The panoptic stage lights at Matthews Arena Saturday night did their share to sum up Springfest’s grand finale. Combing through the crowd, they matched every energized plea for the packed venue to get up, make noise or “move, bitch.” And like the sweeping, flashing lights, Ludacris, The Roots and Toots and the Maytals were impossible to ignore.
Despite audio problems that delayed Ludacris’ set, the man from Hotlanta took the stage a little before 10 p.m., unfazed against a screen of blue and purple smoke and shouts of his name. The crowd might have been impatient, but that was because they were ready. Almost everyone was on their feet before Ludacris kicked off, and as he built the momentum of his tight set, running tracks together like “Act A Fool” and “Southern Hospitality,” almost everyone had climbed onto their folding chairs.
Luda flawlessly ripped through the next hour or so, hitting staple singles like “Area Codes,” “Move Bitch” and “You’s A Ho” – a crowd favorite that sent everyone’s hands up. At the chorus of “Roll Out (My Business),” the crowd was its loudest, and security guards on the floor had to gently push dancing students back to their seats: a testament to Luda’s infectious, rowdy energy that finally got the arena bumping.
Pushing from one song to the next, and cutting up tracks and juggling beats during a DJ routine mid-set, Ludacris’s set was built on the crux of his Dirty South persona: loud, wild and vulgar.
He also played to the crowd, sending out “Lovers and Friends” – a laid back Usher track – to the ladies, and inviting them to his jet after the show. He found a soft spot for pot-smokers, too, who held up their lighters and cell phones for “Blueberry Yum Yum.”
The Roots set the stage for Ludacris earlier in the night, filling up the arena and igniting the crowd with their pandemic energy, a fusion of hip hop and rock that transformed relentlessly throughout the night but never slowed. The stage was clearly their playground – Damon “Tuba Gooding Jr.” Bryson stomped around with his sousaphone like it weighed nothing, and ?uestlove’s rumbling drumkit turned into a stage of its own as the band occasionally climbed on top of it.
The Roots were having fun, and who could blame them for wanting to move on to their non-stop set? It was a tight, funked-out tour of their discography mixed with a sort of instrumental imitation of a DJ routine that rushed through sample snippets of songs like Sugarhill Gang’s “Apache (Jump On It),” Biz Marki’s “Just A Friend,” Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy back” and Talib Kweli’s “Just to Get By.”
Even on original tracks, like “You Got Me,” “The Seed (2.0),” “Star” and “The Next Movement,” sound was a toy the Roots explored indulgently, inside-out. “You Got Me” stretched to nearly 10 minutes to fit a wailing guitar-solo by Captain Kirk Douglas, ?uestlove erupted into an impromptu drum solo with glowing green sticks and a spacey, sped-up version of “The Seed” broke into a faithful cover of Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up.”
The Roots strayed from banter between songs, but still connected with the crowd that was settling into their seats when the Philly septet took the stage. Rapper Black Thought graciously gave Northeastern shout outs at every chance, and the mini set of samples had the same effect as scanning a radio that only played great songs. The crowd caught onto the vibe and didn’t let go.
After an opening set by O’Neal McKnight, reggae pioneers Toots and the Maytals kicked off the night, crowding the stage with 10 people and striking a positive chord with audience members. Their energetic set, featuring a high-paced cover of iconic “Louis Louis,” drew a standing ovation.
