Thievery Corporation and Blockhead at the Fox Theater in Oakland

Filed under the category of concerts to not miss, Thievery Corporation is currently on the road delivering a nearly two-hour set of material spanning the band’s 30 year career.

DJ Blockhead kicked off the evening with a thumping stream of mashups of beats and classic tunes that welcomed the flow of people slowly packing the Fox Theater, aptly closing his set with Europe’s “The Final Countdown” in time for the crew to clear the stage for Thievery Corporation’s 9-ish pm set time.

By the time the band took the stage and launched into acoustic number “Assualt on Babylon,” the general admission floor at the Fox Theatre was packed from front to back in anticipation, belying the suprisingly sedate Saturday outside on Telegraph Ave. As the band locked in, so did the crowd which eagerly welcomed Mr. Lif and Laura Vall on vocals for “Lagos Communique,” setting the perfect tone for the rest of the evening.

The brainchild of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, Thievery Corporation is hard to pigeonhole into a particular genre of music … smashing elements of electronic, reggae, dub, jazz and Indian classical with a rotating group of vocalists and musicians creates a truly unique performance that has their fans packing theaters around the globe. While Hilton is not on tour with the band, Garza conducted the operation from a riser at the rear-center of the stage flanked by percussionists Jeff Franca and Frank Orall while Dan Africano (bass) and Rob Myers (guitar, sitar) roamed the stage.

With a tightly orchestrated set, the band took little time for chit-chat. Vocalists Mr. Lif, Laura Vall and Puma took turns with the mic and appreciated each other’s performances from the stage and got the biggest crowd reactions when performing together on songs like “Encounter in Bahia” and “Tomorrow.” The instrumentation was spot-on and managed to keep the vibe going for Myers to switch between guitar and sitar, the process of which entailed removing his shoes (to play sitar on the platform in front of Garza) and putting them back on for guitar each time. Frank Orall even got in on the vocal action, stepping out from behind his bongos to sing “Heart is a Hunter” that had Rob crouching down on the stage as Frank spun a light above his head as he sang “welcome to my spaceship …”

After “Treasures,” the crew scrambled to add some folding chairs and stools to the stage for a 3-song acoustic mini-set that gave the audience a chance to chill before kicking the energy back into high-gear for the remainder of the set which included a particularly epic closer of “Warning Shots.”

Eclectic, precise, mesmerizing are the words that immediately come to mind for those that have experienced Thievery Corporation live. The good news is that there are still plenty of chances to see them this year as the tour runs up the West Coast in September and heads East in December.

Thievery Corporation Setlist: