MusicWhore.org - Collideoscope Review

Will the circle remain unbroken
-- Posted: 2004.02.23


When Vernon Reid attempted to drum up support for a Black Rock Coalition more than a decade ago, it was easy to dumb down the idea of "black rock".

Black guys who play rock music.

There weren't many who did in the '80s, and out of that scant number, only Fishbone and Living Colour are still around. (Never mind the fact Living Colour itself broke up in 1994 and reunited six years later.)

But as the band's 1990 album Time's Up demonstrated, black rock was a lot more than just black guys sligning guitars -- it was about integrating, perhaps even re-integrating, black culture into rock 'n' roll.

Living Colour pumps up that notion on its newest album in a decade, Collideoscope.

After starting off with three heavy metallic tracks, Living Colour gets Marvin Gaye sexy on "Flying". "Lost Halo" mixes a good dose of soul with all that distortion, while "Holly Roller" brings the band a few decades closer to the heavy blues influence of 70s rock.

Reggae works its way into the program on "Nightmare City", while echoes of George Harrison's dabbling with Indian music refract on "Tomorrow Never Knows".

There's still plenty of straight-ahead, heavy riffs to go around -- "A ? of When", "Great Expectation", "Sacred Ground".

But they only serve to underscore what rock music has been missing as of late -- a sense of deep history.

Heavy metal may be a few generations removed from the very first combination of country and blues nearly four decades ago, but that doesn't mean the lineage shouldn't be traced.

Nor should it mean that it can't be bridged.

Of course, rock music is an outgrowth of black culture in the first place, so if black rock brings black culture back into the music, what we're really finding on Collideoscope is the completion of a circle.

ALBUM INFO
Artist: Living Colour
Title: Collideoscope
Label: Sanctuary

Senigallia (Italy) March 20th 2004 - SETLIST
(thanks Pino!)

Memories
Leave it alone
Middle man
A ? of when
Operation: Mind C
In your name
Go away
Postman
FLying
Bi
Glamour Boys
Terror/7 Ntn Army
Elvis
Cult
Type/Israelites
Times up
--
Tomorrow
Love rears
--
Should I stay

Umi Says - Black Jack Johnson (live).mp3

(right click - Save target as)

Sat 03/13/04 - Solothurn, Switzerland @ Kofmehl Pics

Older Living Colour concert reviews
From the BROOKSYNTELECHY'S FUNK SITE, a few archived Living Colour reviews :

12/21/00 CBGB's reunion
8/04/01 Washington DC - 9:30 club
4/04/2003 Irvington, NJ - Cricket Club
12/04/03 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
2/20/04 Red Bank, NJ, Count Basie Theatre

some of these reviews may have been previously posted on this site. but feel free to browse the FUNK SITE for Corey Glover/Vice, Headfake, and other shows

Living Colour Photos : NAMM Convention 2004, Anaheim, CA

Vernon Reid's Favored Nations mini site

Live at the Gaswerk, Winterthur - Living Colour photos
Thanks Christian!!

3/14/04 setlist : Living Colour at "ABCclub", Luzern, Switzerland

leave it alone
wall
a ? of when
operation . mind c
go away
in your name
glamour boys
bi
postman
ausländer
times up
flying
song w/o sin
pocket of tears (with elements from "sex machine")
ignorance
type
---------------------------------
cult
tomorrow (not played !)
---------------------------------
love

3/15/04 setlist : Living Colour at "Gaswerk", Winterthur, Switzerland

leave it alone
middle man
a ? of when
operation : mind c.
go away
in your name
flying
postman
bi
glamour boys
terror (will 'n doug)
7 ntn army (Vernon on lead vocals : "we haven't rehearsed that !")
cult
ausländer
song w/o sin
ignorance
type
times up
---------------------------------
tomorrow (with elements from "this is the life")
---------------------------------
love
---------------------------------
should i stay or should i go ? (NOT on the setlist)

Living Colour : March 18th setlist from Nonantola, Italy
thanks vicpio!!!

