live at the metro

(My friend Craig snagged this pic at the show... Thanks Craig!)

On November 17, 2005 I had a musical/spiritual experience unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I, along with five other people, drove down to Chicago, IL to see a performer by the name of Matisyahu play at the Metro. I mentioned his album “Live at Stubb’s” earlier on my blog, but the brief plug did not do this man justice. When we arrived at the venue, we were pretty hurried as we were a little late. So, to be perfectly honest, I was too focused on finding a spot for the concert to look around me and soak in the atmosphere. We found a decent spot to the far left of the stage. Because the venue is pretty small, there really aren’t any “bad seats”. There are only bad people to stand behind. I swear, I had to have been one of the shortest people there, and I’m like 5’6” – not that short! Anyway, our spot wasn’t too bad – only a few tall people in front of us. We stood awaiting the show to start. The crowd started to chant “Matis… YAHU!” Slowly, the well-known banner with the Star of David dominating the center, unrolled, only to bring about more cheers. It was at that point that I started to look around me, and soak in the vast array of people groups attending the shows. Matisyahu represents a group of people that are not typically represented in the rock scene – Hasidic Jews. And he was there to represent them, and they were there in response. As I looked around the room, I realized just how full it was of these religious people. Some of them orthodox and very, very traditional, while some of them remained a little bit harder to recognize. Then, there were those who were there because of their love for reggae, and some for their love of hip hop. Matisyahu presents a pretty good blend of both. This group of people all together to see one artist. So bizaare. But so great.

As the show began, I started to realize that Matisyahu’s albums are not a good enough representative of how good a performer/artist he is. His is an amazing live performer. Not only can he capture what seems to me to be an authentic reggae sound, the man can lay down rhyme and rhythms unbelievably well, all the while pointing the focus towards God. He not only presented songs that were spiritually driven, he also called the audience to “let go” of things that distract us and “cover over” God. He shared an experience of his from earlier in the evening. He had dined with a Chicago rabbi who told him a story about Holocaust survivors and the amount of faith and belief they had, despite the wretched evils they faced during the Holocaust. It was such a sobering, passionate and inspiring story, and one of the most spiritual experiences I’ve ever experienced in a concert. He called for a moment of silence… Silence…At a concert… Brilliant.

One of the things I think is so cool about Matisyahu is his non-traditional approach to the music scene. I saw a pod on him on Current Television, where he talks about the fact that he eats kosher while on the road, he prays and studies Torah every day, and does not participate in the typical “rock star” activities. He’s happily married, and he and his wife actually just welcomed a new little baby into their family. It’s so cool to see someone with such amazing music talent not giving into the “usual” way of rock star living. And he definitely could be considered a “rock star.” The show was sold out. The audience loved him. They screamed and cheered. They lingered around forever until getting kicked out by security. And yet, he is so strong in his faith, and sings so deeply from his soul. Again, brilliant.

The show had its moments of hype, its moments of contemplation and reflection, and what in my heart were “God” moments. I got to experience the concert with five of my friends, which only added to the greatness of this show.

Matisyahu is an amazing performer. If you have the chance to check out any of his albums, I highly recommend it. And if you have the chance to see him live, definitely don’t miss out on that opportunity. He’s going to explode in the music scene… I can pretty much promise you that. He’s amazing…

You can see more pictures on my flickr account (check out the link on the right) and I will hopefully have a better, more well-written review of the show up on Relevant at some point in time.