Matisyahu is reggae enough to get you chillin, hip hop enough to get you groovin, and rock enough to put you in the zone. His is the music of this generation, mixed up, confused, yet in all the chaos, harmonic beauty is still apparent.
Matisyahu was the very last performer, and Elemental Experience had gone wild by the time he got on stage. The crowd had entered into the nth dimension of intoxication, and the family-friendly festival that began that morning -- was no more. Any upset in either the schedule, the sound system, or the energy and San Diego’s Mission Bay would have had a crazed mob on its hands.
Thank God for Matisyahu. His blend of slow reggae beats, hypnotic rhymes, and mellow tempos lullabied the audience into serene state of mind, allowing us to release that drunken pent up excitement into a much safer outlet.
He has this way a singing, of calling out in a perfectly smooth, alto tone that speaks directly to the soul. He led us through climatic peaks, where not only him, but his band built on top of each other, tempos rising, notes heightening, and then CRASH! Like a roller coaster we were sent head first into a deep abyss of meditative, soothing sounds. To listen to him is exhilarating, especially when you’re surrounded by so many people, all feeling the same fusion of emotions and stimulation. I wanted to burst open -- I was experiencing so much, so simultaneously.
Matisyahu is a very positive artist. His music is akin to worship music. It takes you to a higher, altered state. Matisyahu put me on cloud nine, right next to the angels, a few steps away from Moses. I felt enlivened, invigorated, inspired by his mix of Biblical references and modern flows. I mean – who doesn’t like to hear music that talks about Heaven and then catapults you up there to boot?
Apparently no one, since my reaction to his evolutionary sound was matched by everyone in the crowd. The crowd at this point was huge, and some girls climbed on dudes' shoulders, hands raised, screaming for more.
The best part of the show was the dancing guitar strums, the reggae tempo that would sneakily creep up, twisting my hips from the inside, and the constant psychedelic inflections that took us out of Mission Bay, and into the sky.
Summed up in one word: Amazing. A-MAZ-ING.Photo Credit: www.karhton.com