Since The Roots became the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in March of 2009, some Philadelphian fans became jealous of the distanced relationship that somewhat developed when they signed the deal. The true fact is The Roots are still most loyal to their hometown of Philly, possibly, most evident with their grueling daily commute from Philly to the Big Apple via their tour bus. As cultural musical ambassadors to the city, Questlove and Black Thought represent diversity within music and succeed at introducing the best in music while balancing their own many ongoing projects. A summer staple, this year in its fourth annual installment, The Legendary Roots Crew hosted The Roots Picnic presented at Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing on Saturday, June 4th with an eclectic group of artists ranging from indie rock to jazz to the latest in the rap/hip-hop scene.
Opening the day was duo of solid indie bands, the first being a Brooklyn-based band named Railbird who took the stage around 1:00. Fans who attended the Pre-Picnic Jam on South Street the night before got a chance to see this electro-fusion band at the small warm up gig in a tight setting. Fronted by singer, Sarah Pedinotti, the band pulled together the energy of the crowd and their excitement of opening the festival. Railbird got the crowd going early as they featured their trance-like harmonizingly complex song “No One” and closed with the up-tempo “Hushaby.” Following shortly after was another electro-based band rooted in Sweden called Little Dragon. Lead singer, Yukimi Nagano, dressed in a black, yellow and purple zebra print dress danced rhythmically on stage to the keyboard laced down-tempo beat. The four-piece band’s forthcoming album titled Ritual Union is due out in late July on Peacefrog Records.
To overcome a seemingly irresolvable droning bass feedback issue in the beginning of their set, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros improvised on the fly, creating a spontaneous song of their own to drown out pulsating annoyance. Though, the noise could have been overshadowed by the sound chemistry between the musicians on stage. The ten-piece band fronted by Alex Ebert, known to many as Edward Sharpe, formulated a conversational-type of set as they trekked through songs from their 2009 album Up From Below. Greatly involved with the crowd was Sharpe, as he jumped through the barricade and into the masses at several points during the set, locking hands with a fan at one point to keep himself afloat. Closing their late afternoon set was their catchy whistling incorporated track “Home” that balanced vocals equally between Sharpe and female vocalist/multi-instrumentalist, Jade Castrinos.
During the day, fans at the Picnic could go back and forth between the main stage and the tent stage for the most part, as some of the acts were staggered throughout the afternoon. New to the festival this year was a more developed stage at the indoor tent. Completely sealed away from the sound from the main stage, the indoor tent provided a cool environment where fans could catch smaller names such as Yelawolf, Donn T (Questlove’s sister), Man Man and Mac Miller on a much larger and spread out stage than last year’s festival had to offer.
After releasing her album Chamber Music Society last August, opening for Prince this year and taking home the Grammy for Best New Artist at this year’s Grammy Awards, it’s safe to say Esperanza Spalding has had more than a phenomenal year. In 2008, Ms. Spalding was featured on the main stage at the first ever Roots Picnic and returned this year, only to be backed this year by The Roots and her keyboardist, Leonardo Genovese. Prior to going onstage, it was fascinating to watch Ms. Spalding sing through a progression with Roots-incorporated saxophonist Korey Riker as she assessed the melody and added some last minute feedback. “There’s been talk in the news that jazz somewhat went away, I’m glad you guys don’t believe that,” Ms. Spalding prefaced before cruising into a Weather Report jam. She is proof that jazz is very much alive in today’s new generation of music. So expressive in her delivery, Ms. Spalding’s incredible voice filled the entire venue on the waterfront as she commanded the stage on “I Know You Know” off of her self-titled 2008 debut album.
Once Wiz Khalifa was finished his very predictable and “Black and Yellow” ganja abiding onstage party that featured a small cameo from Freeway, the stage was set for The Roots to take hold of the evening. Just before 9:00pm, the Legendary entered to Tuba Gooding Jr.’s deep sousaphone melody as Black Thought, Questlove and the rest of the Roots Crew took their spots alongside a sax/trumpet/trombone trio and DJ J. Period providing scratch instrumentals. The opening section of their set heavy with the late 1990s – pre-Rising Down The Roots tore through “Proceed,” “Step Into the Realm” and “Concerto of a Desperado.” Black Thought lyrically impressive and equally aggressive as usual, Questlove conducted the band, calling out transitions through the internal on-stage microphone as they dove into what has become the Fallon theme, “Here I Come.” Included also in the first half was a duo of songs from the last summer’s release including “The Fire” (this year minus John Legend) and “How I Got Over.”
When Nas took the stage with The Roots providing the backing, fans roared to his entry as he rhymed on “N.Y. State of Mind,” “If I Ruled the World” and “The World Is Yours.” Dressed with a shirt that read “For Successful Living” Nas devoured verses as he stalked the stage back and forth. The vibe got serious as Questlove put down the beat to “One Mic” and Black Thought stepped back, silenced in respect. The thirty minute appearance seemed to satisfy fans as Nas left the stage following an improvised jam on “Jungle Boogie” and The Roots, fittingly, continued into “The Next Movement.”
As Questlove called it a wrap on the day around 10:45pm fans were hoping that an encore would proceed, though The Roots smoothly exited the stage sending fans off with the “Hustla” recording blasting through the speakers. Questlove insists that the Roots Picnic is only a preview of what is to come this summer on July 3rd and 4th. Returning again to headline the Wawa Welcome America festival taking place on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum, The Roots will once again throw down to a crowd that brings out over a half million devotees each year.
