The Roots and Gym Class Heroes at Roseland Ballroom

While I did not personally attend this show, I had to link to it just out of respect for the title of the article: A Hip-Hop Performance Only A Band Can Deliver. I had asked the question earlier, what mega-superstars were using live bands in a hip-hop show? Well the Roots are, and continue to be, the standard.

Gym Class Heroes opened the show (along with Estelle, more on her later) and I have to admit, I am kinda into them. I saw them at a record label showcase the other week and was totally enamored with their "rebellious yet irresistible high school crush" sound - the kind that your parents loved to hate but you couldn't help but feel giddy over. They perform a playful fusion of hip-hop, rock, and reggae (anyone who knows me even remotely well knows what this fusion means to me, especially with a bit of funk added in) and I was sincerely impressed with their musicianship. I found myself caught up in the female teenage hysteria that was an audience full of the daughters/cousins/sisters/friends of folks from the label. Yes, I was blushing right alongside of them because dang it if Travis McCoy isn't just a little bit cute.

FYI, the last time I felt this way about a group that opened for the Roots back in 2000 they were a little known band by the name of the Black Eyed Peas. What can I say, I got skillz. :)

Check out the NY Times article here.