ERYKAH BADU + The Roots @ Quai Jacques Cartier

By Döc Holidæ - Phantastiq Cypha - 05/06/2008

When your opening act is one of the most famous world-renowned rap groups, it’s pretty much a guaranteed great concert. That’s what I thought when I showed up the outdoor concert for Erykah Badu and her opening act The Roots. When he doors that were supposed to open at six were delayed by twenty minutes, I thought to myself: “this isn’t so bad -- twenty minutes is nothing.” I set myself in front of the sound booth for the best sound and waited patiently for The Roots to take the stage. At five past seven, the guys came on and the crowd erupted into applause and screams. Although The Roots were the opening act, it was obvious they weren’t going to only do an opening set, and once the set went on longer than usual the crowd started getting quieter. When the group started doing covers of other rap groups, the crowd was sure something was going on. I’ve seen them perform before and yes, on occasion, they do drop a few bars from a Nas track and a few from Wu-Tang, but this was them performing almost all their covers. Finally, after a ninety-minute set, ?uestlove acknowledged that Erykah was running late. They continued to perform until 9pm before leaving the stage.

For those who saw Block Party and were expecting The Roots to back Ms. Badu, I’m sorry to tell you -- no such luck. Instead, we watched as the stage hands took down all the equipment. After an hour -- yes an hour -- of stage hands setting up again, Ms. Badu finally took the stage. As she sang her first song, "Amerykahn Promise" followed by "The Healer," I realized she was singing her set in the order of her new album, New AmErykah. I don’t think I would have minded but I had just listened to the album on the way to the venue and she was an hour late, so I was easily annoyed at this point. As I stood in my place, I noticed the crowd was thinning out -- it seemed I wasn’t the only one tired of the night. I did my best to stick it out but at 11pm, I was done and so were half the people in the crowd.

While walking along the Jacques Cartier Pier, I heard the roar of the crowd. I can’t deny that Erykah Badu has the stage presence and voice that make for a great concert. However, when you are unfortunately stuck waiting for that beautiful voice to even come on stage, you start to get bored with it all. The Roots did their best at keeping the masses happy beforehand, but even by the end of their set it was clear that people weren’t having it. Then again, some people told me they only came to see The Roots and were planning on leaving after the opening anyway. I won’t say I didn’t have fun, because the people I stood with at the show were entertaining and we all talked and joked during the intermission, but my interaction with random people I just met shouldn’t be my most memorable moment at a concert featuring Erykah Badu and The Roots.

All in all I have to give this show a Category 3: Extensive storm. It was good, but not great.

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