Roots Do Residencies, ?uestlove Twitters Album Title

(swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Photo by Matt Ziegler

Roots fans worried about the not being able to see their heroes in concert after they start their gig as the backing band for the guy from Fever Pitch on TV March 2 can rest easy. Well, fans who live in New York City, at least. The world's most renowned (and endless-solo-prone) hip-hop band are set to give Manhattan all the funk it can handle, with a residency at the swanky Highline Ballroom. "The Roots Present: The Jam" starts March 5 and continues throughout the spring. "Special guests" are promised. So far, shows are scheduled for March 5, March 19, March 31, April 14, April 21, May 5, May 13, May 18, May 26, June 2, June 10, June 16, and June 23. Also, on February 28, the Roots will perform at Power Shift '09, the "youth energy and climate summit" taking place in Washington, DC.

And if you're still jonzing for some ?uestlove action after that, check out the Roots drummer at his weekly DJ night dubbed "the fANtastic" starting March 26 at artsy downtown enclave (Le) Poisson Rouge. The residency takes place every Thursday until May 28. Since the Roots are friends with everyone who's ever rhymed on a microphone, who knows who'll show up at these residencies? We can picture the post-Jay photos on Nah Right right now...no pressure, dudes!

Of course, the band's afro'd stickman is available for your quipping pleasure every hour of the day at his Twitter. Just recently, he revealed the name of the next Roots album, via a Tweet: How I Got Over.

And if you can't wait a few weeks for your Roots fix, they're currently starring in a couple webisodes promoting the Fallon show.

Roots-vasion:

The Roots:

02-28 Washington, DC - Power Shift '09
03-05 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
03-19 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
03-31 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
04-14 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
04-21 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
05-13 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
05-18 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
05-26 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
06-02 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
06-10 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
06-16 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
06-23 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom

?uestlove's the fANtastic DJ Night:

03-26 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
04-02 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
04-09 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
04-16 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
04-23 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
04-30 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
05-07 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
05-14 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
05-21 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge
05-28 New York, NY - (Le) Poisson Rouge

• Video: The Roots [ft. Wale and Chrisette Michele]: Rising Up [from the Rising Down LP]

The Roots Recovering After Tour Bus Crash

(Swiped from Pitchfork Media)

Photo by Matt Ziegler

"Just wanna be the first celeb to twit... from an ambulance," reads an entry on the Twitter of Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson of Philly's the Roots. From the sound of things, ?uestlove and his bandmates are pretty pleased to be alive and relatively well after their tour bus crashed en route to Paris last night (November 19).

The band emerged from the mess relatively unscathed, and ?uest was in fact able to extensively blog about the accident mere hours after it happened. Thompson writes, "in reality the crash was all of about 7 seconds....but to do a 360 on the highway and end up ramped up (the van that crashed into ours was UNDER our double decker bus) in the air....is....well... a frigging miracle." As he writes elsewhere, "dog we are soooo alive right now."

Though some suffered injuries leading to "cuts and neck braces," everyone on the bus is-- again-- okay, though the fate of the band's upcoming dates appears somewhat in limbo. ?uestlove notes something about the band's participation in Kanye West's Paris gig tonight (November 20) being highly unlikely but as of now no announcement has been made about any further cancellations. "That was divine intervention. we are so grateful for this outcome," he writes. Us too.

Of course, an incident like this might help along the widely circulated rumor going around this week that the band would retire from proper touring and, instead, serve as the house band when Jimmy Fallon takes over for Conan O'Brien on NBC's "Late Night" in 2009.

Though it should be noted once again that this is, indeed, still just a rumor-- the Roots' reps have no comment on the matter at this time-- it's a tidbit that apparently got its start from the mouth of ?uestlove himself. MTV.com reports that, on a since-removed video, Thompson reportedly noted, "I don't know if I want to be 40, on the road and single no more. And with the kids my group has now getting older...it's harder for the guys to leave more than it was when the kids were 2 and 3." He later added, "I'mma love my new home at [NBC headquarters] 30 Rock. Two visits and I'm already on a first-name basis with the 'SNL' cats." The laser cats have first names?

Should they opt to play through the cuts and scrapes, the Roots' next scheduled appearance is tomorrow night in Lille, France.

The Roots:

11-21 Lille, France - Aeronef

11-23 Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega

11-24 Stockholm, Sweden - Berns

11-26 Hamburg, Germany - Docks

11-27 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle

11-28 Warsaw, Poland - Arena Ursynon

11-29 Skopje, Macedonia - Taksirat 10 Festival

12-01 Nottingham, England - Rock City

12-02 Manchester, England - Academy

12-03 Bristol, England - Academy

12-05 London, England - The Forum

12-06 London, England - The Forum

12-07 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique

12-08 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso

12-09 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso

Video: The Roots [ft. Wale and Chrisette Michele]: Rising Up [from the Rising Down LP]