I was super psyched when I got tickets to see The Roots at the Hollywood Bowl last Sunday night. Personally, I would say The Roots are easily one of my favorite bands. The genius of Questlove's beats, and their jazzy, innovative approach to hip hop with live instrumentals makes them one of the best bands to see live these days in my opinion. Needless to say, I was looking forward to getting that actual experience that I could almost feel the moment I got those tickets.
However when I got to the Bowl, the concert was not anything near the sick bass lines, jamming beats that I expected from The Roots. The performance was inspired by the late poet Langston Hughes' poems, Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz. The concert featured a opera singer paired with jazz from the Roots, and classical music from the LA Philharmonic, and other singers, which did not mix well for the summer jam I expected. Although, Questlove love stole the show in one movement where he had a 5 minute solo. In the twelve movements, you could also hear Hughes speak many of his poems which went well with the music. Composer Laura Karpman explains, it's "Creating a piece of music that crosses genres, Jazz, Classical, Hip-Hop - to see all of them interact together in a meaningful way, is transformative." The concert was more educational, and metaphorical than jammable, with lyrics centered around race, the black movement, and struggles in America. Although I found the concert interesting and artistically successful in portraying poetry through the sounds of the music, it was not what I wanted to see.
One thing I learned Sunday night is to not be so quick to go to a concert based on preconceived notions. (Not to dismiss that The Roots are great live, they are). Some of the best concerts I have seen have been at small, lowkey venues with unknown artists, who perform amazing live. I think The Roots still honor this concept of playing small close venues as well, however. The Roots play in "jam" style setting, every so often in NYC, for a small audience of about 100, for a 10 dollar cover charge. They still understand and appreciate the concept of a small gig atmosphere.
But the larger point is that just going to familiar, mainstream shows is not always a winner. Often, you will come to hear a certain song, and the artist won't even end up playing it, leaving you disappointed. Some of the best live music experiences are from new small artists you know not much about.
I am not saying that I won't be going to those big concerts with huge expectations in the future, but I think we all need to remind ourselves of discovering those raw unadulterated shows every now and again.
- Will
