If It's Too Loud...

I've been actively trying to see bands that I've never seen before or haven't seen in a decade or two. Even though I've been a fan of The Roots since the late 90's, and despite the fact that they have been playing shows consistently in that time, I've never actually seen them. I've loved Digable Planets since 1993, and I've also never seen them. The only artist of the three that played MGM Music Hall at Fenway on Sunday night was Arrested Development, and that was at my second ever concert (Peter Gabriel's WOMAD festival which also included Midnight Oil and Live). Obviously, the Hip Hop is the Love of My Life tour could not be missed. Sunday night's show completely ignored the usual concert format of Band #1, break, Band #2, break, Band #3, break. The Roots took the stage at roughly 8:15 pm and did not leave until just before 11:00 pm. It was a nearly three hour marathon performance that included the Philly hip hop legends acting as the backing b...

I can honestly say I had no idea that Arrested Development were still making music. I'm pretty sure I knew that they were still doing shows, but I assumed it was purely on the nostalgia circuit. One thing that is truly shocking is how good their latest single is. Any release by a band that has been around for over thirty years can be iffy at best, and that seems to be particularly so with hip hop. But "Vibe" is shockingly good. Arrested Development always had a laid back vibe to their blend of progressive and positive hip hop, so you don't have to worry about them getting more mellow with age. "Vibe" sounds exactly what you'd expect Speech and his group to sound like in 2021. They are hip hop elder statespeople at this point, and this one is going to hold up with how you remember them. Plus, Big Daddy Kane joins them for a verse, which is a stylistic clash I never would have expected in the early 90's. You can watch the video for "Vibe" bel...