's solo with him playing off the drum beat from "so fresh and so clean"
I guess this is all just getting me ready to see them at a real show...come back to Hammerstein Ballroom real soon and play some different shit : )

hey music fans are hungry and expect alot its really unfair yea i know im sorry im one of them

-----------------------------------------------------

"i wish i could apologize for what my brothers did but all i can do is say im sorry for the color of my skin, oppressions not something you forgive, and im ashamed to be related to those filthy f**kin pigs!!!"-Operation Cliff Claven

"If It's Gonna Be That Kinda Party I'm bout To Stick My Dick in The Mashed Potatas"

"They live their life in darkness,
They don't seem to channel the light.
They strive for material success
In the process they sell their soul"-Pilfers

"Everybodys rappin' like its a commercial/Actin' like life is a big commercial" -Mike D of the Beastie Boys

"Life Without Knowledge is like Death within disguise"-Kweli

One Love
Reppin Long Island,
RiG AIM-ELVATION22

It's Lincoln Center and they're hyping it up with an "unplugged type performance"
straight up i was expecting them to come on with an orchestra and play some like concert of el desperado and shit...im sure you can see where im coming from somewhat.
Everybodys making a huge deal of them playing in the dark...they played in the dark at summit too...only it was under the stars in a huge field...this was almost a grade down.

-----------------------------------------------------

"i wish i could apologize for what my brothers did but all i can do is say im sorry for the color of my skin, oppressions not something you forgive, and im ashamed to be related to those filthy f**kin pigs!!!"-Operation Cliff Claven

"If It's Gonna Be That Kinda Party I'm bout To Stick My Dick in The Mashed Potatas"

"They live their life in darkness,
They don't seem to channel the light.
They strive for material success
In the process they sell their soul"-Pilfers

"Everybodys rappin' like its a commercial/Actin' like life is a big commercial" -Mike D of the Beastie Boys

"Life Without Knowledge is like Death within disguise"-Kweli

One Love
Reppin Long Island,
RiG AIM-ELVATION22

to this day im still in awe

wooooow, that must have been crazy!

-------------------------
love what you do
and do what you love

what exactly are you looking for in a roots show? myself, im on the other end, i can never say I've been disappointed. summer of 1999, i saw them so much that some of the shows were pretty similar, but thats not their fault.

I've been to over 20 shows and I have not been dissapointed with any of them, if they played the same exact set for all 20 of those shows, I still would've gone to them. Live music is so much more fun to listen to instead of a record, tape or cd, and it doesn't get any better than the Roots live.

look out for them RAW. I mean, strip away the money, the acts, the expectations from them, so that all you have left is thier love for what they do.

Catch them on an off-tour night, like those mom and pop clubs. They will hit the stage early, and leave approximately 1 hour after it's legal to even have a show in the mornin. They will sweat, and let thier souls explode on stage in front of your very eyes. They do it because they love it.

They have shows to promote thier album.
Last weeks show benefited NY from 911.
They open Stadiums for Dave Mathews.
They get booked for good money.

I've seen them on area one, OKayplayer, Dave's Band in Foxborough stadium, Lincoln Center, Philly, Chicago, some I can't even think of right now. They do it for 1 million reasons.

Catch them at a small joint. No BIG money, no Album, web site, or label to promote. Catch them at a small joint. They do it because they love it.

R

well....hmmmmm

this is a lil confusing. i mean you speak "predictible" but--it's like: "do i not do the next movement?"

the way i pace shows is like this:

major cities get new "Spikes": dc, philly, new york, la, chicago, atl,---well...just any city for that much. dallas, detroit, richmond...

club shows are the templet. that's where we stretch out. and if it's a non descript town, you might get the show of all shows. for some reason (let's take last night's show in salt lake city) since there are no exceptations, and really no set standard for shows, the energy just gets better. it's way different than, performing in la knowing that chilli, sam jackson, and emeniem are in the audience watching you.

now i feel no need to switch the show for college or specialty shows (ciggarette sponsered, or benefits) cause most of the time core roots fans aren't there. so it isn't like watching a rerun.

festival shows are a different thing. 45 minutes is quite a good length for a show slot (we usually get 35 mins) but the thing is the rock and a hard place theory: you have to satisfy diehards who paid a good penny for tix (one obscure song), you don't want to lose headliners audience for more than 5 minutes (must do big hit), you have to win new fans by showing why you are a cut above the rest (always win em with a good solo). but with 40 mins and 4 musicians....that's not much time to hit em and quit it. i look at festivals as an advertisment for our real show. and as a result of beck and the beasties taking us to iowa and utah, and new mexico we can now build a great fan base in those cities.

