In order to see one of the most diverse groups of people gathered in one place, you only need go to a Thievery Corporation concert. All ages, ethnicities, and types of music fans gathered together at the first of three sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC.
The queue began at about 6:30, though the doors did not open until one hour later. However, waiting was entertaining enough, since a camera crew hired by Thievery was interviewing the DJs and their singers, as well as the waiting fans, including yours truly, for a possible DVD release some time in the future. They asked people if they had seen Thievery live before, how they would define their music, the craziest things they had seen at a show (bar people smoking a certain illegal substance), etc.
At 10:30, following another 3-hour wait with no opening act, Eric Hilton, Rob Garza and company made a triumphant return to their hometown stage, seeming at ease with the adoring crowd. In fact, they seemed a little too at ease, if you know what I mean.
I was curious to see how the DJs would fill in for the megastars who sang for tracks on The Cosmic Game, such as Perry Ferrell and Wayne Coyne. Punjabi singer Gunjan actually performed the songs she sang on the album, and stole the show with her soprano, otherworldly vocals. As always, the show featured longtime French singer Loulou and the Jamaican rastafarians known as See-I, who always know how to work the crowd into a frenzy. While Emiliana Torrini was not performing, a young Brazilian singer, Princess Carina, was her equal in style and stage presence, and her sensual performance of "Exilio (Exile)" beckoned the crowd to join her in singing "A la la la le, lo le lo le, lo le lo la la la." The only regrettable vocal performance was that of Sista Pat, who substituted for Perry Ferrell on "Revolution Solution." While her soulful style worked for "Wires and Watchtowers," it sounded much too choppy and gospel-like for an otherwise trippy song. Of course, not many could outdo Ferrell for trippy.
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Article comments
1 - Scott Butki
Sounds like a great show. How would you compare them live to on cd?
2 - Elizabeth
This was a great show. I have seen Thievery Corporation live three times on two continents with the full band and singers, and I have to say the energy of a live show with them always exceeds my expectations. Eric and Rob's ear for sound, the quality of their singers, and the all-out performances by the band members on bass, trumpets, and sitars, not to mention the spotlight-grabbing Jamaican duo, continually convinces me that album production simply cannot capture the power of Thievery's natural sound. I love every album that I buy, but the live shows always enhance my appreciation.
3 - DCS
Check out this link for more on the Rasta Performers
4 - shamik
I've been a fan for a while, but never got to any of the shows for whatever reason...i gotta say, Friday night's show was off the hook...so much so that this is a few months later and i'm writing this review. I gotta give props to one of the See-I dudes who pulled me backstage when i wandered out onto the balcony. Thanks dude.
great show
5 - Alicia
We drove to Atlanta from Asheville, NC to see Thievery Corporation play "live" at the Tabernacle. Needless to say, we were quite disappointed when 3 or so songs in to the performance, we realized that half of the musicians werent even PLAYING any music, they were just pretending. I loved the vocals of all the singers, I thought that was absolutely amazing to hear, but I was really annoyed that the founders of TC themselves were faking the keyboards as well as the mixing on the CD decks. The guy on the bongo drums seemed upset the entire time because he wasn't actually playing for the majority of the time. It's like he was being paid to just act like he was playing. Same goes for the guy in charge of the cowbell on the other side of the stage (he's the one that sings the Welcome to my Spaceship song..) Nobody else in the entire venue seemed to notice, which really just made us feel like everyone in the theater got played. All in all, the show was great, but the fact that half the music was faked, AND they were pretending to be playing it, was a big disappointment. I mean, if you can't have all the music played live, thats fine! But dont fake it. :( We drove to Atlanta and made a weekend out of our trip to see them, and this was the end result.. Oh well. I only hope others noticed too.
6 - Alfonso
I've been a HUGE Thievery fan since '96 when "Sounds From the Thievery Hi-Fi" came out, and I have seen them live many, many times. Lately though, their shows have gone downhill. Watch any recent live Thievery show (either in person or online) & you will notice that they don't all play live. Take the percussion for instance, the prerecorded conga track for "Lebanese Blonde" (or any percussion filled track) plays while the percussionist on stage merely adds accents & fills. Eric & Rob are just faking cuing records & playing keyboards. But the most noticeable is the bass. At the last show I went to, Federico set a beer directly on top of his bass cabinet, & the beer was not rattling at all! Plus he was caught off guard a couple times when a new song would start and he would still be drinking. Needless to say, I have not seen them "live" in years!