The Roots

Welcome to 2008, The Roots got the year started in a major way, here’s Gingerlynn reporting on their hectic start to 08:

First up, Health and Happiness to everyone in ‘08! Lechiam (pronounced with a “chhh”)*. ‘07 went out with a bang, punctuated by the Hova show in Vegas with The Illadelphonics and a fantastic pre-New-Years-Eve Roots show in Atlantic City. On the positive tip I didn’t lose any money in Vegas. Unfortunately that was only because we were working so hard all day long that by nightfall about the only thing I had energy to gamble on was whether or not there would be mints on my pillows before I fell out. Once again, the Mighty Afro proves to be the hardest working musician in the biz. I swear that ‘fro has superpowers. As the band learned the show during 14 hour rehearsal sessions, some writing out charts, some memorizing the changes, some improvising the transitions, ?uesto stayed focus, leading his team to perfection (or pretty darn close). The 11 piece band, including Bilal and DJ Just Blaze, took a mere two days and managed to learn an entire 2 hour Jay Z show, along with a full Mary J. set. At the 11th hour our bass player Adam Blackstone, who also holds down the bottom for Kanye West (among others), gets a call. Ye is coming through. Shouldn’t we learn some Kanye joints in case he wants to take the stage? Only 15 minutes left to rehearse? No problem! “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” and “Good Life” come together on the fly. It was like a well-oiled machine (production team included) and even with a few hiccups along the way watching everything came together for an extraordinary performance was pretty amazing. I spent the last few days going through the many photos I shot over the past week, and today I’ve got the “Rehearsals” photo gallery ready to share. Yes, ?uestlove did make me go out and buy “Hello, My Name Is” stickers for everyone so Hov would get to know the entire team by first name basis.

Here’s what Gingerlynn had to say after the show:

As promised, here is part II of my photo series from the Jay Z gig in Vegas (lots of fotos so give it a minute to load). This gallery features shots from the show itself, backstage before the gig, and afterward in the mania of the dressing rooms. You’ll see Hova, ?uesto, Bilal, Ne-Yo, Mary J., Kanye, Memphis Bleek, Beanie Seigel, Beyonce and her sis, and all of The Illadelphonics.