MMW at Variety Playhouse - 12/03/2005

The mighty, mighty Medeski, Martin & Wood did their thing at Variety Playhouse Saturday night. And what a thing it was - well over three hours of joyous noise cascading over the faithful, along with a few sad, blott'd teenage girls who will not remember the show and a handful of loudmouthed jock frat knuckleheads (who also will not remember the show).

The last time I saw them, I was pretty let down. They never found a flow; instead, it seemed they were struggling to recreate the songs from End of the World Party (Just in Case), their most recent release. It didn't help that a relentless Soulive had scorched the stage just moments before.

This time, though, the stars were aligned and it was full-on church. They even pulled out some tunes from the It's a Jungle in Here era. Amazing stuff, fluid and effortless and funky and joyful. All three guys were at top form, knowing when to cut loose and when to lay back. It was pure expression being shared among kindred spirits (man, does that sound corny).

Put aside all the fuss and bother about online music sales and the future viability of record labels. Forget about MTV and Britney and Avenge Sevenfold and emo and screamo and whatever other crap Viacom is using to sell commercial time. Live music is the past and the future - music played by people for people, music that breathes and inspires. True music will continue to thrive where it always has, in halls and fields and living rooms. Music is the language God uses when mathematics doesn't apply.

That sounds corny, too. But it feels true.