Viraj's Weblog

This weekend I drove up to the Brava Theater in the Mission district to check out a hiphop and Jewish folklore interpretation of Dante's Inferno. It was a small independent theatre so I wasn't expecting much, but was pretty blown away by the performance. It's basically a retelling of Dante's story modernized and interspersed with musical breaks. There was a beat boxer, a flute player (also the storyteller), a cellist, and a drummer. A really strange combination, and all made a great band. The beat boxing and cello playing was really amazing. The cello player had a loop sampler, and he did a solo where he would overdub track on track of himself playing to create an amazing mix of cello playing. It was really beautiful. For someone to do that live on stage without flaws is pretty incredible.

The beat boxer spent about 10 minutes showing off his skills in a solo and he too was extremely talented. The best part with him was a scene where he was a bouncer at a nightclub for birds (there are very strange things in this story, though I'm pretty sure the bird was from Dante). He'd do the thumping bass with a microphone to his throat as if the door to the nightclub was closed. Every time he'd let someone in, the music would come out blaring. The way the whole band transitioned in and out of this with the abrupt volume changes was so cool. Oh and there was a beat boxer and drummer battle which just has to be seen to be believed.

They are performing for a month. If you are in town, definitely go check it out. It was a cheap $20, and for this show I would have spent more.