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"Taking a short break from their late night gig with Jimmy Fallon, The Roots are currently on tour promoting their most recent album release, Undun. The Philadelphia bred crew, initially founded in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter MC and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson on drums, also consists of: Kamal Gray on keyboard, F. Knuckles on percussion, Captain Kirk Douglas on electric guitar, Damon "Tuba Gooding Jr." Bryson on sousaphone, Mark Kelley on bass, and James Poyser on keyboard (for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and occasional performances.) NG Music was super psyched to be able to catch the legendary "hip hop neo soul" band performing live on 12/30/11, at The Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD, just outside of Washington, DC.
It was the night before New Year's Eve, and the 2 ½ to 3 hour non-stop performance certainly did not disappoint the sold out crowd. Performing the new album, and a number of other songs from their extensive collection including "Dear God 2.0" from How I Got Over and "Step Into the Realm" off of Things Fall Apart, the extraordinarily talented crew seamlessly went from hip hop, to rock, to blues, and even into go go? which delighted the DC audience. It was a concert experience like no other and the performance was so tight, it made us wonder if there's any genre of music they can't do? Guest rappers P.O.R.N., Dice Raw, Truck North, and Bilal were also in the house, taking their turns on stage, adding to the groovy soulful vibe of the evening.
It's no wonder they are referred to as the "hardest working band in late night TV." With six Grammy nominations and tons of awards for their eclectic sound, they clearly love what they do and don't show any signs of slowing down anytime soon. Be sure to check out some pics from the Friday night performance." -Lisa Walker