trump cards. trust me. i appraoch each roots show like the most fickle ass fan. so i do have you (your opinion) in mind when i build a show. but the thing is.....die hards make up 20% of the audience, and the remainder is 80%. and those 80 don't come to every show. so wheras you know that we are gonna fuse "dynamite" with doug e fresh's "the show" because we did it at area one, does that mean that it's exhausted because you see us 6 months later in another town? (and lincoln center is the first roots proper show in nyc since 2000....okayplayer, levi's, philly experiment do not count).

and solo's are based on moods. i havn't done "so fresh so clean" since november. i just felt like doing it at the lincoln center. i wanted to play some breaks and 2000 era hip hop is break free (name the last popular drum driven "top billing-esque" hip hop song that makes mofo's respond in 3 seconds.........----my point exactly) so unless when i first started playing that break, you started convulsing in disgust (enough to get a refund) i fail to see where 17 seconds of playing outkast was a bad move on my part. specially when we aint even done a show in nyc since stankonia been out (solos, not--you get point)

again. i appreciate the support. this is how we survive. so i try to make the shows a better experience than the previous one. i never want someone to feel like this aint worth supporting cause "you seen it before". but, in the age of the live show where janet jackson, u2, staind, and limp (shows i've seen more than once) do the same show every night (arrangments, jokes, ad libs..........) i think we do a pretty good job in doing shows. guaranteed the show will be %30 to %40 percent different. whether you notice it or not.

damn have i been typing this long?

you get the point i hope. if it's festivalesque it will be short. if it's a major town (new york, la) there are gonna be guests cause.....cmon now! we are the soundtrack to hip hop...or at least it's houseband. and personally i love "lazy afternoon" like the next diehard. but if it's a show and xhibit wants to rock? vs. lazy afternoon?


sheeeeeeeit!









if i ever went solo, my favorite drummer would be me bragging sig:

"How great are the Roots live? Their drummer.oh my god, he's such a great
drummer. He's so good. So good! Such a great drummer. Is he one of those
musicians that knows how to play everything? He's such a great drummer. I
love them."
-james king

check the resume

organix-93
(from the ground up)-94
do you want more?!!???!-95
illadelph halflife-96
things fall apart-99
(the legendary)-99
the roots come alive-99
phrenology-2002
the tipping point-2004
(the roots present...) 2004
homegrown: the beginne

whoever started their topic probably wasnt prepared for the above response...haha

you arent allowed to say "Live Music Is Dead" ever again. I wont accept it

Giving You True Lesson Moderation Since'03
******

Want something archived? thats what an inbox is for

...the Roots are a dime a dozen.

EVERYONE thinks about their fans and their music that carefully.

Oh wait, that's completely false and live music is 99% profit-motive Disneyland $150 replications.

As we (at one time) knew it? It's dead as...dead.

The Roots, the BSO, fugazi are just living maggots in the corpse.

Alek

______________________________________
LEFT side of the bedroom, fool!
What?! What?!

____________________________
LEFT side of the bedroom, fool!
What? What?

i just said ?uestlove cant say it because the live music he makes is very much alive and incredible

Lead by example and all of that........

Its the same thing with Hip Hop artists saying hip hop is dead.

I mean if its dead, then why are they wasting their time.

Have some confidence in yourself


ps. BSO?

Giving You True Lesson Moderation Since'03
******

Want something archived? thats what an inbox is for

<<personally i love "lazy afternoon" like the next diehard. but if it's a show and xhibit wants to rock? vs. lazy afternoon?


i 100% understand and agree with your point, but damn what i would pay to actually see lazy afternoon just once....that would be dope



wally


R.I.P. Rick Wallace

The Roots show IS way dope, I've seen them at the Tibetian Freedom concert and Area 1 in Detroit. I was lucky enough to be in the front row buggin to them (as best a white person can) and I was lucky enough catch quest's drum stick when he through into the audience.

So as I mentioned before I am blessed in the fact that I have seen them live, but not at a small venue like a house of blues or any thing. Even after you see them, though, you get Roots fever.
The day after I saw them at the Tibet show, I rushed out and bought "Things Fall Apart" (I admit it I wasn't there when Organix came out.) Then after Area One (And after aquiring many other Okayplayer releases) I rented Brooklyn Babylon.

