BY ANNA ZALOKOSTAS

In print | November 8, 2007

This Saturday I did something new: I stopped doing homework before 6 p.m. (actually, I stopped at 4:30 — CRAZY, I know) and then I went to go see The Roots, Hezekiah, and some seriously incredible light shows. Starting off Saturday’s Large Scale Event with solid synth-funk and hip-hop beats, Philadelphia native Hezekiah and DJ Static got the 800 or so students in Land Performing Arts Center dancing, moving, bopping, calling and responding, shouting back “You psycho! / You psycho!” to fill in the lyrics of his song “Psycho Chicks,” and even jumping on stage, in the case of two awfully brave girls, to lithely dance along to “I’m Single Now.”

Though Hezekiah’s fusion of live and electronic hip-hop did certainly engage the crowd, it wasn’t until The Roots entered the stage that LPAC thundered with cheers. The floor of the lower level started shaking in a way that eerily reminded me of that precarious looking bridge you had to somehow manage to get all your Zoombinis across during fourth grade computer class. Roots crew members MC Black Thought, ?uestlove, Captain Kirk, Kamal Gray, F Knuckles, “Tuba Gooding Junior” and Owen Biddle started off the night with a beautifully grand, jazzy symphonic sample of songs off their newest album, “Game Theory,” before they plunged into a long series of pop covers.

While many students enjoyed this part of the concert most, since songs like “Sexy Back” and “This Is Why I’m Hot” were ones they’d heard before and had fun dancing to, others could not help but see the irony of the situation.

“All I can do is frame it within the context of a spectacle of global capitalism,” Dennis Hogan ‘10 said. "This concert is an example of how something which is hip-hop, which was originally against the dominant culture, has been integrated into the dominate consumerist market, and I couldn’t help, as much as I enjoyed the concert, thinking about how The Roots were here, putting on a spectacle, because we paid them money to put on something spectacular."

Though it seems that some people could have gone for a few more Roots songs in place of the Paces-reminiscent covers, one of the most memorable songs of the night was, in fact, a cover — a Roots-ified version of Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War.” Starting out by singing Dylan’s lyrics to the tune of the Star-Spangled Banner, The Roots introduced the song in the context of contemporary politics and talked about how Bob Dylan actually took a stand and protested against the things he didn’t believe in. Though that statement wasn’t necessarily accurate, the lengthy jam session and the crescendo of instrument solos that ensued was unquestionably one of the highlights of the night.

Regardless of what you thought about the covers, it’s undeniable that The Root’s performance on Saturday night was positively thrilling and one of the best that Swarthmore has seen in a long time. Rachel Baumann ’11 said that the legendary crew “did a great job interacting with the crowd,” and that she “especially liked the tuba player,” whose stage presence and smooth harmonies were beyond the realm of impressive.

David Weeks ‘10 said, "I was really impressed by their ability not to just regurgitate their songs, or their top hit list. I felt like they gave us a show in the real sense of the word, in that they displayed their musical talent. I mean, they had the balls to play ’This Is Why I’m Hot’ and then they went into that Bob Dylan thing, which I think is a real testament to ?uestlove’s ability as a drummer. Those two things put together are what really made the show, and are what makes the difference between a Roots concert and, say, a Wu-Tang show."

Of all the people I spoke to, I don’t think anyone left Saturday night’s concert feeling like they saw anything less than one of the greatest 20 live acts in the world.

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