Reggae kings, See-I, tear up Moe’s Alley
The diverse musical ingredients that make up See-I, an eight-piece group spliced from the DNA of the world-renowned Thievery Corporation, were stirred up, cooked, scorched, and seared at Moe’s Alley Thursday, Nov. 3.
A flambeau fusion of roots reggae, dub, funk, soul, and even a little Bad Brains on the side (both bands hail from Washington, D.C.), was served up by lead vocalists, Roots and Zeebo Steele. As the two chatted, rhymed, and harmonized the night away, the energy remained stoked from the grooving audience.
Songs traveled the See-I trajectory, spanning seamlessly from a cover of “We Need the Funk,” to an original dub-dancehall tune, to a rocking tribute to Gregory Isaacs. Four members of the group continue on the roster of Thievery Corporation, while the other four extend the band’s musical pallet into the realms of New Brazilian, old school funk, and just about anything else with profound bass and rhythm.
Both See-I and its mother band, Thievery Corporation, are known for transcending genres, but more importantly, their members are ambassadors of their own unique experience in the globe of sound. Every instrument, whether it be a conga, sitar, or a voice, brings with it a region and the evolution of musical traditions. And the result of that communication onstage at Moe’s Alley was a total meltdown through sound and on the dance floor.