middle man
leave it alone
song without sin
a ? or when
operation mind control
go away
postman
flying
bi
glamour boys
terror (doug stunning solo) 7 nation army (white stripes cover!)
memories can't wait
cult of personality
times up
tomorrow never knows
love rears is ugly head
--------------------------------------
should i stay or should i go

Living Colour - Collideoscope Europe 2004
Thu 03/18/04 - Modena, Italy @ Vox
Fri 03/19/04 - Venice, Italy @ 041
Sat 03/20/04 - Ancona, Italy @ Mammamia
Mon 03/22/04 - Vienna, Austria @ Porgy & Bess
Tue 03/23/04 - Vienna, Austria @ Porgy & Bess
Wed 03/24/04 - BRNO, Slovakia @ Seilasso
Thu 03/25/04 - Bratislava, Slovakia @ Babylon
Fri 03/26/04 - Milano, Italy @ Live Music Hall
Sat 03/27/04 - Montreux, Switzerland @ Ned
Sun 03/28/04 - Salsburg, Austria @ Rockhouse
Mon 03/29/04 - Budapest, Hungary @ A 38
Tue 03/30/04 - Zagreb, Croatia @ Pauk
Wed 03/31/04 - Belgrad, Yugoslavia @ Dom Umladine
Thu 04/01/04 - Sofia, Bulgaria @ Hristo Botev Hall
Sat 04/03/04 - Ostrava, Czech Republic @ Hala Tartan
Sun 04/04/04 - Warsaw, Poland @ Stodola

Living Colour Brazil dates - April 2004
April 16th - Via Funchal - São Paulo
April 17th - Via Funchal - São Paulo
April 20th - Usina Royal - Campinas
April 22nd - Canecão - Rio de Janeiro
April 24th - Gigantinho - Porto Alegre

Vernon Reid / Masque - May 4th

Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid will release a new album with his band Masque, "Known Unknown," May 4 via Steve Vai's Favored Nations label. The set features reinterpretations of Thelonious Monk's "Brilliant Corners" and Lee Morgan's "Sidewinder" alongside originals such as "Down & Out In Kigali and Freetown," "Outskirts" and "Flatbush & Church." DJ Logic guests on the cut "Voodoo Pimp Stroll."

Living Colour is currently on tour in Europe. Reid will hit the road with Masque in North America upon his return, with shows currently set for May 20 in Boston, May 22 in Rochester, N.Y., and May 24 in Victoriaville, Quebec.

-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Vernon Reid / Masque - Known Unknown

Guitar whiz Vernon Reid, best known for his work with Living Colour, has signed with the Favored Nations label, which has set a May 4 release date for the new Vernon Reid & Masque album "Known Unknown."

Reid recorded the set over the last two years, between touring and other commitments. In a statement, Reid said that the album contains a mix of originals and "fractured standards," like the band's take on Thelonious Monk's "Brilliant Corners" and Lee Morgan's "Sidewinder."

Reid is currently touring with Living Colour in Europe. He'll open a Masque tour when he returns; confirmed dates so far include May 20 in Boston (Johnny D's), May 22 in Rochester, NY (Montage Grille), and May 24 in Victoriaville, Quebec (Colisee Des Bois-France).

Vernon Reid & Masque Unveil Known Unknown, Debut CD for Favored Nations due out on May 4
Living Colour Guitarist Revisits Downtown New York Roots

Vernon Reid & Masque Unveil Known Unknown, Debut CD for Favored Nations due out on May 4

NEW YORK, NY (PRWEB) March 12, 2004 -– Vernon Reid, best known as guitarist/songwriter in the band Living Colour, has signed with Favored Nations and is preparing for the May 4 street date of his latest “solo” project, Known Unknown.

In fact part of the band Vernon Reid & Masque, Reid makes a departure from the vocal rock outings of Living Colour, hearkening back to his origins in the New York avant garde scene – smashing musical preconceptions and conventions.

It is this Vernon Reid who has collaborated with such greats as Public Enemy, Mick Jagger, Carlos Santana and The Roots; who produced albums by James “Blood” Ulmer and Salief Keita; and composes soundtracks for film, theater and dance.

