My passion for The Roots ...

... continues to grow. I saw them perform LIVE in Cleveland on Thursday, March 15. What an energetic show! They are such an incredibly talented band. ?uestlove was a beast on the drums; Capt Kirk rips the guitar and he just brings fire to the stage; Black Thought was looking scrumptious in his rock star suede jacket; the whole crew was on point ... they even had a four-piece brass band complete w/a sousaphone!

They performed "You Got Me" in their true LIVE performance style-they stretch it out and Kirk lays down this thunderous and sexy solo ... ooooooh. For this show there was also a James Brown tribute. It was nice; I liked the funky soul train line as the band was introduced, but then ... it was over. I mean, I was completely wound up and aching for more and it was a wrap.

Lest I forget that when a Roots show is done, guess what happens? The concert-goers go home ... true, but before that, the band's infamous drummer signs the drum sticks and tosses them out to the audience. Damn, I'd forgotten because I had really hoped they would do an encore. At any rate, I am still w/o a signed drum stick from ?uesto. The good thing is I know that my fate is not doomed; no it is not.

There is one tidbit: as I was talking to a friend when the show was over, Kamal, The Roots keyboardist, walks by and I sort of tap him and say "hey, good show; I drove two hours to see this show AND I am your biggest fan!" (though I know that I am not their biggest fan). He nodded and shook my hand ... and kept it movin.

I am waiting for my friend Pam to email me some pix from last night. There was a bevy of cameras: cellphone, digital, video ... I figure why should I take pix when someone w/a really good camera can just share their goods w/me ... ?

So, you already know that The Roots are my fav band. But what you did not know is that I have seen them perform LIVE four times in the past eight months - AND ALL FOR FREE! Oh, and all in Cleveland. That is pretty awesome.