Matisyahu Show

Saturday night Matisyahu (a Jewish Orthodox singer/ beatboxer/ composer) was in Rio performing at Circo Voador, so of course I took the opportunity to see him again live. I had already seen him once in Kansas City last summer, but his set was super short because it was Friday night and he had to quit before the sunset for religious reasons. Kinda sucky because he's so great live, but Saturday night he played forever! It was so fabulous and transcendent his melodic voice and the heavy dub bass lines. It's interesting because he doesn't say much, but his stage presence is captivating and when he does finally say something, everyone listens. He played most of my favorite songs: Exhaultation, One Day, Jerusalem, and Chop Em Down. Unfortunately, no Warrior, but it was still a wonderful show. Each song had a momentary jam out session in the middle where he would get into an almost trance for a moment and then break out into dance skipping around the entire stage. There was one part in the beginning where it looked like he was having some sort of tantric moment while he was, what looked to be, chanting--a spiritual orgasm on stage.

Before the show, they showcased a documentary called Dub Echoes about the creation of dub in Jamaica and its influence in the world of music. It was very fascinating to see how much dub (or rather, a rich bass line, where the bass is the main melodic emphasis) has influenced punk, rock, r&b, really all types of music. Dub is a strong musical statement that can be hypnotic and moves the body, literally. It's long sound waves penetrate your heart and make it bounce. As Bob Marley said, "...music, when it hits, you feel no pain."