The scope of an event like Kohoutek is kind of intimidating at first glance. It’s like Lollapalooza’s quiet, baggy, headphone-wearing younger sibling who midnights as an indie rocker. Though that makes little sense, it comes reasonably close to articulating the amalgam of genres, media, and funny hats that were thrown together last Friday and Saturday at Pitzer’s Gold Center Field. Here’s how it went down:

Friday–I did not attend this series of performances as, frankly, I wasn’t very interested in seeing Hepcat at all, let alone Libido Deathcult. Apparently this sentiment was shared by most of the five colleges and surrounding communities.

Saturday–The Roots, The Roots, The Roots is on fy-ah! Okay, Hepcat may have been good, but without question Saturday was night de resistance. The lines were long, which seemed to antagonize a number of people, but had they known how long they would wait to see The Roots they may not have minded so much. The police were in effect (always three to four patrol cars nearby), as well, giving the night the atmosphere of a real concert. Wow.

While the acts leading up to The Roots were interesting, it was fairly obvious that most of the crowd could have cared less. B-Boy Genre, Shady Lane and Ill Nature dropped interesting material, but nothing that had the crowd very excited. Ditto on the DJ crews who demonstrated awesome but esoteric techniques. Being a fan of turntablism, I’m all for DJ showcases, but I know that 98.5-or-so percent of a crowd that came to see The Roots doesn’t want to wait for extensive stage renovation and technical scratching displays. On top of that, the volume was annoyingly low through all the DJ performances.

The Ethers were interesting. But what the heck were they doing there?

In a nice showing of consideration, the Seattle hip-hop act Heavens’ Weapons played only one song, opening up time for more Roots’ material. DJ Troubled Soul spun a few beats and, at just after 11:00, The Claremont Colleges’ golden boy of hip-hop, Chali 2-na, introduced Philadelphia’s finest. One of The Roots’ two beatbox specialists, Scratch, began mouth-scratching an intro in the darkness. Black Thought, the lyrical heart of the group, arrived next, dropping some a cappella verse from "The Next Movement." Once the rest of the band broke in behind him, the crowd finally had what they wanted.

The Roots ran through a set of music from their new album, Things Fall Apart, with great precision. Occasionally Black Thought would engage the audience in some call-and-response chants, but one got the feeling they weren’t completely into the show during their first forty minutes or so.

A few things were awry. First, Black Thought’s voice was noticeably hoarse, likely the result of a vast number of tour dates in a small amount of time. Also, none of The Roots’ lyrical contributors beside Black Thought tour with them, so he was responsible for reciting all the lyrics on all the songs. This, even despite his incredible talent, can make things seem tired a bit faster before their time.

Finally, one of the most important keys to The Roots’ performances is Rahzel, their second beatboxer (opposite Scratch). He can do amazing things with that larynx of his, and it’s too bad he wasn’t around to show everyone at Kohoutek.

The continuous set of new material had everyone grooving pretty well, but it was only after a Badu-less rendition of "You Got Me" that things got hype.

Black Thought wished the crowd good night, but no one left the stage. Instead, the performance leapt into the hands of Scratch, who Black Thought kept referring to as "his DJ" (odd, he had no equipment or records). Scratch then reached into the aural canals of every onlooker and proceeded to fuck things up. He recited various beats, from stripped down hip-hop to 80s electro, and drew everyone toward a climax as he imitated a DJ flipping two copies of a breakbeat –motioning the invisible crossfader back and bouncing around sounds with his vocal chords. Strangely, the sound from the speakers seemed even better emanating only from his mouth than it had all night.

Of course the crowd lost their heads. Beatboxing is amazing, plain and simple. "All things good must..." however, and no sooner had everyone begun to jump around like monkeys on crack when the soundman pulled the plug on the show. It was ten minutes after midnight.

As everyone filed toward the exits the booing slowly subsided, and I was left to consider the evening. A few final thoughts:

1. Everyone would have been much more comfortable and all the acts more visible had the event been held at The Wash. I suppose this runs against convention, however, and thus it is unfeasible.

2. The vast majority of the people present during the second half of Saturday’s performances did not care to see any of the opening acts, and there were just too many unknown groups to keep people from complaining.

3. The Roots must put on a show without comparison in a club in Philadelphia after they’ve had plenty of rest. 3,000 miles from home, out of doors, missing three members, after twenty concerts on the road, their show is only really, really cool.

4. Despite any of these complaints, Ryan Sweeney and Co. did a great job getting a huge, ridiculously talented group to come to the campuses. They deserve thanks.