I went to see the Matisyahu show at the Fillmore last Saturday, what a huge let down. It seemed like Matisyahu was bored and didn’t really want to be there. His voice sounded terrible, just terrible! lots of growling through passages of words (to my favourite Matisyahu songs!) and I know he can sing really well. I’ve listed to Matisyahu since the original “King Without A Crown” track on Live at Stubbs V1…. both the Live At Stubbs albums kick my butt, musically and spiritually, and I really really love both of those pieces of art. I was hoping Matisyahu just didn’t save his good stuff for Stubbs bar (where the hell is that anyway? Really, that’s a better venue then the Fillmore in Denver??) I really don’t want to come off as a hater, or joy-squasher for those that enjoyed the concert…. but I really profoundly enjoy Matisyahu’s music as I’ve heard it recorded, and to hear him just squash it and take previously great songs and just sing/growl monotone through all the meaningful passages, only to try and get to the next bit of electronica to fill some time. It was a let down.

I feel like Matisyahu has lost his way… or maybe lost the back-beat is a better way to say it. Hard core fans like myself were drawn to Matisyahu by his spiritual high-energy dance hall reggae style… and to a much lesser degree the electronic/dub highly musically textured passages.