The legendary Roots crew, and the pageant of symbols...

I've seen The Roots on a few occasions. All in Austin. Always amazing. Last night was no exception. What WAS an exception was the general... atmosphere of the setting in which they played.

I knew that they'd be in town for 3 nights. I knew last night would be the most accessible for me, being at BB King's in Times Square. I also heard that ?uestlove would be spinning, which is something I've wanted to see for a while. So I bought my ticket online, showed up to the venue right as the doors were opening, and walked into the equivalent of a 1968 Black Panther rally. No lie. There were SEVERAL people introducing themselves on stage as "Black Panthers for life". Which is fine. Whatever. I didn't wear my "Whiteboy" t-shirt (though I was strongly tempted to before I left - again, thinking I was going to a "Roots" show), so I figured, "I'm fine".

The first group comes out, a new local act with 3 rappers and a dj. They're in uniform. First words. "Black Power!" I think, "man, this is... neat."

"Hold up those black fists. I wanna see 'em all! Black Power!"

(At this point, should I put up a very white fist? Should I NOT?!?!? Should I just squat down on the floor and start text messaging friends? Should I just turn and walk away like I'm disgusted or scared in the first 10 seconds?)

Black August turned out to be probably the best performance I've seen by the Roots (yes, I stayed until the end - all 5 1/2 hours), and also the best possible culture shock for breaking me into the New York hip-hop scene. There are DJ's who are white, culture vultures who go to hip-hop shows who are white. There are writers, photographers, and media personalities who are white in the hip-hop world. Then there are people like me. Who don't know the meanings of the Black Muslim names that are thrown around. Who don't wear hats with the tags still on, and baggy shorts that reach to the tops of perfectly cleaned shoes.

I just like the music. I REALLY like the music. ?uestlove was so on his game last night, it was frightening (so I hardly noticed). Captain Kirk Douglas has officially made me fall back in love with guitar solos again. And Malik B. (bass) is ... really snazzy.