The Roots played Sydney January 2nd, after hitting Tauranga in New Zealand December 3oth, and Melbourne for New Years, and just before a night in Brisbane. Australia was lucky to have one of the best live bands around to see in the dawn of 2025, and they were finishing a two week tour that also took in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Japan.
The Roots had not been to Australia since 2013, and since then, they have not only released their powerful 14th studio album And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, and become even more of a household name through their regular gig as Jimmy Fallon’s house band on The Tonight Show, but they have performed and performed and performed, never dropping their reputation as one of the most simultaneously fun and serious, energetic and thoughtful, contemporary and historically referential, and bombastic and brilliant nights out you can have.
The night started with Nai Palm, the three-time GRAMMY nominated songwriter from Melbourne. She is a composer, instrumentalist, producer, vocalist and poet who approaches these self-taught disciplines with an intuitive, infectious grace, which has sent her on a journey to sculpt songs that have been received and treasured across the world.
Nai Palm was performing solo on this night, and belted out some beautifully melodic and funky hits, her long green hair a perfect backdrop. As the frontwoman of Hiatus Kaiyote she is no stranger to headlining her own tour and receiving copious acclaim, and Questlove was an early admirer of their first 2012 LP, Tawk Tomahawk with which they broke through internationally.
Second support act was US legendary Brooklyn based MC Talib Kweli who from the beginning of his performance was equally charming and educational. Kweli earned his stripes as one of the most lyrically-gifted, socially aware and politically insightful rappers to emerge in recent decades, and after nearly 20 years of releasing mesmerizing music, Kweli stands as one of the world’s most talented and most accomplished Hip Hop artists.
He’s worked with a host of stars and in 2011 founded Javotti Media, which is self-defined, a ‘platform for independent thinkers and doers,’ and is evolving into a media powerhouse that releases music, films and books.
Kweli gave Sydney a lesson in love, revolutionary love. Accompanied by Hussain (Dj Spintelect) Abubekr, his set included ‘Get By’, ‘Definition’ and ‘Never Been In Love’, while he schooled the crowd on the origins of Hip Hop, and great masters who have already passed on.
He seemed to invite the audience to question the kinds of love they are already expressing, and the kinds of love they should be striving for, encompassing the need for social justice both in the past and in the future. With his eloquent lyrics and his choice of tracks he asked everyone to aim a little higher.
Like two tornados of energy circling each other, Black Thought burst on to stage to accompany Kwali on ‘Check The Rhime’ by A Tribe Called Quest, reminding us of the long association between the two groups and individual artists.
Thoroughly warmed up, it was time for the whole ensemble of the Roots to explode onto and take up the entire stage. For two hours the band managed a set with barely a break, and more raw energy than should be legal for a group of guys who have been at it for over 30 years and 16 albums. To prove the point further, there’s a new album on the way in 2025.
The legendary Roots Crew have become one of the best known and most respected hip-hop acts in the business, winning four GRAMMYS, including “Best R&B Album” for Wake Up!, “Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance” for “Hang in There” (with John Legend) and “Best Group or Duo R&B Vocal Performance” for “Shine.” This brings the band’s GRAMMY nomination count to twelve.
“The Roots Picnic,” a yearly star-studded mix of musicians, has become a celebrated institution. The Roots were named one of the greatest live bands around by Rolling Stone, and they have been variously labelled as “cosmic jazz-funk, blizzards of electro-terrorism” (The Guardian), “arguably Hip-Hop’s greatest band ever” (Syphersights), and of Black Thought, “could be hip-hop’s Dostoyevsky. Like the Russian novelist, Mr. Trotter has refined literary fire from the soulful furnace of pain and suffering.” (The New York Times.)
We’ll just add “Irresistible.”
The set ripped through The Roots own hits, covers, and long drawn out jam sessions that held as tight as the band are themselves, seamlessly moving between tracks and tempos as the whole crew jumped and danced all over the stage, choreographed to never leave one side of the audience bereft, but rather criss- crossing each other constantly.
Black Thought aka Tariq Trotter didn’t miss a beat, and barely came up for breath for 90 minutes, when the briefest of pauses allowed him to carry on full throttle till the end, which was a generous 2 hours from the start. A lyrical poet with enigmatic enunciation allowed every clever idea to be delivered to the enthralled crowd, who lapped up every minute.
The packed Hordern Pavilion was able to spy Questlove aka Ahmir Thompson on the drums at the back, holding everything together, and leading the vibe as well as the tempo.
Kirk Lloyd Douglas, or Captain Kirk Douglas, often stole the spotlight with his Les Paul guitar and his extraordinary heartfelt solos, as well as his clear enjoyment from bouncing off the room, and playing guitar flat on his back.
Tuba Gooding Jr shadow- casting Sousaphone looped around his body so that man and machine were one, and the enormous instrument didn’t stop him from jumping around the stage as much as anyone else.
Enough sing- a- longs to keep everyone happy, and enough magic to leave no doubt that The Roots are a musical force to be reckoned with and ultimately conquered by.
