Matisyahu
Prince of Wales Bandroom, 13 August 2009
On the release of his new single "One Day" and in anticipation of his new album Light, Matisyahu played to a sold-out crowd that was so diverse it felt like a citizenship ceremony.
Earlocks and all, he graced the stage following two ruckus performances by the energetic Snob Scrilla and another New York band by the name of Dub Trio, its drummer a wild replica of Matisyahu himself (although his beard was slightly squarer).
Snob Scrilla's Andre-3000-style raps and rock-a-bye-baby dance moves leading on from Dub Trio's instrumental beats, sweaty and psychedelic, the stage was set. And then rearranged to allow for the headliner's antics, noticeably being the Matisyahu reggae walk, the New York shuffle and his "catch me" crowd surf.
Matisyahu tore it up. His whole set reaffirmed the fact that looks can be deceiving. Dressed in slacks and a New York jumper, hood up, he came across as cleverly mischievous. When the mosh mimed the words to his top tracks "The Youth", "King without a Crown" and the amazing "Jerusalem", Matis sported a cheeky smile that reemerged at almost every moment he realised that he had some serious fans there.
These childlike reactions often turned into him doing something spontaneous: beatboxing, dancing with his eyes closed or his minimal crowd talk where he'd say, "I like Melbourne" or "Are you having a good time?" We were.
When long Bedouin-style notes filled the room with a calming resonance the audience would fall silent and just listen to his voice climb almost hesitantly. His humility was so evident in his delivery and the religious struggle he talks about acted as a encouragement to those in the crowd. "Slam ya fist on the table and make yo demands, make stand" as he says in his song "The Youth".
After his final song, the crowd forced an encore that lasted for another forty minutes, fifteen of which were dominated by a skilled instrumental during which Matis controlled the decks. The standout aspect of his performance was in his ability to maintain such a fast pace in all of his songs.
His rapping stumbles gracefully like a Bob Marley track on fast forward and it's this illusion that is so exciting to watch. On top of this, Matisyahu genuinely enjoyed being there with the crowd on the night, he was enjoying sharing his music, dancing freely and comparatively, so did the crowd.
4 out of 5
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