Matisya-who?

"Ever heard of Matisyahu?" Josh asked me about a year ago.

"Who?"

I hadn't.

After a conversation with him about the name Jerusalem, he emailed me a youtube link which I innocently clicked on. It was Matisyahu's video of his song 'Jerusalem'. I was undone.

Born Matthew Miller to two Jewish parents, this now famous music artist went through the usual religious rebellion growing up, considered himeself a Deadhead, followed Phish and was a 'trouble teen'. At one point during his teenage years, however, he reconciled himself with Judaism, became Hasidic, went to Israel, changed his name to Matisyahu (which is Matthew in Hebrew). This 30 year old guy is married with a handful of kids and lives in Crown Heights, NY. He also beat boxes and sings about justice and how it relates to traditional Judaism, all with a reggae beat. I cannot paint a vibrant enough picture of who Matisyahu is or what he can do, so you're just going to have to listen. In fact, here's that same link Josh sent me last year: Jerusalem

I had no idea when I was planning my trip to Colorado (been here 9 days and LOVING it) that Matisyahu would be coming through Denver on his Light tour. Many people may scoff at Facebook, but as I was browsing photos last week, an add popped up on the side saying that Matis was performing here, at the Fillmore down on Colfax and Clarkson, Tuesday, Oct. 27th. I went down to the box office that same day and bought a couple of tickets. My good friend Christine and I went last night.

Oh my word.

The Fillmore is a beautiful old indoor venue that looks like a gently refurbished roller skating rink with balcony seating. The open hardwood floors make it easy to find just the right spot to listen to music and groove. Which I did for the full 3 hours. And so did Matis. He is beautiful to watch as he intuitively moves with the music surrounding him. At one point, during an extended play on the song So Hi So Lo, he walked to the back of the stage to adjust the sound equipment to enhance the various intruments. He stayed back there for about 10 minutes playing with the knobs so that each musician was pushed forward in intervals. The weave of it all was mind-blowing. Then he crowd surfed during his last song One Day.

I am still on a Matis high.