The Roots Cover Beyonce and D'Angelo With Pattern Is Movement

Posted on Oct 2nd 2009 12:30PM by Jennifer Kellas
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What would happen if a math rock band made up of two nerdy white guys with a penchant for old school R&B suddenly had the chance to have their idols play back-up? Well for Pattern is Movement, New York really is the city of dreams.

Thursday night, the Roots took a break from house band duties on 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon' to play a "Ten Dollar Bill Jam" at the brand new Brooklyn Bowl, a bowling alley that also hosts live music. As the title suggests, tickets were only $10 and sold out fast to an audience that was promised "special guests."

The coolest and most surprising collaboration of the evening wasn't with big celebrity, however. It came when three songs into their set, the Roots joined openers Pattern is Movement onstage for the band's now well-known covers of Beyonce's 'Crazy in Love' and D'Angelo's 'How Does It Feel,' raising huge cheers from the crowd. Pattern is Movement's drummer Chris Ward was backed, literally, by the overseeing presence of ?uestlove as the rest of the Roots comfortably took their positions around the band.

Before the show, Ward told Spinner that ?uestlove is his favorite drummer of all time and playing with him is a dream come true. For the unfamiliar, Pattern Is Movement are an avant math rock duo hailing from the same hometown as the Roots, Philadelphia, and consisting of the aforementioned Chris Ward on drums and vocalist and keyboardist Andrew Thiboldeaux.

Also in attendance was Brian MComber of the Dirty Projectors, who played for the Roots in their dressing room when they were on Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday. Later on in the evening, Talib Kweli took the stage and performed three songs with the Roots, as did Mayer Hawthorne.

The Roots new album, 'How I Got Over,' is due in stores Oct. 20 and Pattern Is Movement start off on a small tour of Florida on Oct, 8 before making it back to New York in time for the CMJ Music Marathon on Oct. 23.