BLAZED: Slightly Stoopid’s 2019 Summer Tour Hits New Braunfels [Reveiw +Photo Gallery]

I hit the ground running when I stepped off the stage at San Antonio Reggae Festival this past Saturday. After an early set with my own original reggae outfit, Capistrano, I was primed to boom up to New Braunfels for the main event of the day – Slightly Stoopid’s summer tour at Whitewater Amphitheater.

It really was unfortunate that SA Reggae Fest happened to share the date with the biggest travelling reggae party in the country. For a minor reggae festival to go head-to-head with Slightly Stoopid, Matisyahu, Tribal Seeds, and HIRIE is… ill advised.

A few swift moves after the set and I was riding up 281 – and in a remarkably short time, I parked in a clearing by Whitewater Amphitheater.

The Warm-Up…

HIRIE’s uplifting riddims echoed through the forested parking area as I made my way to the main grounds. I had never seen HIRIE before, and only recently had I become acquainted with her music. What I saw on stage was a girl on fire, lighting the fuse and setting the pace with her infectious grooves and soaring voice. The energy she brought to the stage spilled over into the audience, drenched in sweat under the summer Texas sun.

Not long after, the ground shook with the weight of Tribal Seeds. The San Diego band dropped thick reggae fire up and down the river, serving up favorites like “In Your Eyes” and “Gunsmoke” with a thick, bass-heavy flair.

The degree to which Whitewater was filled during HIRIE’s opening set was impressive, but it was during Tribal Seeds that things became distinctly more crowded. It was a godsend that the folks at Whitewater Amphitheater had actually set out a massive tub of free water bottles on ice at the entrance, even going so far as to set out free water-filling stations about the grounds. That is an ace move right there – one that helped countless ill-prepared heads keep their cool in the scorching afternoon heat.

The Wind-Up…

Matisyahu had the magic hour – the sunset set. As darkness descended, Matisyahu led his compact trio of a band through a very jam-oriented set. What struck me was how much this set seemed only loosely scripted. The onstage communication was constant, and the music had the distinct air of an organic dialogue rather than a previously decided upon arrangement.

The musicianship here was stellar, especially with Jason Fraticelli on the bass. The man is a monster on his instrument, and more than once I felt what he was playing. I have rarely identified with another player’s style to the degree that I identified with Fraticelli’s.

Or maybe it was his bass faces. I make bass faces too.

The night brought a welcome cool as we waited, bathed in ambient lighting, buzzing off the top-shelf jams served by these modern reggae masters. We waited for the hit. And when it hit, it hit like a train.

The Hit…

Slightly Stoopid took the stage and dropped a nasty “Dabbington” right out of the gate, and quickly launched into classics. “Everything You Need” was my introduction to the band some ten or twelve years ago, and it always hits me the same way – and Saturday night was no different. I shut my eyes tight, scrunched up my face and bobbed along with that familiar warmth in my chest.

All night, they kept coming – fire joint after fire joint. And the crowd kept pace – fire joint after fire joint. The air was thick with smoke, despite the wave of arrests at last year’s concert, which served to dissuade some of the more brazen blazing this year.

But Slightly Stoopid could care less. Kyle sparked a fat one of his own for a quick toke and passed it over the barricade. This is the band that wrote “Fat Spliffs,” after all. And when they dropped that tune, a blazing Matisyahu strolled back onto the stage, burning spliff in hand, to kick it with Kyle for a moment and offer a toke.

For a solid two hours, they spanned their massive catalogue, crossing newer tunes with fully arranged versions of early classics. Another standout included a truly transcendent version of “Closer to the Sun” that haunted my thoughts into the next day.

And to wrap things up, they dropped the fattest “Wicked Rebel” you’ve ever heard – which descended into a jam session of its own featuring guests from throughout the evening.

…Out of the Park

It had been two years since I last saw Slightly Stoopid. Always evolving, always changing, they have stayed several steps ahead of stagnation for decades by innovating and collaborating with some of the best players around.

But some things don’t change. The feeling you get when they break into “Everything You Need” is the same. The atmosphere their sound brings – it’s the same. Even the venue is the same – Whitewater has been a favorite of theirs for several years.

Of course nothing has been announced yet, but I’m already looking forward to heading back to Whitewater next summer – for Slightly Stoopid and any friends that hit the road with them.

-Chris Lazaga
AudioMunk