Perth was lucky to have one of the most smooth, polished and talented live hip hop acts come play this Saturday, on stage sporting their greatest hits as well as some unexpected extras.

I had been drilled to be at Metro’s quite on time as the show would start early, but was unexpectedly put in line around 8 o’clock, as doors only opened around 845. First up was Mahalia Barnes, famous daughter of Jimmy, with her two band members, Danny Spencer and Ben Rodgers. She was truly great, her voice echoing over the gathering crowd members with covers of Aretha Franklin and Ike and Tina Turner. The only issue I had was that her music made me want to sit down and cry, it was all melodious and beautiful, but did not really get me in the mood to ‘boogie’.

Second up was surprise act Downsyde, playing their hits Lesfortunate, Don’t Ya Know and El Questro They were great, and were a nice warmer for the main act, the moment we have all been waiting for…

Roots came on confident and strong announcing themselves as the strongest and best hip hop act in the world. Arrogant? Maybe. Disappointing? No. For those who do not know the band, a brief introduction, as this 6 piece live band that have produces 7 successful albums so far consists of some amazing musicians that really light up the stage, each and every one talented and experienced in live performing. In no apparent order, we saw Black Thought on vocals, ?uestlove on drums, Kamal on keyboards, Hub on Bass, F. Knuckles on percussion and last but not least Capt. Kirk on Guitar.

Judging from their show in Sydney we were treated to a very similar formula. All musicians gave a very impressive solo act throughout somewhere in the 2.5 hours as they played through the greatest hits, with a special mention to Questlove’s drum solo- what an amazing amount of energy!

The set seemed continuous, apart from the encore, and they worked through songs like Act Too, Got me, The Next Movement, Stay Cool ,In The Music, The Seed. They also did a set of cover with everything from Salt n Pepper to Zeppelin’s land of the Ice and Snow.

They were absolute enigmatic on stage. If I could say anything constructive, it would that they seemed extremely polished; giving a show that was not improvised and unique to Perth- in stead the show was slick and perfect. As an audience it is nice to feel ‘special’, like you are treated to a show no one else had, but is almost stretching it as a complaint.

Anyone who likes a good live act- the Roots are an absolute must see. They are so hypnotic; you are literally glued to the stage for the full set. The musicians mix the smooth hip hop with the speedy lyrics, some sultry jazz and some rhythmic blues. Well worth going, even if you are not a fan, I can assure you will be at the end of the night!