Colored Yarmulkes, Israeli Defense Force T-Shirts, and billowing clouds of Marijuana smoke were among the more common sites and smells at part two of WFNX’s “Best Music Poll.” This time around FNX brought out the big guns, boasting such “A-list” artists as former Phish-head gone-Chasid Matisyahu, and modern-day storyteller Atmosphere. The lineup was eclectic, but the emphasis was clearly placed on hip-hop.
Headlining the event was Matisyahu. It’s questionable if anyone in the crowd would have even heard of America’s favorite Chasidic homeboy 18 months ago, but a lot has happened to the man formally known as Matthew Miller since then. Scoring a top 10 video on MTV, and making the cover of Rolling Stone will do that for an artist’s career. Having been initiated into the star-making machine so early in his career, and in such a short span of time, it stood to be determined how his ego would be affected. To say his success hasn’t affected his ego would be an understatement, but his ability to perform and work a crowd clearly grows with the ever-increasing volume of the cheers of his fans.
Opening his set with his newest single “Jerusalem,” Matisyahu was ambushed by a crowd already worked into a frenzy by Atmosphere’s prior performance. After taking the stage, he disappeared behind the curtains again for a few seconds, allowing the anticipation of everyone present to build just a little bit longer. Dancing around the stage, and climbing on top of full-stacked bass amps, Matisyahu displayed significant comfort in front of the large crowd, one that has developed at an unusually fast pace.
Marking the middle of the set, Matisyahu broke out his world famous beat-boxing method, lacing standard beat-box tactics with harmonizing that’s reminiscent of group prayer at the Wailing Wall, the holy site of world Jewry.
After the first few tunes of the set, it was clear to everyone present that the entire performance was being built up to the man’s biggest hit, “King Without a Crown.” In keeping with his fans expectations, he closed his set with the predicted hit; sloppy-yet-rocking guitar solo and all. Leaving the stage, the overwhelming chants for an encore were deafening. Not even the overnight success that MTV can bring will let an artist ignore the chants Matisyahu faced at Boston’s Bank of America Pavilion. Heeding their calls, Matisyahu gave his fans one last song before closing the festivities for the night.
All in all, Matisyahu proved that his “Chasidic-Reggae-Superstar” gimmick is just that, but he has the skill, and the material to back his gimmick up. What stands to be told is whether or not his fans will grow old of the gimmick and move on to whatever else our attention deficit plagued generation gets distracted by next. Regardless, everyone in attendance was in agreement that Matisyahu lived up to his hype, drawing applause from the audience that surpassed everyone else WFNX billed as the best in music. And that’s something that even the most cynicism-prone music critics can’t knock.
Photos by Adam Foley