Reid’s signature scratch and growl guitar opens the album’s title track. From there, he gears to deliver the Bitches Brew improvisational freak-out of “Down & Out In Kigali and Freetown.” In the “Outskirts,” he turns to surf guitar and modal jazz. Finally, in “Flatbush & Church,” he brings it back to the Vernon Reid that many fans know. Reid is the chief architect behind this innovative sonic landscape – he is part guitar player and part visionary artist.

Reid recorded Known Unknown in New York over as two-year period between touring and other commitments. It’s composed of nuanced studio sessions and live takes. It contains both originals and what Reid calls “fractured standards” like the band’s treatment of Thelonious Monk’s “Brilliant Corners” and Lee Morgan’s “Sidewinder.” According to Reid, “I think of Masque as a component part of my life’s expression.”

Known Unknown draws in on the New York underground’s finest players. Both Hank Schroy (bass) and Leon Gruenbaum (keyboards including the custom-built Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee) have worked with Reid since Masque’s debut album, Mistaken Identity. Drummer Marlon Browden comes fresh from recent work with jazz guitar legend John Scofield. Together, the three are a fearsome force who at once act as tour guides through this strange Unknown world.

They are joined by Downtown mainstay DJ Logic, who provides cuts and scratches for the groove-heavy “Voodoo Pimp Stroll.”

Reid and Favored Nations founder (and guitar legend) Steve Vai have been friends for years and both are thrilled to have Masque as part of the label’s lineup. Says Reid, “Steve is astounding in ways words can’t articulate.”

Living Colour remains together and Reid is presently on tour with the band through Europe. When he returns, Masque will begin to tour North America.

Early dates include the following with many more to follow:

May 20 - Boston, MA - Johnny D's
May 22 - Rochester, NY - Montage Grille
May 24 – Victoriaville, QUE - Colisee Des Bois-france

For more information on Vernon Reid & Masque, please contact:
Cary Baker (818) 986-5200

Vernon Reid - Known Unknown tracklist
1. Known Unknown
2. The Slouch
3. Brilliant Corners [by Thelonius Monk]
4. Strange Blessing
5. Outskirts
6. Down And Out in Kigali and Freetown
7. Sidewinder [by Lee Morgan]
8. Voodoo Pimp Stroll
9. Time
10. Flatbush and Church
11. Ebow Underground (Excerpt)
12. X The Unknown

Living Colour photos from Brussels - March 11, 2004 photos
thanks Steven

Living Colour Brazil dates - April 2004
April 16th - Via Funchal - São Paulo
April 17th - Via Funchal - São Paulo
April 22nd - Canecão - Rio de Janeiro
April 24th - Gigantinho - Porto Alegre

Vernon Reid and Masque tour dates
Thu 05/20/04 Somerville, MA Johnny D's
Sat 05/22/04 Rochester, NY Montage Grille
Mon 05/24/04 Victoriaville, QC Colises Des Bois
Wed 05/26/04 Montreal, Cafe Campus

March 8 Zaandam, Netherlands @ De Kade setlist

Middle Man
Memories Can't Wait
Ausländer
A ? of When
Operation: Mind Control
Glamour Boys
Song Without Sin
Bi
In Your Name
Sacred Ground
Flying
Open Letter to a Landlord
Pocket of Tears
Ignorance
Type
Cult
---------
Terrorism
"Will Beat U Up"
Tomorrow (with This is the Life)


March 10 Brussels, Belgium @ Ancienne Belgique
Ausländer
Memories Can't Wait
Middle Man
A ? of When
Operation: Mind Control
Nightmare City
Glamour Boys
Bi
Terrorism / JR
In Your Name
Sacred Ground
Flying
Ignorance
Pocket of Tears -- skipped
Cult
Time's Up -- skipped
------------
Will Beat Up
Tomorrow Never Knows (including This is the Life)
------------
Crosstown Traffic (instead of Type as listed)

BTW; In Zaandam they also did some lines of "Sex Machine" and "41
Shots (American Skin)"!

?-New Brazil Date-?
April 15, 2004, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil @ Canecao

Vernon Reid - Known Unknown update
the release date for "Known Unknown" has been moved to May 4.

