Erykah Badu is a live wire of epic proportions and the Roots are the best major chilled out Hip Hop group-featuring-a-live-band. Almack contributor KJI went to Radio City to check out the scene while we were getting our eyeliner-cryface on at the My Chem/TBS show:

The collective successes of Erykah Badu and the Roots are nothing short of a cultural phenomenon – cultivated by the dramatic opening of the Hip-Hop mind over the past decade or so. The living legends’ abilities to seamlessly weave Hip-Hop with live instruments, singing, and constant reinvention made them a divine pairing from the start. Couple that with a long-lasting mutual kinship, and the Vortex Tour was born.

The show began promptly at 8pm – a huge break from the norm, where Hip-Hop shows usually won’t start for hours. Fans were shuffling in for the first half hour or so, missing a considerable portion of the Roots’ set, equally shocked by their punctuality. The new school Roots crew was individually introduced by name, including the most recent additions Capt. Kirk (guitar), Owen Biddle (bass), Frederick Knuckes (percussion), and Tuba Gooding Jr. (tuba). It’s strange to witness Black Thought and ?uestlove as the last original members of the Roots crew (even Kamal came later, replacing that Scott Storch guy on keys).

The Roots began with a dedication to the family of Sean Bell as they segued into “Criminal,” where the ferocious percussion and intense force behind Black Thought’s vocals ignited their passion toward resisting injustice. The heat was lifted once “Star/Pointro” began. The song’s sample may suggest “Everybody is a star…” but many lack the inherent qualities the Roots in their stage presence.

After an extended jam session, “You Got Me” followed, where an absence of Erykah Badu bewildered most, since she was probably standing backstage cheering them on. Capt. Kirk took Badu’s part, and did the same for “The Seed 2.0”, as he got his Jimi Hendrix on, sliding his guitar around him like a Harlem Globetrotter with a basketball. The magic continued through a Curtis Mayfield cover of “Move On Up,” which followed into the Kool G Rap and DJ Polo cover, “Men at Work,” where Tuba Gooding Jr., Capt. Kirk, F. Knuckles, and Owen danced around, entertaining everyone with the same spirit that Kamal, Thought and Scratch used to years back when they would throw bows and bop in unison during live shows.

Despite the short 45-minute set, the band was greeted with a standing ovation at the close of their performance, leaving the crowd waiting with bated breath for Miss Badu to hit the stage.

The long intermission only built anticipation for the headliner. At 9:30, the curtains rose to a purple hazed backdrop with four backup singers and musicians varying from an electric flute player to a congalero. Badu strutted on stage in a layered short black dress and bouffant wig-hat. She emerged like the love child of Diana Ross and Dinah Washington. At the front of the stage was her “workstation” – a laptop, refreshments, a chair and a beat machine, where she conducted a digital orchestra as she seductively leaned over her laptop in between sets to play various rap loops and scattered sci-fi snippets that created this psychotropic aura of an extraterrestrial dimension.

Erykah opened with the funk-charged “Amerykahn Promise” as she welcomed everyone to the Vortex addressed by multiple nicknames, including the most appropriate “analog girl in a digital world.” She followed into “The Healer” the urbanized elixir as she cooed, “It’s bigger than religion, Hip-Hop.” The show was an elaborate collection of Erykah’s finest moments from New Ameryah Part One and beyond. She led “My People” with a djembe solo that faded to black as the lights came on to a snippet of Milk Dee’s “Top Billin” before starting the crowd favorite “On & On.” Hearing Erykah sing with diverse range conjured up the memories of her career and the stylistic switches she has made to not only remain relevant, but allow for fluid progression. She shocked the crowd switching from deep heavy vocals to whistle tones with the greatest of ease.

Erykah has the makings to become Hip-Hop’s Madonna, only with a built-in social commentary (and vocals to match) that could induce a peaceful war of words, flawlessly displayed on many of the songs she performed, including “…& On,” “Other Side of the Game,” and her projected next single, “Soldier.” She removed her itchy wig-hat and slid through “Orange Moon” to exit the stage for a brief DJ, percussion, and drums battle. She re-emerged in a simple black outfit to create a Cirqu du Soleil meets Laugh-In rendition of “Green Eyes,” complete with red medicine balls and blue/green sheets. Erykah’s biting wit and sarcasm eagerly bleeds through her abstract intelligence. So while the humor is less obvious to those who don’t know her musical personality, it still comes across as deliberately campy; still hilarious.

The conclusion of the evening was prompted by “Bag Lady” and “Tyrone,” with an impromptu wedding proposal between fans. The Vortex Tour proved to be a mind-bending experience, just as Erykah Badu envisioned it. The fact that neither the Roots nor Erykah relied on each other while on stage as they had in the past shows how they’ve both matured in both fame and musicianship to the point where they can wow the world separately.

In all of her spectacular kookiness, Erykah managed to declare the unequivocal message that her music is meant to move you in mind, body, and spirit. As Erykah says, “wrap your head with that material…”

Source: Almack's DanceHall

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