The Roots, Electric Arena

The Roots, Electric Arena :

The Roots, Electric Arena:

Hear the drummer get wicked.

Of course, there's more to the Roots - the legendary Roots crew, to give them their fully deserved sobriquet - than Questlove on the drums, but let's start with the man at the back keeping it all in check.

He may be an articulate hip-hop historian and one of the most prolific tweeter in the universe, but Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson is also one hell of a drummer. Hearing the full tent yahoo, shout and scream along to his ten minute drum solo was quite something else. Getting schooled by Quest on a
Saturday night is always a treat.

The rest of the band -  super-toned from all those sessions at the house-band on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon - are also totally on-point. It's a hoot of a show, full of the funk and the fever.

When they get a girl from the audience to come onstage to provide the female vocals on You Got Me, the place explodes. Something tells us that they'll be back again. And again.

Verdict: ****