Seen: Rapper Matisyahu + More in the 401

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Leah MIchaels, GoLocalProv Contributor

The beard is gone, but the attitude remains: cult favorite Matisyahu rocked the house this weekend.

An interesting musical pairing played here on Sunday night. Matisyahu and Third Eye Blind performed at the Ryan Center of the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. Matisyahu played first, choosing to play mostly newer songs instead of older ones. This was probably the first time many of the members of the audience saw him without his trademark beard, since he shaved it off back in December, but he won over the crowd when he went crowd-surfing with his fans. Then Third Eye Blind took the stage, playing all their favorites and some new stuff as well. They encored with “Semi-Charmed Life,” and even played some of Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me,” too. They just started recording their fifth album in London on March 13, so it’s generous of them to come and play a concert all the way in New England…

Two TV funnymen put on a hilarious show at The Vets in Providence on Saturday night. Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood of Whose Line is it Anyway? brought their two-man improvisational comedy show to a packed crowd of willing participants. The show was like a live version of Whose Line, with Colin and Brad taking suggestions and ideas from the audience to create original scenes, with audience members joining them on stage for some sketches. Colin and Brad have been making appearances on various television shows over the years, including Drew Carey’s Improv-A-Ganza, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Degrassi, but they still find time to bring their comedy tour to enthusiastic audiences around the country…

Bad Boy Chef with RI roots: Chris Nirschel. Photo: The Food Network.

A Rhode Island celebrity chef returned to his home state last week to help special needs children. Chris Nirschel, the “Bad Boy Chef”, taught cooking classes and gave motivational speeches to RI children with disabilities for three days. He is the son of former Roger Williams University president Roy Nirschel (and attended RWU for a time), and came into prominence on season 7 of The Next Food Network Star. Nirschel said of Rhode Island: “I grew and learned more in that state than at any other point in my life until becoming a chef.” He has since appeared on networks like CNN and Fox, was on VH1’s Couples’ Therapy with Jersey Shore’s Angelina Pivarnick, and will be participating in Chopped: All Stars on the Food Network, which airs this Sunday. He lives in Hoboken, NJ now, but he’s still willing to come back to the place he grew up to give back to the community…

South Kingstown’s resident belter Erica van Pelt was unfortunately eliminated from American Idol last Tuesday, after her performance of “New York State of Mind” failed to give her enough votes to move on. Her time in the spotlight didn’t end there, though, as she appeared on both Anderson and The Today Show on March 27, and then performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 30. She has since returned home, and was spotted on Wednesday night at her old Newport haunt O’Brien’s pub. Although she didn’t go all the way on Idol, she was in the top ten, meaning that she will be a part of the American Idol Tour after the show concludes, so we’ll definitely be seeing more of her in the coming months…

There are still some tickets left for Kevin Costner & Modern West at Cranston’s Park Theater on Saturday. The Academy and Golden Globe-winning actor and his rock/country band Modern West are playing at 8 PM for moderate prices of $35, $45, and $55. The show is expected to sell out, so get your tickets at ParkTheaterRI.com or 401-467-7275 soon…

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Seen: Rapper Matisyahu + More in the 401

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