"He didn't perform 'one day'!!"
"that's his best song!!!!!"
I felt the sentiment emanating from the other patrons flocking out of the concert hall behind me. There was camaraderie in our silent but collaborative disappointment.
"How could an artist we so admire not bless us with the piece that most inspires us?"
Then i began to think of the man, and the man behind that used to be behind the beard.
What feeling that song may evoke for this man?
What circumstances was this man under when he wrote this piece of music?
Who are we to judge.
Who are we to take from this man what we cannot return.
Why not be appreciative of what he offered because we got him in the fullness of it all.
Especially since it was such a great concert!!
Matisyahu's Acoustic Sessions concert at the Carnegie music hall showcased jewish reggae singer Matisyahu in an acoustic set with a cello player and 2 guitarist.
We missed the opening act because we had to get tickets, possibly due to the common stereotypes, we're black and alcohol was involved, but we ended up with fairly comfortably seats.
Matisyahu entered the stage with a swift greeting and went straight into his set.
The acoustic session consisted of Matisyahu on vocals and occasional beatboxing, a guy on the cello, plucking and strumming and providing the bass tones for the quartet of musicians with a nice blend of electric and acoustic guitars to top off this musical delight.
After most songs Matisyahu would break into beatboxing and playing music. It worked well, the beatboxed drums added an energy to the songs that I thought was lacking, their were no actual drums in the set up. He was a really good beatboxer, the thump of the kick, the occasional reverb nod on the snare, my companions could not believe he did that with his mouth.
There were 5 lengths of cloth in the rear of the stage that displayed an ever changing array of very intense ambient colors and patterns. This along with the added visual impact of the synchronized light show seemed to relax your mind a bit to better enjoy the acoustics of the instruments.
Matisyahu performed songs mainly from the new album Spark Seeker so I recognized only a few of them.
Every so often though, you would see someone raise their hands or dance a little, but you never got that blast of excitement you get when you hear an artist performs song you know and can sing along to.
In the middle of the set there was a brief question and answer segment
(and someone compared him to Bob Marley…. not judging.. just informing),
a guest artist from Pittsburgh then back into the set.
the acoustics of the acoustic session was nice but I think some drums or some type of percussion instrument would have jazzed it up a bit as the songs did begin to get monotonous. Everyone ,however, seemed to appreciate what was given but we all left wanting for more.
So many of the classics we would have loved to hear just a little piece of.
I wish i could have heard Matisyahu perform, "one day"
…ohh well maybe one day.
written by @orielbarry
CHECK OUT PITTSBURGH REGGAE NEWS EVERY SUNDAY AND THURSDAY AFTERNOON
