Date: Friday January 6th, 2012
Line up: Zen Robbi, B Foundation, UpRooted, Reeform
Location: The Roxy Theatre. Hollywood, CA
As one of the first album drops of 2012, Zen Robbi celebrated the release of Lovely in the Middle in Hollywood, California. With fellow reggae-rock bands such as The B Foundation, UpRooted, Reeform joining them on stage, Zen Robbi’s release party was an amazing lift off for the new album. Lovely in the Middle is the fourth album release by Zen Robbi and after the drop on January 3rd, Friday night at the Roxy seemed the best way to let 
loose! Fans, also known as Zen Heads put on their band shirts to show their love for the band. With a strong knit love in the reggae-rock community, Iration as well as rock band Cage the Elephant were in the crowd Friday night to show their support for the album.
The Roxy Theatre (often just The Roxy) is the legendary nightclub located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. It was opened on September 23, 1973 and has played host to early stardom to live acts such as Guns N Roses, Pearl Jam & Janes Addiction. On Friday January 6th, 2012, The Roxy had every bit of it’s 450 person capacity filled to the brim. In attendance were fans & bands alike who came out in support of Zen Robbi’s highly anticipated album release party. Aside from the bands on the bill, there were an array of guest appearances that included Micah, Kai & Joe D. of Iration along with Lincoln from Cage the Elephant. Iration came out after recording and had to track the next day at 9:30am. Also joining the party was members of Meet Me At The Pub as well as Jamie Bullock, formerly of International Farmers, who later filled in on keys for both The B Foundation & Zen Robbi.
Reeform opened up with a sick set to kick off the night. From San Diego, California, the six-man band called 
Reeform was a perfect start for the celebration of a new album drop. For an opening group, located about 2 hours south of Hollywood, Reeform came in with an impressive opening crowd to get things started before turning the mic over to the Burbank, CA based group UpRooted. UpRooted put their hip-hop twist on reggae-rock spreading their cool sound to the crowd.
When The B Foundation hit the stage, all of their fans lined up around the stage and got ready to jam out. With a massive circle constantly moving throughout the set, The B Foundation pumped up the crowd with hit songs from their most recent album, Souvenirs Novelties and Party Tricks and much more. They closed out the set with “Go Away” with an onstage collaboration with Mic Dangerously, lead singer of Zen Robbi.
Zen Robbi rocked the Roxy from the moment they hit the stage. Starting off with a classic Zen hit, “Nova Scotia,” the band got the crowd singing and dancing early. Following up with “Black Jack Guru” and “Kings of California” to ring in the fans with their awesome hits. “Dance with Me” from the new album brought female vocalists, The B Foundation’s Jamie on keyboards, and the infamous Todd Forman of Sublime on saxophone to the stage. The diverse crowd of Zen Heads rocked away to the new song as the stage presence of Zen Robbi and guests overwhelmed the crowd with sick guitar riffs, Forman’s talent, and some pounding drum and bass.
“Revolution Avenue (Mexicoma),” “Champagne,” “Lovely in the Middle,” “Chingale,” “Cornucopia,” 
and “Saint Dangerously” were some of the new songs that made the set list. With fans already singing along to the new album, Zen Robbi played that unique sound of theirs all night long to the Hollywood crowd and brought fans up on stage to dance with the group while Zen Robbi continued to play. The Roxy Theatre, perfect for live music, was the best setting to watch the Zen Robbi rock out, allowing fans to experience that reggae-rock music that could be felt throughout your entire body. Lead singer Mic Dangerously’s skills on the guitar brought out that rock ‘n roll feeling, along with the musical capabilities of the band to explore genres of rock, reggae and funk in each song.
Mic Dangerously told The Pier after eight or nine months of working on the album that the band was ready as hell to release the album with their family, friends, and fans in the audience. Zen Robbi’s Lovely in the Middle is without a doubt on repeat for the Zen Heads and reggae-rock fans that joined the party. After such an awesome album release party, all you reggae-rockers can continue to celebrate the drop with California shows coming up this month! So stay caught up with The Pier and our weekly Show Locator to find out the details!
You can read The Pier’s Official Album Review of Zen Robbi’s new album Lovely In The Middle by clicking HERE
– Article By: Alyssa Torres
– Photos By: Jenni Anspach
Check out all of our past Concert Articles complete with photos (and some with videos),
inside our Editorials section by clicking HERE
