June 14, 2006 @ 1:49 pm

The Roots with Special Guests

by: Jalylah Burrell

A throwback to their high school days performing for spare change on Philadelphia's South Street, the two Roots founding members appeared alone on the darkened stage shrouded in an ominous purple haze. As the sparse but satisfying arrangement wound down, the remaining Roots members stepped onto the stage for the first of two extraordinarily hyped sold out shows memorializing recently deceased producer Jay Dee.

right Billed as "The Roots with Special Guests" and promising a host of cameo appearances, The Roots wasted little time warming up. The hip hop band sped through a few scattered selections before rousing the audience with a reconstruction of the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache", the sample for Nas's fiery anthem "Made You Look." The Queens native hit the stage and ventured into his 2002 hit before journeying through the album versions and remixes of "It Ain't Hard to Tell" and "The World Is Yours," forgetting his fair share of lines along the way to the indifference of the ecstatic crowd.

As Nas capped off his set with "If I Ruled World" featuring Roots backing vocalist Luna E. on the hook, all in the packed hall were on their feet including The Roots news boss, grinning Island Def Jam Chairman, L.A. Reid.

The rest of the concert consisted of animated but expected performances by Big Daddy Kane, Common and a seemingly sleepy Talib Kweli who nevertheless succeeded at getting the crowd high with his reflective anthem "Get By."

With Kweli's set winding down and VIP's Alicia Keys, Ed Bradley and Hot 97's E-Bro discreetly slithering into the famed venue, the crowd rocked restlessly on their heels for a jolt of energy from one of many rumored surprise acts but were flat footed by a Musiq-less "Break You Off" and an extremely extended solo by Roots guitarist Captain Kirk.

Dave Chappelle slipped onstage after an irritatingly loud version of The Roots next single, "Don't Feel Right," but swiftly skittered off after flashing a wide-eyed smile. Soon after Rahzel, The Godfather of Noize, a former Roots member, took over the waning concert with an improbable 20 minute beat boxing clinic as The Roots congregated stage left.

Before bidding adieu, The Roots rushed through the "The Seed" and bowed gratefully to the hearty applauses and made way for the roadies to break down the equipment. But even as the house lights were raised a good many concert goers stood stuck visibly confused by the anticlimactic course of events.

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Article tags: The Roots, The Roots With Special Guests, Black Thought, ?uestlove, Talib Kweli, Nas, Common, Big Daddy Kane 

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