So I just wanna give a shout out to the mighty Roots crew, and about Area One I think that they should have changed the order there was no way that Incubus could have rocked after y'all. And "You Got Me" live with the organic Drum and Bass beat is Fucking awsome quest fucking awsome on the drum. And about Jay Z to all the haters out their sayin the Roots sold out or what ever, The Roots didn't sell out they made him sound better, and you shouldn't hate on some one after they show love like Jay did on MTV's unplugged undercover or whatever that was called. Also It was good publicity for the Roots. some people act like the underground hip hop should be locked in a basement some where, where only the true lovers of hip hop can hear it. However, if you want to make society better through good music you gotta get it out to the masses, so don't hate on the Roots for "sellin out the true fans," because they didn't. Yo I'm out

are you ever gonna perform a show at a small club in a major city, to reward all the die-hard fans (who live in these major cities) with a truly experimental show?

you mean i gotta travel to salt lake city to see 'the show of all shows'?

kudos, ?uest!
I've been in bands since I was 17. Touring since 18. There is nothing more annoying to me than seeing someone night after night pulling the same shit. That's one of the reasons I won't go see any number of bands. Never mind the same schtick every night, it's the same as six months ago! Live music is a forum where anything could and should happen. Different town, different show.

To RiG Money:
It's always best to see a band at one of their own headlining shows. Club shows are by far the best. Festivals are cool for the variety, but they are meant for fans to see a lot of great bands in not a lot of time.
There is no comparison b/w a Roots club show and a festival show. You get more music, and more displays of musiciansip at the club. Plus you have the pleasure of getting to see your favorite band without 5000 of your smelliest friends to ruin your vibe.

peace

I've only seen you guys twice. Once at Woodstock and once at my home town of Rochester. I loved em both. But I do feel a little where this guy is coming from, and this is what I've seen missing from how the Roots play their shit...

The only other live show I've seen that's compared to a roots show is The Dave Matthews Band. I know some Okp's are gonna flip about that comment but that's cause some of these peeps are condesending sleeping assholes sometimes. But anyway. It's not cause of their long drawn out solos, it's not the love ballads or the over abundance of hot chicks. It's the dynamics. Lemme explain...

WHat you guys do on record is unbelievably brilliant. The albums pacing in the track listing and the musical and production progression is perfect thus far, beyond any rock act I've heard. But the energy at a DMB show is something I feel if the roots took into hip hop they could even defeat DMB in their own game. The way hip hop is on record is way differently than performed live. I'm sure ?uest knows this. But, if a song on a roots record has the ill beat all looped up at the same volume it's gonna be just as ill depending on all the other instruments. But if live, you guys were to build up the ends (or wherever the climax is needed) in your tracks like a DMB live song, your whows would be incredible. I mean, can it hurt to stay on the hi hat for a while, open it, stop, do a nasty hit with the band and then move up to the crash cymbal? Not just DMB, but RATM and even how you did some tracks on the Voodoo tour. Chicken Grease comes to mind with the build up jam out session at the end with the "I know ya love me cause I'm funky cause I..." I'm sure you're no stranger to your own music. But besides the fact I wish Kamal would use more than just the rhoades (cause there's a lot more going on in the recordings), your shows have always been ill. And I did mean to go to another show in Rochester but you all cancelled and had De La fill the spot for a Nike commercial I never saw. Whatsup wit dat? Anyway, keep the illness. And this is coming from my experience as a musician since the age of 9. Not just a listener (Though isn't that the most important part of being a musician? whole other topic).

in seeing the roots live!

i heard so many comments prior to seeing them like
"u know when ur in a club and you get that warm feeling when the beat comes in and you just nod ur head? they make you feel that live and they give so much more!!!!" i think it was when the fugees and the roots toured and the roots ended up playing almost a double bill because the fugees had tech problems.

Anyway I wanted to feel that experience, and was hoping the sound would be amazing.....unfortunately it wasn't. but i still in awe!

I understand maybe they want the drums and keyboards to be so loud they pop ur ear drums, but if they aren't balanced properly (don't know the real tech terms) then you can't hear BT properly.
I wanted to hang on to every word he said, listen to whether or not he changes the lyrics, freestyles etc... i heard this muzzled sound from the mic and with the other instruments so loud his voice was sort of lost.

and then i saw the roots on letterman performing you got me.
i said WOW now that's how i want it! i mean did they fix the sound so well for just that one song so that it would be perfect,
or is was it just the quality of the cbs equipment?

As for changing things up, although i've only seen them once, they do things that make you appreciate live music.
they started with without a doubt on the balcony, banging their bells. then proceded to walk through the audience and jump on stage. and when they did a routine for step into the realm...
man who else does that??? they made everyone feel like fam.

anyway the concert me left dying to see another one! i guess i was in awe the whole show. musicians seem like movie stars before you finally see them in concert. it took only ten minutes to feel comfortable.

they're only one cure: give me more!!!