*this was sent in via email. until confirmed, please check with the official site, will's site, and the venue for confirmation.

03/09/04 - Bochum, Germany @ Zeche setlist:

terrorism
ausländer
memories
middle man
a ? of when
operation: mind C.
nightmare city
glamour boys
bi
in your name
sacred ground
flying
ignorance
pocket of tears
cult
times up
--------------------
will beat up
tomorrow/nova
--------------------
type

Living Colour 2004 European Tour dates
Wed 03/10/04 - Brussels, Belgium @ Ancienne Belgique
Fri 03/12/04 - Paris, France @ Banlieues Bleues Festival
Sat 03/13/04 - Solothurn, Switzerland @ Kofmehl
Sun 03/14/04 - Luzern, Switzerland @ Abc Mixx
Mon 03/15/04 - Winterthur, Switzerland @ Gaswerk
Tue 03/16/04 - St. Gallen, Switzerland @ Grabenhalle
Wed 03/17/04 - Florence, Italy @ Auditorium Flog
Thu 03/18/04 - Modena, Italy @ Vox
Fri 03/19/04 - Venice, Italy @ 041
Sat 03/20/04 - Ancona, Italy @ Mammamia
Mon 03/22/04 - Vienna, Austria @ Porgy & Bess
Tue 03/23/04 - Vienna, Austria @ Porgy & Bess
Wed 03/24/04 - BRNO, Slovakia @ Seilasso
Thu 03/25/04 - Bratislava, Slovakia @ Babylon
Fri 03/26/04 - Milano, Italy @ Live Music Hall
Sat 03/27/04 - Montreux, Switzerland @ Ned
Sun 03/28/04 - Salsburg, Austria @ Rockhouse
Mon 03/29/04 - Budapest, Hungary @ A 38
Tue 03/30/04 - Zagreb, Croatia @ Pauk
Wed 03/31/04 - Belgrad, Yugoslavia @ Dom Umladine
Thu 04/01/04 - Sofia, Bulgaria @ Hristo Botev Hall
Sat 04/03/04 - Ostrava, Czech Republic @ Hala Tartan
Sun 04/04/04 - Warsaw, Poland @ Stodola

Jambase Review of Mos Def @ Blue Note
SUPERSTAR NUBIAN BOOGIEMAN: MOS DEF IN NYC

An enigmatic, versatile artist who transcends commercial boundaries, Mos Def (Dante Smith) and his art define gifted, promising, and diverse, while traversing genres in fashions few performers can match. In the later part of the last decade and well into the first few years of this millennium, the Rawkus mic wrecker could be found spitting sixteens on many of the hottest underground and radio joints coming from New York City (I remember when I first heard him spit; my freshman year of college, on the "Big Brother Beat" from De La Soul's 1996 album Stakes is High.) Soon he was linking up with producers around the globe. He and fellow enlightened Brooklynite Talib Kweli released the seminal Black Star (Rawkus) and the album helped push a new wave of positively charged hip-hop. Mos was next generation Native Tongues clique. He could be found championing causes pertinent to African-American communities, be it a small community bookstore, or the Mumia Abu-Jamal case in Philadelphia. Mos Def also exists in a parallel universe, hobnobbing with celebrities and movie stars, jet-setting around the world, living large on movie sets and at award shows. The brother has definitely made it in the entertainment industry, his future illuminated like the Hollywood sign during a full moon.

The Brooklyn-bred emcee, once considered a torchbearer for the future of hip-hop, has been somewhat musically dormant for some time, save for some random concert appearances and guest spots. The promise of his ability is unquestioned, however he spreads himself so thin amongst varied projects, and one wonders to what heights he'd ascend if he would focus on his prodigious musical inclinations. The announcement of six shows in three nights at New York City's venerable Blue Note aroused suspicion: What project he would display, and exactly who would show up? Could one Black Star shine bright like the most high this Valentine's Day weekend?

