On Wednesday night the Bay Area group Zion I and Deuce Eclipse hit the Fine Line on tour with Reggae groups Soja and Rebelution. The show kicked off with Zion I (Zumbi & Amp Live) and Deuce Eclipse taking the stage. The crowd started out pretty tame, but the emcees were able to get the people hyped up and the movement going. Zion I was here on tour to support their latest album The Takeover, which much of their performance was from. The Takeover has some of the great sound you’d expect from Zion I, but Amp Live has also put some different electronic club-style sounds into this album. That electronic sound really translates well to a live show and brings a whole different level of energy.
If you’ve heard Zion I before you know Zumbi has great rhyme delivery and I was impressed that nothing fell off in the live show. All the verses sounded sharp and we even got some freestyling including a shout out to Minnesota’s newest, old star Brett Favre. I’d say my favorite song of the show was Antenna and its my favorite track off the album as well. Another highlight was seeing Amp Live walking around with an MPC strapped around his neck. That seemed like a logical thing to do, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it at a show before.
After Zion I, Reggae groups Soja and then Rebelution performed. Although I’m not a big Reggae fan, both groups were really solid. I was especially impressed with Soja, on their first trip to Minneapolis, because of the diversity of their sound and their horn section. Rebelution were clearly the favorites of the audience at the Fine Line and their talent really shown on some of the songs that they jammed on with excellent guitar work. Zumbi hopped on stage with them for a quick song (see video below) and then to close out the show all the groups came on stage for a jam session to Outkast’s Spottieottiedopaliscious and some freestyling. This is definitely a show not to skip out early on; they closed it out with a bang. You could tell everyone on stage was having a great time and could feel the vibe throughout the venue.
Check out this free 5 track sampler for download on Zion I’s site: www.zionicrew.com/download
Oakland hip-hop duo Zion I are coming into Minneapolis tomorrow night on their 3 month U.S. tour with Reggae favorites Rebelution and Soja. Zion I are on tour supporting their new album, The Takeover and will be at the Fine Line Wednesday (Feb 3rd).
Soundset 2009 is set for May 24th. Artists include Atmophere, Pharcyde, Brother Ali, Doom, POS, Freeway & Jake One, Immortal Technique, Eyedea & Abilities, Sage Francis, El-P, Prince Paul, Heiruspecs, Abstract Rude, Aceyalone & Myka 9, Blue Scholars, Sims, Cunninlynguists, and more. See the image for the full list.