The Observer, October 6, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 6
Even "scientists" enjoyed UPB-sponsored Roots performance
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"Why are y'all so serious? Y'all look like a bunch of scientists or something!" said Black Thought, the Roots' frontman and MC, to the crowd.
If he only knew.
Last Saturday night, the Roots came to campus for the fall concert put on by UPB in the Adelbert Gymnasium. The concert started out relatively slow due to a low level of audience interest, but by the end, the crowd had become so energized that it was like a completely different set of people.
The doors to the concert opened a little after 6:30 p.m., but only a smattering of people had shown up to get front row spots. When I arrived around 6:45, about 40 or 50 people were there. Most were crowded around the very front of the stage; some had claimed seats on the bleachers lining the walls, and others were standing around towards the back getting drinks.
After milling around and getting a drink, I grabbed a spot close to the stage on house left. Seven, the scheduled time for the show's start, came and went. More and more people started filling in, but according to a ticket-seller at the door, UPB had only sold about 450 of the 1200 or so tickets before the concert; they were hoping to sell the bulk of the remaining tickets at the door.
Around 7:30 p.m., the opening band came out, and those milling around wound their way up to the front. We were all pushed closer to the stage, and I found myself in a prime spot, with only a row of very short people between me and the stage.
The opening band was a group from Tennessee that called itself Scratch Track. Scratch Track consisted of two men, Jason Hamlin on guitar, and DJ Lee on vocals, qho sang, rapped and beatboxed, producing a unique, organic sound. The crowd, though, didn't seem terribly receptive. The energy level was quite low. Some people looked bored; the clapping and cheering that followed each song was a little anemic. The singer commented on this, scolding us for being a bad audience.
"Try nodding your heads," he told us at one point, demonstrating by nodding his head to the beat. "It'll make listening more fun. I promise." Some started nodding their heads, but that quickly died. He tried getting us to sing along with the chorus during one song, but that too died quickly. However, the audience's energy picked up during Hamlin's prolonged guitar solo.
Scratch Track left the stage, and some stage managers for the Roots came on and started rearranging the equipment, turning amps and preamps on. Finally, after what seemed like forever and a day, the Roots came out and took to the stage. Black Thought and ?uestlove opened the concert with a duet of sorts in complete darkness; the lights came on, and the rest of the members came onstage.
They started with a long back-to-back sequence of songs from their newest album, Game Theory, which came out in late August. They left no time for applause. The crowd's energy level was still really low though, to the point that frustration was visible on Black Thought's face. When applause finally came, it was loud, but at the same time tepid, like the crowd had been half asleep but knew it was supposed to be enthusiastic.
But you don't perform for 20 years without knowing a few tricks to warm up a crowd, and Black Thought used the oldest and best one in the book. He made fun of us for being boring. He went for the proverbial balls: he called us scientists. He later remarked that we were the most serious, organized, tame audience he had ever seen, and he did an impression of the average audience member: he dropped his mic to his side, stood stock-still, and opened his eyes up wide.
That helped a lot in getting the crowd to warm up, but what really did the trick was when the band members each started doing solos, starting with the bassist. After a few more songs, the drummer, the iconically afroed ?uestlove, took a solo with the other percussionist, F. Knuckles. Then, againafter a few songs, the guitarist took a solo, and the crowd's energy reached critical mass, and people started dancing and waving their arms and actually having a good time.
And when the crowd started having a good time, the show got even better. The band took back energy from the crowd and gave it back double, improvising and playing off each other. They launched into a medley of covers, from Alien Ant Farm to Fat Joe. They weren't called one of the best live acts in the world by Rolling Stone for nothing – it became really great.
And then, the music stopped. "Sorry y'all, party's over!" said Black Thought, about to leave the stage. But the crowd yelled and screamed, and they came back on for another set. Finally, the concert ended for real.
The band members took their bows, and ?uestlove tossed a few autographed drumsticks into the crowd. And, it was over. All in all, it was a great show. Despite the low energy of the beginning, (which is really the fault of the scientists), the Roots turned in a great performance. If you missed it, the next opportunity to see a big band on campus will be Springfest.