Whether it be his incredible freestyle (while driving!) with Dave on the Chappelle Show, or his humorous part in the remake "The Italian Job," Mos has certainly been visible as of late. Check his blessed contribution with Philly Rocafella phenom Freeway on Kanye West's College Dropout (the clever "Two Words"), or last fall's poignant "Beef" (white label A-side) that put silly hip-hop feuds in perspective; it's not like Dante has been sleeping ("I never sleep, cuz sleep is the cousin of death." ©Nas). Some observers have questioned the four-plus year delay between his magnificent solo debut Black On Both Sides and his yet-to-be-released sophomore record, as well as his Hollywood attitude and often contradictory, out of character sound bites. It is indeed safe to say Mos definitely has his detractors, but anybody present during the final show of the three night run at the Blue Note surely checked themselves for ever doubting the Universal Magnetic. You must respect.

The line down West 3rd Street outside the Blue Note for the 10 p.m. late show Sunday, February 15 was long and nervy, and since the club only reserved tables for the show, bar seats were first come first serve. Luckily, I had a reserved seat at a choice table; we were "cold lampin'," overlooking the stage and a small portion of the crowd, just the right spot. Everybody seated, the audience was the beauty of the Big Apple, a melting pot of ethnicities, fresh styles, and all-ages, upful positivity. After a bit of a delay, Mos Def took the stage at nearly 11 p.m. and greeted the audience with a humble "Hello New York City," before sitting down at the baby grand and tinkling away at a jazz melody.

Soon his band joined him and he relinquished the piano to Orrin Evans. The band of brothers slowly picked up the melody and began to wade through the jazz vamp with a deft comfort, likely achieved throughout the previous five shows worth of explorations. Trumpeter Wallace Roney and tenor man Antoine Roney took the smooth groove into the psychedelic Blue Note annals as bassist John Benitez picked up the pace and got the motor running like he would so often this evening. Drummer Will Calhoun, dread from Living Colour and also Mos' skin basher in Black Jack Johnson, stole the lime light all evening, and during the oddly-timed opener evoking the lyrical Max Roach. Though he gleefully watched from the audience, it was clear the night would most definitely be about the name on the marquee: The Mighty Mos Def.


In a nod to both promise and struggle, Mos regained the stage and dedicated the next song to the visionary who penned it, Gil Scott Heron. "New York City," done with rhythm 'n' bop swagger, was homage to an artist (and the city) that spawned so much of what defines Mos Def. Struggle, beauty, hope, failure, and the promise of the future in a cultured concrete jungle... The emotion behind and within the song and performance was right before you to grasp. After a choice trumpet solo, Calhoun and Mos dropped the boom-bap with a nod to the emcee's home borough, a verse from my favorite song from Black On Both Sides, "Brooklyn" ("Go Brooklyn! they representin' it, sittin' on they front stoop sippin' Guinnesses, using native dialect in they sentences"). The band then reprised Gil Scott Heron's "NYC" before concluding the tandem. It was to be just the beginning.

Mos made poor use of the next ten minutes, delving into an ill-fated comedy routine that reeked of Hollywood Mos Def. Though the amped-up massive was seated (Blue Note, for those who never have had the pleasure of seeing a show there, is all seated tables except the bar in the rear), we were still getting our groove on. I guess he felt compelled to talk, a lot. The man had the crowd hanging on his every word, but most in attendance would have preferred a song. In between mildly humorous bits, he would shout out to a few in the bevy of beautiful females in the house, building on a theme. The material was far from his great interludes on HBO's Def Comedy Jam, but patience is a virtue, and we were treated to a wildly-arranged covers medley; the choices in tune with the declared theme of the Blue Note St. Valentine's weekend residency: "LOVE."

It started as an innocently familiar ditty, a trumpet melody dipped in pop lyric, before the Mighty Mos stepped to the microphone and carelessly whispered:

