The Roots are possibly hip-hop’s best live act, they truly bring the “band” approach to their performances. As such the draw fans from a large array of genres to their gigs, not just the straight-up hip hop heads. A couple of years on from their last Adelaide show, Black Thought and co returned to an appreciative audience. Once again they had Adelaide eating out of their hands from start to finish.

Thebarton Theatre really works as a venue for hip-hop shows- it’s large enough to fit a couple of thousand heads but not so large you can’t get within touching distance of the stars if you so desire. With the venue and headline act to my liking I arrived at the venue, after some annoyance with an over zealous door “nazi” I made it inside just after opening act Mahaliya Barnes wrapped. By all reports all I had missed was my ears being offended by an act that had no place on this bill.

Grabbing a surprisingly well priced beverage from the bar I headed into the arena to catch opening act True Live. The Melbourne hip-hop/drum & bass/jazz act is a band very much like the roots and on stage were a violin and cello amongst other things. The first thing that I noticed was the sound technician had gone way overboard with the bass. Yes they had a lot of speakers to play with but the levels were poor, all bass and no lyrics pounding your ears. True Live have a reputation as an incredible live act but you wouldn’t have known it as they played to a room probably two thirds empty… largely due to the gig’s early start time (a common thing for gigs at Thebbie). Their set was tight and the front man’s desire for crowd interaction was enthusiastically met by those at stage front. By closing track (the Triple J favourite TV) the crowd had been won over and happy to sing the chorus. Solid but not mind blowing would be my assessment.

As I ducked out to refill my beverage and the roadies reset the stage for The Roots I discovered where the crowd was- the bars. Man, I love Adelaide audiences. I returned to the stage area where the room had darkened and the band slid into place. ?uestlove and co would all get their chance to shine throughout the night and as Black Thought burst out, the room erupted. I turned around and to my surprise the room was suddenly full. I’m not really sure where everyone came from, but they had brought with them instant atmosphere. The sound was slightly better but still far to bass heavy, and if you didn’t know the lyrics you were in trouble as the odd dazed and confused face around me showed. Black and band worked through a lot of newer stuff from last year’s Game Theory, pausing to give each band member a generous solo spot to shine. Collectively these are some of the coolest musicians you will ever see and they thrived in their solo instrumental spotlights. A highlight for mine was the middle “covers” medley section, featuring tracks like Talib Kweli’s Get By, Q-Tip’s Award Tour and ODB’s Shimmy Shimmy Ya had the crowd throbbing. The ODB cover in particular had people screaming and arms slamming to the beat. The set was finished with a bang. Perhaps their best known track, Don’t Feel Right, had the crowd voicing as one before the stage descended into darkness, leaving the Adelaide crowd stomping and chanting for more. The band reappeared and lapped it up, playing to everyone; strutting the stage before bursting into The Seed 2.0. Finishing this, they slid into what would have been a ten to fifteen minute funk jam, aka The Meters or a similar soul-dripping sound. Black Thought played to the band members and the crowd- the call and response sections working brilliantly. It was suggested to me after the show that perhaps it was slightly over indulgent and maybe it was… but the entire room was riding every note so it’s hard to find fault.

Sound dramas aside, The Roots killed it. They are each virtuoso performers- a modern day Parliament Funkadelic if you will- or simply a collection of the coolest musicians on the planet. Theirs is a show you go to see for the performance as much as the music and I’m absolutely certain few left disappointed.