keep my feet on the ground and my head in the clouds

last night i went to the matisyahu concert in park city. i first found out about matisyahu from my friend lori - the music sherpa. i remember being at best buy and she was talking about this jewish reggae/rapper/beat box guy that was really good. we saw the cd live at stubbs and i bought it. i love reggae - the classics like bob marley, ub40, ziggy marley, jimmy cliff, wailing souls, as well as black uhuru (reggae with a twist of africa) and sublime. so i was in instant like. i downloaded youth from itunes and have been enjoying him immensely for about a year.
a few days ago, my fellow matisyahu friend at work told me that he was coming in concert to park city for the sundance film festival. we got tickets a day before the show and paid more than we would have liked, but it was all worth it when matisyahu walked on stage. it was an amazing show - especially once we snuck past the ropes into the VIP area to the front row. despite all the drunk quasi-celebs spilling their beer and sweating all over us, it was probably one of the best shows i've ever seen (lori - if you are reading this, the show was awful. a HUGE waste of time and money. so not worth it. not at all. you missed nothing, promise. oh - except when we saw ian ziering and jenna von oy standing by us in the coat check line.) his beat box set was incredible - i've never heard anyone better. he puts on a great show. it was concert purism!
i love matisyahu for his convictions, his talent and his lyrics. a lot of his songs are about his religion, God, zion, and standing for something. from what i've read, he is very religious, completely orthodox. we noticed that he would never touch the hands of any female fans on the front row (including myself and my friends) but he would bend down and sing to us, then grab the outstretched hands of the guys. i don't know much about orthodox judaism, but it was interesting to watch him. it was easily one of the best concerts i've been to, i'm so glad i went. reading the lyrics to "king without a crown" brings it all back.

Strip away the layers and reveal your soul
Got to give yourself up and then you become whole
You're a slave to yourself and you don't even know
You want to live the fast life but your brain moves slow
If you're trying to stay high then you're bound to stay low
You want God but you can't deflate your ego
If you're already there then there's nowhere to go
If your cup's already full then its bound to overflow
If you're drowning in the waters and you can't stay afloat
Ask Hashem for mercy and he'll throw you a rope
You're looking for help from God you say he can't be found
Searching up to the sky and looking beneath the ground
Like a King without his Crown

Matisyahu - Beatbox (filmed with a digital camera, so the sound isn't great, then posted by brad on youtube.com).