And we're never gonna survive,
unless We get a little...
Crazy

The band took off with a faithfully arranged version of Seal's gazillion-selling Number One single "Crazy." Mos sang convincingly, not as smooth or serene as Seal, but soulful nonetheless. After a tremendous trumpet solo from Wallace Roney, the bandleader steered the group into Beyonce Knowles gazillion-selling Number One single "Crazy In Love," delivered at the crossroads of the Bad Brains black punk of Mos and Calhoun's Black Jack Johnson and Uplift Mofo Party Plan-era Red Hot Chili Peppers. Underneath Mos' shouting out the chorus in a punk cadence, Calhoun, Evans, and Benitez created a cacophonous rhythmic dissonance that powered the speeding car. Just before the Jay-Z verse would arrive in the Beyonce song, Mos veered into this past summer's inescapable club banger, Lumidee's "Uh-Oh." With a go-go chant over Kingston's now-legendary 'dwali' riddim', the summer anthem melded perfectly with the staccato refrain of "Crazy in Love." The band slowed down to dub it out with a jazz touch, straight outta King Tubby's basement. Mos weaved the group in and out of this trifecta of songs for over ten minutes, freestyling, singing, giving it up to the band, and finally retiring the medley with the fadeout coda from the Seal classic.

The only failed experiment of the evening followed, an R&B song gone awry. "Gangsta of Love" was a loosely stitched sappy lament that seemed out of place, somewhat disjointed, and uninteresting for some of the players.

The next piece was appropriate for the hallowed room in which we were enjoying this final performance of the weekend run. Mos plus the quintet performed a version of the Miles Davis classic "Bitches Brew," rollicking drums propelling the band's confidence into the rumbling groove that took shape. Mos attached a spoken word stream; the lyric dubbed "Superstar Nubian Boogieman" encompassed the "LOVE" theme, yet asked questions about heavier things. Speaking of heavy, John Benitez's rotund bottom end was the anchor: he aggravated the horns into frenzy, and led skyward. The Roney brothers' sharp reproduction of the classic head drove pianist Orrin Evans into outer realms of free-form funkdafied filth as he washed analog synth within dissonant piano comps and banged baby grand melodies surgically enhanced by Calhoun's methamphetamine drums. My mind's eye dreamt that Miles, the egomaniac showstopper he was, beamed like a proud papa from wherever he operates nowadays.
In this most soul-drenched of performances, it is indeed fitting for a taste of the most soul-drenched record in recent memory, Andre3000's (of Outkast) The Love Below. Just as my droog Robbie W.K. called it, "Prototype" came on strong, and with all its sensual lust it was glorious. Mos substituted a humble B-Boy steez in place of the raw sexuality that drips from Andre3000. It was a faithful performance all the way around, from Benitez's thumping bass to Calhoun's rim shot deluxe, and Mos's love-stricken crooning. My favorite song from the confidant departure that is Andre Benjamin's majestic solo record (for all you who wonder if Andre is not hip-hop/Outkast anymore, check out how he blesses Sleepy Brown's new banger "I Can't Wait"), the love song recalls Prince, George Clinton, and Curtis Mayfield, and with the quintet enriching the song's soaring qualities live and direct, Mos added a wonderful topping. Calhoun took it double-time, the band launched into outer space, and the Roney brothers commandeered the vehicle with horn sirens. Awesome.

After declaring "Like Wu, we are for the kids" (a reference to Wu-Tang's Old Dirty Bastard's Grammy spectacle where he declared "Wu-Tang is for the children!") the band delved into a reggae groove back at King Tubby's again. Mos riffed on the classic Nas joint "The World is Yours." This was to be just an interlude, a soothing, irie groove that had heads a bobbin', and the B-boys and dreads in the crowd rejoiced. The tone soon turned serious as Mos began to vocally remember some of those dearly departed... from African American luminary Weldon Irvine, to the recent Brooklyn rooftop murder of Timothy Stansbury, and others in between. A peculiar take on Whodini's early hip-hop electro classic, "Friends" was dedicated to peoples who no longer walk the earth among us. It was during this song that the lines between art and life, reality and fantasy, business and pleasure, became less blurred, almost like the drugs had wore off. Here it was: the plain truth. Mos began to weep, retracting from the front man spotlight, sitting side-stage collecting himself. The trains of thought must have reached optimum speeds (some in the audience questioned the authenticity of his emotion... after all he is an accomplished actor).

