I don’t think I have ever been more proud to be an orthodox Jew then I was when Matisyahu took the stage in Baltimore last night at Rams Head Live. I hadn’t even known about him playing in Baltimore until Friday afternoon and was glad I would finally get see him after all these years.
I had expected to walk into a show with an audience similar to a Blue Frineg or C. Lanzbaum show, a smattering of yeshiva guys, some carelbachians and a bunch of nerdy YU type modern orthodox kids. I was pleasantly surprised. There were a few yarmulkes, some older folks as well and a couple of skirts fluttering about, but a majority of the thousands of concert goers were as secular and non-Jewish as they come.
The surge of Jewish pride I felt when Matisyahu took the stage was unbeleivable, it was an amazing moment in my life to see a packed main stream concert venue with thousands of drunk and screaming fans cheering for an orthodox singer.
Now folks love to criticize whenever someone becomes a superstar, but honestly speaking, I don’t think anyone has been so good for orthodox Jewery in a long time. Matisyahu has been criticized for leaving Chabad, but you couldn’t miss the chabadnicks who were out and about and the several shoutouts that Matisyahu gave to Lubavitchers and Crown Heights.
I also like his peyos look better and noticed that much of his dance technique appeared to be Breslover based. Maybe he’s done with Karlin Stolin and on to Breslover chassidus.
Since the concert venue was packed to the brims and it was hartd to see I did get a hookup from Matisyahus wife who is a frum satire fan and got to join other VIPers in a special section where we had center stage views and plenty of room to shake our tushes to the grooving beats.
A good show and I was proud to support such a great and powerful influence on Jews everywhere.