The Roots' Picnic

In case you didn't hear about it, The Roots hosted a bunch of other bands for an all-day event here in Philly on Saturday and called it "The Roots' Picnic". It was extremely HOT too (about 98º F). So, all day I was amazed that the acts were performing as though they were in a nice air-conditioned room. I missed The Roots' first 2 sets unfortunately (yes they playe 3 times!!) and I missed J-Davey (she's soooo fine). The Cool Kids were finishing their set and all I can say is DAMN!! First off, I've seen soooo many hip-hop shows so I'm not easily impressed. But for a new group that most of the crowd had never heard of they had everybody's attention. Tons of energy and great crowd control and as a bonus, they make some dope music.

I don't know who the next band was but wasn't really into them either. Maybe I was just a little anxious to get a beer. Next on the stage though was this group I hadn't heard of called Deerhoof. I'll definitely be checking for their music though. Their stuff reminds me of some of the mid-80s New York punk/funk stuff which I'm a huge fan of (although I haven't dedicated much time to really learn much about it yet).


I was really there just to see Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Roots & Gnarls Barkley though. I couldn't believe Blinky Griptight was still wearing the full black suit in that weather...for the whole show!! They killed it!! About 90% of the crowd didn't know who they were but it didn't matter. When a group is that tight, people can't deny that it's good. It was refreshing to see all these people who would probably never listen to them music totally appreciating what they were witnessing.


Next was The Roots. I don't have to explain....they one of the best shows in all of music. I can't say that it was the best Roots show I've seen but, they're always amazing. Oh....Leonard Hubbard came out for a couple songs and did one of his insane solos!!! I was surprised/disappointed that they didn't have a bunch of people do guest spots with them like usual. All that talent there and nobody else came out to perform with them.





Gnarls Barkley was good too. Their show was almost too clean though...the band was so tight that it sounded almost identical to the albums. They were 'crazy' though (sorry, I couldn't resist). Cee-Lo is incredible!!! I'm sure most of us have see live performances of them online so, I won't bore you with more commentary. Oh...but ?uestlove did come out and jam with them for 2 songs- one on traps and one on percussion.