Matisyahu, The Fillmore, San Francisco, California

I’ve had mixed experiences with Matisyahu. He put on a great show at Virgin Fest in summer 2007, but his fall 2008 show in Baltimore left much to be desired. While his festival set list was filled with fan favorites and a desire to interact with the audience, he was quiet and lethargic in Baltimore, choosing to allow an array of other artists utilize his stage, even if undeserving. His weak set list and unenthusiastic attitude didn’t capture the essence of his album or persona. There was too much humming; not enough rocking.

So when the opportunity arose to see him again at San Francisco’s historic Fillmore Auditorium touring to promote his newest album “Light,” I was truthfully more excited about the venue than the act, only deciding to go because Lauren expressed interest. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by nearly all aspects of the show. With his traditional backing band consisting of guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums, Matisyahu unleashed an entire evening of powerful and soulful music, with his trademark fusion of hip hop, beatboxing, dancehall reggae, and alternative rock sprinkled with traditional Hasidic cantors in a mix of Hebrew and Yiddish. He was effortless in exciting the crowd with any number of his popular hits, now spanning several albums. Mixing in old with new, Lauren and I danced and jumped to many of our favorite songs, including “Chop ‘em Down,” “Exaltation,” “King Without a Crown” and “Warrior,” allowing each member of his band ample time for guitar or drum solos when appropriate. Though his new album isn’t one of my favorites, hearing a few of the selections live allowed me to enjoy them at a new level. After a short break, he brought out local artist, Lynx, with whom he performed a duet of crowd favorite, “Beat Box.” Playing off each other, it was one of the better versions of the song I’ve heard. For the final song of the encore, he selected his arguably most famous song, “Jerusalem”, which I had yet to hear live. His choice to play the remixed “Out of the Darkness Comes Light” version of the song was an especially good choice to fully utilize the presence of the band. I’m seriously considering seeing the show again at the end of November when Matisyahu makes his way to the east coast.