The Roots played two shows Friday night at The Apollo Theater.  Full review of the 11:00 show inside… 

The Legendary Roots Crew played two sold out shows at the Apollo this past Friday and although I’ve seen them enough times that I have to use my toes to count, they proved why they remain the best live show in hip hop.  The Roots’ catalogue is so deep these days that you never know what they’ll perform and Friday was no different.  From new material off the upcoming release Rising Down like the Black Thought flow showcasing ‘75 Bars’ to the old head crowdpleaser ‘Proceed’ and two of my personal favorites ‘Quills’ and ‘In The Music,’ maestro ?uestlove orchestrated a non-stop party.  The intimate atmosphere of the Apollo made the set even more dynamic as every nuance of the performance was amplified.

There were definitely a bunch of highlights that set this show apart from the other times I’ve seen the Roots.  ?uest absolutely killed his drum solo during the politically charged Dylan cover ‘Masters of War,’ pulling drumsticks out of his fro and even using his afropick in a barrage of virtuoso rhythms on his kit.  Black Thought’s ‘Men At Work’ demonstrated his incomprehensible command of the mic with breathe control and flow that easily makes him the best live emcee in the game.  Finally, the Roots have changed their solos a little bit and added a bunch of new covers that really get the crowd moving (e.g. ‘Throw Some D’s,’ ‘Roc Boys’).

It was strange that departed member Leonard Hubbard’s funk and slap bass playing and signature chew stick are no longer, but I have to admit that Owen Biddle (I had to Wikipedia him, The Roots still have Hub listed on their own site as their bassplayer) more than filled his shoes.  Tuba Gooding Jr. is another welcome addition to the Roots crew.  Songs like ‘Star’ and ‘Act Too (Love of My Life)’ were taken to next level with his energetic tuba playing.  Aside from the music, this Roots show was special because of the historic venue which supplied the most humorous moment of the evening when ?uest requested that the crowd boo him so he could know how it really felt to play The Apollo and Tuba started tap dancing him off the stage (a la Showtime, wop wop!).  After an impressive VH1 Hip Hop Honors show in the fall that failed to satisfy my Roots jones (too many covers, not enough Roots material), it was nice to see them return with the hot hot music, the hot music.

-dRes, contributing writer and beatmaker for deadlymelody.com