To wrap up an evening that transcended time, space, genre, age, race, and circumstance, Mos chose the far-reaching "Umi Says" from 1999's Black On Both Sides. The tune is certainly the most recognizable of Mos Def originals, a throwback to conscious blaxploitation themes of the pimpin' '70s, topped with a lyric confronting wavering confidence and self-awareness. (In atypical Mos Def irony, the song also appears in a Michael Jordan Nike commercial.) The only song imported from his usual repertoire, it immediately received a warm reception from the still buzzing audience, harking back to jazz records of yesterday whereas after a familiar song or groove surfaces, it is met with clapping, whistles, hoots, and hollas. Mos negotiated through the epic song, poignantly questioning himself in the face of mortality, a pledge born from uncertainty that any person who has ever profoundly doubted can identify with. The power of the lyrical content, delivered with pronounced vulnerability, lent credence to the intimacy of the entire performance. Will Calhoun got into some heated jungle funk and Benitez followed the lead, a rumble safari with freedom jazz dance.

The song brought the set full circle, after the Blue Note, the band, and our leader had sailed glorious seas of fantasy for much of the past 90 minutes. As the performance wound down, Mos Def returned to Andre's The Love Below canon, borrowing his Cupid Valentino character for a few bars, only to dip into John Denver folk lyrics the next minute.

Mos Def's schitzo chameleon-like presence towards the end of the set came off both comical and disturbing. It also was an accurate depiction of Mos' inclination to try a million things at the same time. His M.O. appears to be: To artistically and geographically jump all over the map and spread his talents, personas, and energies so thin across a myriad of interests.

After a set of music so unique and spirited it could only inspire an audience to Mos Def's prodigious talents, the final few minutes of distracted, unfocused nonsense left some people wondering. But it certainly did not cloud the sunshine of the evening's empowering musical experience, one that transcended the words "concert" or "show," and entered new realms that search for new land. Now if we could only search for that new Mos Def album!!!

Brian Getz

Living Colour @ de boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands: March 5, 2004 setlist
(thanks Ferd!)

Memories
Middle Man
A ? of when
Operation mind control
Nightmare city
Glamour boys
Bi
Time's up
In your name
Sacred Ground
Flying
Open letter
Ignorance
Type
Cult of Personality
solo Will
Love rears
Tomorrow never knows/Nova (with the lyrics to this is the life)

Living Colour pics from Toad's Place

Vernon Reid website news
The new album by Vernon Reid & Masque titled "Known Unknown" will be released by Steve Vai's Favored Nations label on April 6, 2004. The band includes Vernon, Hank Schroy onbass, Marlon Browden on drums, and Leon Gruenbaum on keyboards.

( Vernon Reid bio )

Masque will be touring this year to support Known Unknown, the first confirmed show is May 24 in Albertville, Que., we will be announcing more dates soon.
05/22/2004 VERNON REID & MASQUE Montage Grille Rochester NY
05/24/2004 VERNON REID & MASQUE Colisee Des Bois-France Victoriaville QUEBEC

YOHIMBE UPDATE:

Vernon and DJ Logic are working on the next Yohimbe Bros. album, they hope it will done in time for a fall 2004 release.

Living Colour - on VH-1

Show: 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock
Episode: (#002) 80-61
Network: (VH1) Video Hits One
Date: Sunday - March 07, 2004
Time: 04:00 pm - 05:00 pm ET

Featured Artists
Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi, Boston, The Cult, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Hole (Courtney Love), Husker Du, Jethro Tull, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Living Colour, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marilyn Manson, Megadeth, Ministry, Ratt, The Rolling Stones, Spinal Tap, Steppenwolf, Twisted Sister

About: (#002) 80-61
80. Green Day; 79. Ratt; 78. Marilyn Manson; 77. Hole; 76. Bon Jovi; 75. Spinal Tap; 74. Pat Benatar; 73. Twisted Sister; 72. Foo Fighters; 71. Lynyrd Skynyrd; 70. Living Colour; 69. Megadeth; 68. Husker Du; 67. Rolling Stones; 66. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; 65. The Cult; 64. Steppenwolf; 63. Boston; 62. Ministry; 61. Jethro Tull.

