Matisyahu rocks the friggin' world!

Did you know that there is a Hasidic reggae scene? I didn't either. I saw Matisyahu, the Hasidic reggae toaster and his band, on Steve Harvey's big time and quickly realized (as Steve Harvey did too) that this guy was no novelty act.

I went to see him at Webster Hall two nights ago. He's really got the feeling!! His trio played decent reggae rythms with trippy guitar work in front of a psychedelic backdrop that included the Star of David. Matisyahu has the long beard, the black hat and grey suit but sure gets loose! He can really toast and his Hasidic friend got up with him and they held hands and jumped up and down in a circle. He began a lot of the numbers with Hebrew and then went into engilsh. I grooved solidy for an hour and a half. At one point, he jumped into the audience and hopped up and down with other men, then got back on a stage and said "I lost my yamuka, I lost my yamuka".

He is genuinely talented. You can see about him at www.hasidicreggae.com.

I highly recommend him. Great toaster and uplifting spiritual lyrics (you don't find that for real often in reggae, usually it's just lip service when the artists are more interested in the big behinds of girls).