This year has been a tumultuous one for America in the socio-political sphere, heightening the importance of artists and troubadours who dare to speak truth to power. Thievery Corporation have been pioneers in music revolution for more than a quarter century, so there’s an eager buzz of anticipation surrounding their return to the Bay Area with a show here at the Fox Theater in uptown Oakland on Saturday, 6 September.
The group are often billed as an electronic duo, as DJs Rob Garza and Eric Hilton were the founders of the project in the mid-1990s. However, they’ve helped take electronic music to a more organic level by putting together a band of ace musicians, along with an international team of eclectic vocalists (a concept tracing back to the group’s origins in Washington, DC) Thievery Corporation have always been known for their unique blend of trip-hop, acid jazz, dub, psychedelia, and various groovy global influences. Yet they’ve also staked out a well-earned reputation as one of the most subversive groups of the 21st century, with songs that speak with more truth and insight than most news outlets.
Garza remains the ringleader, a Gen-X musical maestro and conductor of the group’s performances from behind his turntables. Hilton no longer tours with the group, but remains active in creating new music with 2025’s Midnight Ragas being a vibrant case in point. Known in some circles as “the godfather of downtempo”, Hilton’s latest album includes collaborations with Thievery vocalists Puma Ptah and Natalia Clavier. It feels like a Thievery spin-off with its blend of groovy tunes and chill vibes, which could be perfect for winding down with after a Thievery Corporation show.
The set opens with the instrumental deep cut “Assault on Babylon”, setting the tone for the evening, which dates back to 1997’s Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi album. The title track from 2008’s Radio Retaliation hits on a similar theme, with Puma singing, “We taking over your station and we go change the vibration.” The rhythm section of drummer Jeff Franca and bassist Dan Africano is dialed in tight as the group moves into “All That We Perceive”, with vocalist Laura Vall bringing an exotic vibe to the stage as she sings, “What we see, I can’t comprehend / Illuminating love falls from the skies / To water the illusions in our eyes.”
The instrumental “Illumination” from 2000’s Mirror Conspiracy builds on the groovy vibe as percussionist Frank Orrall enhances the beat as guitarist Rob Myers moves over to sitar while Garza spins psychedelic layers. “Truth and Rights” from 2004’s Babylon Rewound ups the ante with Puma throwing down subversive insights as he raps over a dub groove about how “The prostitutes gather at the top of Constitution Avenue to dictate what I and I can say or do” and “Those who believe in pentagrams, Send the youth off to die in foreign lands.”
Puma, Vall, and the ever-insurgent Mr. Lif comprise the vocal team tonight and team up to trade verses on “Encounter in Bahia”, blending trip-hop attitude with a chill downtempo groove that feels like it could soundtrack a scene from a James Bond movie. Thievery Corporation elevates their international vibe on tunes like this one, with the three vocalists seeming like they could be UN Human Rights Special Rapporteurs who deliver their reports in a musical context (with Puma being from the Virgin Islands, Vall hailing from Spain, and Lif from Boston).
Myers stars on sitar on the classic “Lebanese Blonde”, generating an infectious groove along with the percussionists, while Vall shines with a femme fatale vibe as she sings about being “Too low to find my way, Too high to wonder why…” The seminal tune from Mirror Conspiracy remains one of the key psychedelic dance grooves of the 21st century, taking all “the thieves” in the audience to a higher vibration. The influential album from the turn of the millennium is heavily featured tonight, fittingly so, as 2025 marks the album’s 25th anniversary.
The group mixes things up with an acoustic segment that opens with Puma on the spacey dub of “Amerimacka” from 2005’s The Cosmic Game. He cuts through to a more profound truth when he sings, “The land of the free built on slavery, Her consciousness is in captivity, The promised land is in the lion’s den, Your culture of greed has got to end.” America’s culture of greed has only grown worse over the past two decades, making songs like this one as timely as ever.
Mr. Lif delivers further insights on “History” from 2018’s Temple of I and I, speaking out against “systematic oppression” and warning of how everyone’s constitutional rights in America are in danger with the current political regime’s crackdown on immigrants. “Big ups to California for being the first to stand up against the bullshit,” Lif says, regarding ICE snatching suspected illegal immigrants off the streets in Gestapo-like fashion.
The boldly subversive quality of Thievery Corporation’s repertoire has long been an essential element of what makes the group unique and special. Similarly, the sublime sonic landscapes of majestic songs, such as the classic “Sweet Tides,” are also noteworthy. Vall takes center stage here with Garza and Myers on acoustic guitars, while Franca and Orrall play hand drums for an excellent living room-style rendition of the perennial fan favorite.
Vall goes on to build on Lif’s message about immigration, noting that she’s an immigrant too, that “this nation was filled with immigrants coming from around the world trying to make a better life”, and that she wants to sing the next song for all the immigrants whose voices are being silenced. “Tomorrow” features a trance dance groove as she sings “Remember there’s always tomorrow”, before the percussion ramps up for more energy behind the positivity.
The title track from “Mirror Conspiracy” is another highlight, as Franca and Africano lay down a chill groove for Vall, who sings about how “Our whole world is smoke and mirrors.” The energy level surges on “Holographic Universe”, with a higher tempo that boosts a tight groove and psychedelic layers from Garza, generating a transcendent collective get-down.
Puma steps up again on the jazzier “Richest Man in Babylon” from the 2003 album of the same name, singing out, “Babylon, this is your final call, Read the writing it’s on the wall, Said United we stand, And together we fall.” It’s another one of those classic Thievery tunes that speaks truth to power in the context of a groovy jam, hitting the spot in the set closing slot.
The encore segment features a sensational instrumental jam on “The Forgotten People” from 2008’s Radio Retaliation. This tune appears to represent the Zapatista rebels of Chiapas, Mexico, as depicted on the album cover image of the Zapatistas’ legendary Subcomandante Marcos. The polyrhythmic percussion feels like the soundtrack for a Zapatista march through the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula, standing up for global economic justice, energized further by Myers’ infectious sitar melodies and Garza’s guitar.
Puma Ptah, Mr. Lif, and Laura Vall team up again on the insurgent “Warning Shots” as Thievery Corporation throw down one more dynamic jam to close out the night. Franca is crushing it here as he has all night, while Africano lays down a fat groove for the vocalists as they sing about the resistance overcoming rough times to grow stronger. The struggle against the shortsighted, greedy powers that be has only grown more challenging since the song first appeared in 2005, but so too has awareness about the power of the people when they join together.
The inspiring spiritual power of music that speaks truth to power is a vital element in the political revolution, thanks to bold and courageous artists like Thievery Corporation.