Few
members of musicality exist in a world of heritage, obviously bands
like Gogol Bordello, Dropkick Murphy's and any Latino playing the
accordion delve into cultural foundations they represent, but usually
this is not the case. It very much was, and quite possibly is a
driving force in Matisyahu and in his music. He's a Jew, so are Simon
& Garfunkel, Billy Joel, Amy Winehouse, Adam Levine (of Maroon
5), Bob Dylan, Jacob Dylan (of The Wallflowers), The Beastie Boys,
Paula Abdul, and Adam Lambert. None of those acts are really
associated with Judaism, it's not their shtick,
and as such it would be difficult to find a problem with their lack
of public affinity for Torah.
Matisyahu
had a tour date on August 7, it was in Chicago at the Congress
Theater. I debated going, I really don't like live music, it's too
loud, and so many lights! It is a nightmare for any Jew in fear of
having dormant epilepsy.
There
exists a student Jewish population within Chicago that many Jews
might be familiar with. Within this group there are many people who
know of each and they can be summoned at once when it is necessary.
This group was very excited for the Matisyahu concert and decided
unbeknownst to each other to go. Sometimes it is unwise to attend an
event with so many Jews, our people are weary and quite susceptible
to travesty. The group persevered and went.
Some
of the attendees there were very religious Jews. Now, in my book this
is not a problem, but they came early, before Matisyahu came out
which meant they were going to listen to the opening bands. The first
band, Moon Taxi came
out and was pretty good, it was very neutral in vulgarity. The second
band, however, Dirty Heads,
well they might have upset some of those more serious Jews. Whatever,
they probably knew that there are other bands in the world, that
swear once in a while.
Dirty
Heads was not my cup of tea. I'm not much of a rap fan, but I dig
Sublime, they've toured with Sublime w/ Rome
and mimic the tone and style Sublime is so famous for. There were a
lot of “Hey!!! Oh!!! Woah!” kind of moments, in every song. It
could be a good thing to do when you have no lyrics. Toward the end
of their set the Matis fans were getting anxious, including me
because I did not particularly enjoy Dirty Heads. He made an
appearance in their last song, with a pink shirt, jeans and blue
Nike's. “Ma-Tis-Ya-Hu” chants were audible.
About
ten years ago Matisyahu, then Matt Miller, started really focusing on
Judaism. He adopted a more stringent lifestyle, one that adheres
to the Torah. He grew a beard (something that would become a sort of
trademark), payos, and wore a kippa. His dress was very conservative
and traditional. As a former Phish-head he was into jamming, and a reggae style of music. He made his own, but his music praised the
hallmarks and righteousness of Hashem. His music was deep, personal
and highly spiritual. It also went mainstream, which is odd, because
Orthodox Judaism is far from anything resembling mainstream. It
doesn't mean it's bad, it's just got its own idiosyncratic mannerisms
and cultural norms. The fact Matisyahu was making awesome tunes made
him some sort of icon in religiosity, he served as a role model and
his devotion to Judaism was something all Jews have the ability to
tap into. In fact, his most recent album Spark Seeker could be
inferred as a reference to
“Pintele Yid,”
meaning the Jewish Spark.
In
more recent months it seems like Matisyahu has had a crisis of
character, at least that is what some in orthodoxy would say. In late
December 2011 he shaved his beard, but reassured his followers that
he wasn't abandoning Judaism. His priories and outlook on life may
have changed, and that is totally fine. Later a photo surfaced on his
twitter apparently with his hair dyed blonde, next to a fellow
smoking a marijuana cigarette and Matis himself wasn't wearing a
kippa. Again, from my personal stance this is all good, however, it
seems that I am in a certain camp of fans that loves his music more
than his persona. It's true, his music has deep meaning and is very
powerful, and you can't hear how he's dressed, right? Yet this
religious camp of fans remains and is very frustrated with the events
of the past six months of his life. This established icon, role model
to yeshiva boys, and representative of the faith has seemed to
abandon traditions associated with the faith. The consequences of his
actions can serve to put an extra amount of doubt in those who are
interested in learning about Judaism. They see a lapse in devotion
which could be contracted by those who remain devoted to the faith.
This
type of neurotic reasoning is validated in orthodoxy and has a very
solid premise. It would certainly deviate the devoted to other
disciplines. The injection of possible responsibility is necessary in
such a scenario. Has Matisyahu put himself in a position where he
holds responsibility of maintaining himself as a role model to
certain Jews? The camp I reside in would reject the question, he is
an artist and as such has the right to craft his art outside of his
persona. He does have two persona's, there is the one he would like
to believe is him, that would be the man who studied Torah for years
and tried to share his happiness from doing so. Then there is Matt
Miller, who shouldn't exist anymore, but Matt Miller's physical self
is still in existence. Matisyahu sees Matt Miller everyday in the
mirror with a shaved face, and dresses like Matt Miller now, and
doesn't resemble Matisyahu physically anymore. So it's a battle, a
battle that shouldn't be publicized and shouldn't be second guessed.
The only one who knows what's going on with Matis and Matt is whoever
is behind the mic.
The
show Matisyahu put on was in and of itself a marvelous experience,
even for the orthodox who were there. He sang about peace, Jerusalem
and Kings without Crowns. The interesting thing is that all these
orthodox people were in the midst of a very, very hot Congress
Theater with the sheen of cannabis surrounding. I mean, I saw one of
my Rabbi's, who came out of the floor area and really wondered if he
had a contact high. I really did.
The
good natured spirit of Matisyahu's hum, song and dance remained,
although the beard was gone. At the end of his set he told the crowd
that this would be his last song, much to their dismay. It was his
Top 40 hit, “One Day,” and by the end of the song he sanctioned a
stage rush. I have a strong feeling the majority of the folks on the
stage were Jews. Regardless of the aesthetic differences, we were all
really one, and the notion of Am Yisrael Chai could really be felt.
Adam
Lambert's shtick is less interesting, huh? We get it bro, you're gay.
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