The Roots at the St James

Never has the song, The Seed rung so true.

"If Mary dropped my baby girl tonight, I would name her rock'n'roll", sang the Roots guitarist, "Captain" Kirk Douglas, doing a fine job of filling in for the Philly band's friend, Cody Chestnutt.

There were times during the hip-hop crew's 2 1/2-hour gig (and drummer ?uestlove's three-hour DJ set at the after-party), that you had to wonder if they were a rock band in a former life. Or if they were really as mad as their music. Sometimes you'd find yourself standing there, mouth open, eyes popping, laughing your head off in disbelief.

Like when they broke into Led Zep's Whole Lotta Love and MC Black Thought mimicked the engine-rev guitar slide with his voice. Or when they went from pitch-black quiet to strobe-lit cacophony. Or segued from hip-hop to dub to classical to R&B to funk to jazz to soul and back again.

So much for two turntables and a microphone.

The seven-piece band were supposedly here on the back of their latest album, The Tipping Point but when you're as exciting live as the Roots are, you can play any old song and get away with it.

When they weren't showing promising snippets of their upcoming release, Game Theory, dropping classics such as The Seed or getting everyone on their feet with frenetic versions of Break You Off and Star, they sounded like a group of kids having a whale of a time with a jukebox.

There were too many covers to list here - Beastie Boys, Michael Jackson and Beethoven to name a few - and yes, at times they were as overwhelming as a DJ with ADD.

But for the most part, those unpredictable twists were engaging. Thanks to subtle shifts in rhythm, for instance, Don't Say Nuthin' turned into One Thing by Amerie. In another song, ?uestlove deliberately skipped a beat, and although the effect on the players should be similar to a naked woman running alongside a rugby match, the Roots took it in their stride.

Even former American Idol contestant Maimouna Youssef made a fine neo-soul addition to this exhilarating ride.