Last month I attended a live performance by the Roots. The show took place at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California. Once inside the venue I was surprised to see how small the club actually was. I have seen The Roots three times prior to the 15th at venues where it was impossible to be within fifty feet of the stage. All you had to be was inside the House of Blues and you were within fifty feet. A peaceful crowd of claustrophobically close Roots fans gathered to watch the most original, pure form of hip-hop music today performed live. No group combines a rapper with a drummer, keyboard, bass guitar, guitar, conga drums, and a vocal percussionist. Before the beginning of the second song Black Thought (lead vocalist) started with this message to the crowd, "we are the original article, no additives, no preservatives,".
Vocal Percussion or "beat boxing" has been around since hip-hop music began. DJ Skratch of The Roots is a human DJ. His solo was my favorite part of the show. Skratch can almost any beat with his mouth, he did Wu-Tang Clan beats and many other recognizable songs. His ear piercing scratching of extremely high tones made my ears feel at times like they were bleeding. Being a Roots fan it was a lot of fun to just see some of my favorite songs performed ten feet from where I was standing. The only thing that displeased me was the ending of the show. Instead of the Roots doing another song for the encore the brought out some rock singer to do the last song of the night. I hope I can afford to go and see the Roots next time there in town, his show cost almost 40 dollars. I think that the roughly 500 people got their money's worth. .
