One day I’ll get to Philly to check out the Roots Picnic, if only for the chance to potentially rub shoulders with the great ?uestlove (who has become my Obi-Wan Kenobi of sorts.) I can tell you that it won’t be this year, though, unless the stars align and I *happen* to be in the vicinity (unlikely.)
The artist lineup, which was announced by ?uestlove on Instagram yesterday, doesn’t exactly make me quiver with excitement. I’ve seen The Roots live. I’ve seen Robert Glasper live. I’m going to see Solange live, and I haven’t had a desire to see Naughty by Nature live in about twenty years. I’m reasonably unfamiliar with most of the rest of the names on the bill (no, I haven’t heard “Thrift Shop” yet…I guess I should rectify that,) so…yeah. I’ll save my money and hope the lineup is more to my liking in 2014.
The Roots Picnic lineup for 2013.
In other news, the loquacious ?uestlove announced other three interesting tidbits. One? The new D’Angelo record will almost certainly be released in 2013, a piece of news which I (and you) should probably take with a grain of salt. Two? The Roots will be following up 2011’s excellent Undun with a new album either at the end of this year or the beginning of next. Three? The Roots are working on a collaboration album with the one and only Elvis Costello. There is no possible way that an album by those two entities could be anything less than fantastic, so consider my copy already purchased.
Maybe it’s time to give ?uestlove the title of Hardest Working Man in Show Business? I wonder if the dude ever sleeps or if he has super powers hidden in that Afro of his.
1 comment
Kyle says:
Jan 23, 2013
There’s absolutely no way I can wait another year for a new Roots album. Roots albums are what make life worth living.
And how is it that you haven’t heard “Thrift Shop” yet? I’m just surprised, is all. Rather amazing how quickly Macklemore rocketed from really-deep-underground rapper to someone who gets played on the radio multiple times a day.