Matisyahu for Beginners.
Two things happened in Atlanta this weekend, the second of which I wasn’t expecting. First, my wife and I scored major “parent points” with our daughters by taking them to their first real concert. We planned the trip more than two months in advance. The $120 outlay for tickets was our pleasure. But what I didn’t expect was to leave the Matisyahu concert that night thinking I had just seen one of the greatest musical performances of my life.
Matis who?
Try to envision a Hasidic Jew with long, curly locks, a bushy beard and skull cap standing on stage in a smoke-filled venue cranking out the best darned Reggae you’ve ever heard. It’s a mind-bender, I know. But Matisyahu is no freak show. He’s the real deal when it comes to his religious faith. Take the lyrics to his best-know song, “Jerusalem,” for example. “Jerusalem, if I forget you, let my right hand forget what it’s supposed to do.”
But this is more than an amateur music listener’s concert review. This is about stating a fact. And that is, as concerts go, there was an importance to this one. I could sense it. So could everyone else. The acoustics in Variety Playhouse were perfect, and Matisyahu was larger than life. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that a film crew was on stage capturing each moment, or that a digital microphone tower was set up in the row behind us. This concert was being recorded. If Matisyahu’s Live at Stubbs performance in Austin, Texas catapulted him to fame, his concert in Atlanta over the weekend will surely be his next album.
It was just…that…good!
The funny thing is, I’ve never been much of a Reggae fan. Don’t ask me why. Maybe it’s the mind-numbing two-chord tempo, or the familiar image of Bob Marley shrouded in ganga smoke. But when a Hasidic Jew dressed in traditional garb bellows, “My spirit needs fitness, that’s why I flip this,” in beatbox, you listen. No matter who you are. No matter your taste in music.
Matisyahu. That’s who.
A quick note about the author: Tim Waller has lived in Greenville, South Carolina since 1994. He and his family love the Upstate area. This is a blog about their life. 
Yes, you are officially the coolest dad ever.
I’ve been known to be cool. But then, there are times when my girls think I’m very uncool. Dads. We win some and lose some.
I looked him on on Youtube. He is really awesome!
Christine,
I was the last of my family to join the ranks of Matisyahu fandom. For me, he was an acquired taste. But seeing him live in concert was beyond my wildest expectations! Thanks for the comment.
Tim