9:30 Club - Washington Post review

Living Colour: A Little Pale

Monday, March 1, 2004; Page C10

As powerful and great a hard rock band as Living Colour surely is, it's not hard to be disappointed by the combo. The show Living Colour gave at the 9:30 club on Saturday didn't add up to the sum of its parts.

But, oh, what parts! On "Sacred Ground," Corey Glover used all the tools a heavy-metal lead-throat could ever need, shrieking like Axl Rose one verse and roaring like #8 of Slipknot the next. Standard rock bass lines have never posed a challenge to Doug Wimbish; at one point in this set he staved off boredom by playing a bass solo with his teeth, a trick hazardous enough to make the producers of "Jackass" wince. Drummer Will Calhoun pounded like Dave Grohl and hit the skins as fleetly as Buddy Rich. And during "Ignorance Is Bliss," Vernon Reid squeezed what for most other guitarists would be a week's worth of notes into a single solo.

In an era when the guitar god is going the way of the high-carb entree, Reid, who formed Living Colour in New York in the mid-1980s, still carries himself like a superhero. He wears his instrument very high on the torso, a position more likely to be used by a hunter stalking jungle prey than a guitarist working the stage. But while Reid is far and away the most celebrated member of Living Colour, his contributions to his band's signature sound are also the least important.

Only because Calhoun and Wimbish keep the bottom end so heavy and so dependable is Reid free to fly off on his lightning solos. And when delivered in quantities as large as they were Saturday, Reid's warp-speed voyages along the fret board become indistinguishable from each other. A wonderful break from Reid's dominance of the spotlight came during "Nothingness," a lead-heavy power ballad. Glover's repetition of the lyric "Nothing lasts forever" over the controlled din of his mates took the band closer to precious than Living Colour normally gets.

(*note - we were present at this show and this writer could not be any more incorrect. The writer should stop listening to his nu-metal pop hits on his mp3 player and revisit this show. From the moment of Power of Soul to the Tomorrow Never Knows/This Is the Life jam, Living Colour blazed!)

Living Colour Collideoscope Europe 2004
Thu 03/04/04 - Zwolle, Netherlands @ Hedon
Fri 03/05/04 - Zoetemeer, Netherlands @ Boerderij
Sat 03/06/04 - Helmond, Netherlands @ Plato
Sun 03/07/04 - Vlissingen, Netherlands @ Arsenaal
Mon 03/08/04 - Zaandam, Netherlands @ De Kade
Tue 03/09/04 - Bochum, Germany @ Zeche
Wed 03/10/04 - Brussels, Belgium @ Ancienne Belgique
Fri 03/12/04 - Paris, France @ Banlieues Bleues Festival
Sat 03/13/04 - Solothurn, Switzerland @ Kofmehl
Sun 03/14/04 - Luzern, Switzerland @ Abc Mixx
Mon 03/15/04 - Winterthur, Switzerland @ Gaswerk
Tue 03/16/04 - St. Gallen, Switzerland @ Grabenhalle
Wed 03/17/04 - Florence, Italy @ Auditorium Flog
Thu 03/18/04 - Modena, Italy @ Vox
Fri 03/19/04 - Venice, Italy @ 041
Sat 03/20/04 - Ancona, Italy @ Mammamia
Mon 03/22/04 - Vienna, Austria @ Porgy & Bess
Tue 03/23/04 - Vienna, Austria @ Porgy & Bess
Wed 03/24/04 - BRNO, Slovakia @ Seilasso
Thu 03/25/04 - Bratislava, Slovakia @ Babylon
Fri 03/26/04 - Milano, Italy @ Live Music Hall
Sat 03/27/04 - Montreux, Switzerland @ Ned
Sun 03/28/04 - Salsburg, Austria @ Rockhouse
Mon 03/29/04 - Budapest, Hungary @ A 38
Tue 03/30/04 - Zagreb, Croatia @ Pauk
Wed 03/31/04 - Belgrad, Yugoslavia @ Dom Umladine
Thu 04/01/04 - Sofia, Bulgaria @ Hristo Botev Hall
Sat 04/03/04 - Ostrava, Czech Republic @ Hala Tartan
Sun 04/04/04 - Warsaw, Poland @ Stodola