Exhibition Grounds
Tel Aviv
February 11Last Thursday night at Tel Aviv's Exhibition Grounds, Infected Mushroomwelcomed both Matisyahu and The Friends of Natasha for a mix of electrotrance and fusion that enchanted the fans.Before the show, Amit Duvdevani, better known as Duvdev, chatted withThe Jerusalem Post about The Legend of the Black Shawarma, the band'slatest release, and his return home. "Israel always has something thatbrings me back," Duvdev said as he swigged on a bottle of Goldstar. Fornow, having settled in the US, he added, he "won't be coming home for awhile."Despite the bad news for the home front, the excitement Duvdev feelsplaying here was readily apparent on Thursday. He leapt up and down,belting out the words of new tracks and crowd favorites with an energyrarely seen in artists on long drawn-out world tours. His face lit upwhen he sang with The Friends of Natasha, as if he was reuniting withan old friend he hadn't seen in a long time. The crowd moved furiouslyto the beat.The rock and metal influence that is present on Infected's latest albumbizarrely fused with their latest import to their music- Matisyahu.When the rapping hassid jumped onto the stage on Thursday night, thealready excited crowd went wild.Matisyahu's infectious mix of dub and reggae blended right in withInfected's trance sound. When they performed the new song "One Day"from Matisyahu's latest album, Light, the crowd, composed mainly of 19-to 20-year-olds, was electrified.Matisyahu's moments on stage with Infected were all too brief, but thePost learned that more shows may be forthcoming. Reappearing afterbriefly breaking for evening prayers and a bite to eat, Matisyahu toldthe Post that "if G-d wills, I should be settled semi permanently inIsrael by this time next year."For Matisyahu, who performed bopping up and down in his Nike's andtzitzit, these sorts of collaborations are a real opportunity to bringsomething more "spiritual, and connect people to what is more positiveand meaningful."