Ok, it's been a few weeks since I last posted, and I said I was going to continue writing on my review of the Matisyahu concert....but I've been pretty distracted lately with life, so, here, as Paul Harvey says, is the rest of the story....
When my husband & I were in the block-long line to get into the venue, we were checking out the others in line - how many others here were Yidden? I could only find an occassional kippah or Lubab talking on a cell phone/ As we got closer to the entrance, we were told by security that men & women would have to separate into different lines. We immediately thought, Is the Show THAT frum?!? Separate seating? How would that be possible??! How would I find my husband?? But silly us, it was for security purposes, so that we could be pat down by a same-sex security guard. Were they expecting such a rough crowd?
Anywho, we finally get inside and the place is packed with hip twentysomethings. The opening act, whose name escapes me and someone I had never heard of anyway, is singing a reggae inspired rock song - something in the Matis 'genre'. I scan the crowd. Hedondist Central. They dance and sway affectionately to the music. Are all these people here for Matis? Do they know he's Lubab? Do they know what that means? How did Matis pull this off?
I smell weed. It's official. It's a real concert.
The crowd becomes denser. Mentally and physically. I can't move without bumping into someone or someone bumping into me. The group of annoying beer drinking guys in front of me & my husband kept leaning over me to talk to their friends in back of us. Die. Yuppie. Scum.
Matis finally arrives. Black coat and all. The crowd is nuts over him. Many of the songs he does are on his new CD, Youth. It's just so surreal. During one of his songs he sings "Shema Yisroel Hashem Elokaynu Hashem Echad".....he says it a few times. And then, he covers his eyes with his hand and says it for real, saying Hashem's name. Whoa. These people just eat it up. They keep dancing! Then, during his most well-known song, A King without a Crown, there is a line that goes "I want Moshiach Now". He's got everyone singing "we want Moshiach now!".
To me, there is a lot more going on....why is this happening? Why is a a Lubavich ba'al teshuva who also happens to be a reggae singer, so successful in the mainstream? He is absolutely talented and a gifted singer/songwriter. But how on earth did he get past those record execs?? How??
There must be something deeper going on. Something beyond our control. Maybe G-d is telling us something. Judaism is good. Judaism is not the blithering idiot it is portrayed to be in Hollywood. We are much more than a red string and a bunch of oy veys. It's something real, and spiritual and everlasting. Perhaps his concerts and CDs do attract the masses, but if it causes a few off-the-derech Yidden to rediscover their Judaism, then it's worth it.