****************************************
Mirror mirror on the wall......JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMN I'M FINE!!! - will smith, fresh prince

If there is peace in the family, there is peace in the world - sai baba

****************************************
Mirror mirror on the wall......JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMN I'M FINE!!! - will smith, fresh prince

?uest your absolutely right...
im just a spoiled brat the point I think is that I see you play too much....and alotta coincidences... (doug e breakdown, outkast drum beat)...thanks even for just sharin with me how it goes ... keep rockin em hard cant wait to see it again...

and yes seeing a huge field in the dark and havin them play the Pros was some sickass shit...atruhead knows what im sayin
peace
adam

-----------------------------------------------------

"i wish i could apologize for what my brothers did but all i can do is say im sorry for the color of my skin, oppressions not something you forgive, and im ashamed to be related to those filthy f**kin pigs!!!"-Operation Cliff Claven

"If It's Gonna Be That Kinda Party I'm bout To Stick My Dick in The Mashed Potatas"

"They live their life in darkness,
They don't seem to channel the light.
They strive for material success
In the process they sell their soul"-Pilfers

"Everybodys rappin' like its a commercial/Actin' like life is a big commercial" -Mike D of the Beastie Boys

"Life Without Knowledge is like Death within disguise"-Kweli

One Love
Reppin Long Island,
RiG AIM-ELVATION22

i really like the roots.. i was soo excited to score free tix to the show in salt lake city a couple of nights ago.. i went and it was all about mosh pit and shit ... i was not pleased.. i guess that's the crowd that the roots attract.. for now i am happy just listening to their cds and watching videos... f live shows...(for now anyway)






**like cleopatra i got the masses at my feet**

____________
things close friends have told me about......

-INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS-
"if miss piggy was a real person she would have to fight off all the black men knocking on her door." -bishop

-LOVE-
"yeah yo, my ideal lady will be like ashan

The average show of the hottest artist in hiphop is nowhere offereing as much as the weakest Roots show..nawmean.
Verses being mumbled,yelling at the engineer or soundman to turn it up....many fill-ins and ad libs.







Str8 outtah Liberty City

Yall share dat- Badu
N E E KeeP Makin music

From this point, I vow to

After having seen the roots 6 or 7 times (I'm lucky, I live in Philly), I have to look no further than the first time I saw them... while in college. They rocked the house for over two hours for a crowd of no more than a few hundred. 95% of the cats there hadn't even heard of The Roots and they were only there because my black ass was on the programming board.

Thank God they came! I was made a life long advocate by them 1) representing and putting on an ILL show 2) doing an inspiring performance despite much acknowledgement from the crowd and 3) at that time there wasn't the "hit" per-say like the jawn with Badu, but they left no stone unturned playing 6-7 songs from the DYWM and 6-7 songs from the current album (Illadelph Half, i think), doing the hip-hop historical lesson and the solos!


The nature of these collabo shows in big cities don't really lend to that type of groove, but know that they are WELL capable and have on numerous occassions put on just the show you are wishing for...


_____________________________________________________
"Trust in God, but lock your doors" - Chinese Proverb

"I don't give a f#%k cause I'm from F-L-I-N-T... so ain't no future in your frontin'! " - MC Breed

Life's a Bink!

"My mind's telling me no... but my body, my body's telling me yes!" - Robert (R.)Kelly


" Do what you feel in your heart to be right-for you'll be criticized
anyway. You'll be damned if you do and damned if you don't."
-- Eleanor Roosevelt

First I have yet to see Roots live show. I almost had a chance to go to one in Milwaukee awhile back. Kinda a long drive though from Iowa. Second I gotta get my hands on The Philly Experiment CD. Yet to see one around here in record stores. I will now shut up and stop whining.


Late
Jake

I think the Roots have gotten progressively better every time I have seen them, with one exception...(the Okayplayer tour in Denver before which their equiptment truck crashed. Quest gave a solid review of the show--but there was really bad sound in that venue--not their fault!!)

I have seen them 5 or six times, and the set list has never been identical. Even if the sets were similar there has always been just enough of a new or different element to make me feel like I got my money's worth and them some, really. But they fact is they come to play HARD every time. What they do is exhausting--night in and night out. Don't get me wrong, this ain't a pity party, but just show some respect.

I swear people on these boards are so hard on the Roots, so stop and think for a minute why you have to come here with all the negative energy!! They are no doubt the hardest working act in hip-hop, if not show business. They bring it real, they bring it live..e'ry time!!

When did the Beasties take 'em to Iowa????