Hiip Hop and Rock at Rock the Bells

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On Rock The Bells by DJ Josh G.

I attended the Rock the Bells "world-class hip hop platform" this past Saturday at the outdoor Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, California, and I thought I'd write a little review while it's still somewhat fresh in my mind. My friends and I got there around a quarter to one, just too late to catch EPMD and probably The Coup which was on another stage and might have conflicted with EPMD anyway. We were trying to find our place in the world while Talib Kweli went on followed by Mos Def with a brief appearance by Nas.

Next came the meat of the order. We got in just in time for Public Enemy which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, because I don't have enough reminders of my age. They had a live band and a DJ who was not Terminator X. Professor Griff and the S1Ws were doing their thing and Scott Ian from Anthrax came in for a while to help out on "Bring the Noise" and Flavor Flav closed the set with a drum solo. The highlight for me was when the band played the tune of "Come Together" by the Beatles to part of one of the songs. I can't remember which one it was but I'm thinking it was "By the Time I Get to Arizona" just based on the pace. If anybody out there knows what I'm talking about, please refresh my memory. They also wrapped up their version of "Fight the Power" with the Isley Brothers' song of the same name. That was cool!

Next was The Roots who I was curious to see. I liked their set but the heat was really starting to make me tired at that point. I don't know the lyrics to their songs so I didn't have the soothing distraction of being able to rap/sing along. The guitarist was really impressive. He also did some singing, on "The Seed 2.0" for example. They had a horn section which included a tuba! I can honestly say I've never been to a rock or rap show that featured a tuba before that. It worked though.

After that was Cypress Hill. This was my third time seeing them which is more than any other group other than the local bands I see regularly. They are now three-for-three in putting on an awesome show. I told Dewane, if I only knew them from their studio stuff, I wouldn't think of them as a must-see group. But they really know how to do it live. If you like Cypress and you haven't seen them live, catch them the next chance you get. Like Public Enemy, they didn't have the DJ from their heyday, in this case Muggs. They did have Bobo on the bongos though. I think he really complements their set. It adds some subtle flavor to the live act that you don't get from listening to a CD. They also had a giant inflated throne seating a skeleton character dressed like a king and, as is to be expected, with a joint in his hand. They did all their early hits (including "Hits from the Bong") that I could have hoped to hear. And to be consistent, they did some hits from a big ol' bong.

Next up was Wu-Tang Clan which I was excited to see. The front of their DJ stand featured a Wu-Tang logo with "RIP O.D.B." across the middle of it. The backdrop had a black-on-white stylized image of a pagoda flanked by banners with the names of members of the group on them. Unfortunately, I was disappointed after that. It started before the Clan took the stage. Some Chinese-sounding music, a trademark of the Wu's sampling of kung fu movie dialogue, was signalling their entrance. Or so I thought. It turned out just to be the between-set DJ playing some song I didn't recognize. Finally, Wu-Tang took the stage, all like 900 of them. It was cool to see Method Man, the RZA, the GZA and company on stage but they just got up there and rapped. I was hoping for more theatrics. Something tied into their kung fu theme like the video for "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'". Maybe some cool movie samples that aren't on the albums. Nope. I was glad to see them but I felt a little let down. Method Man did make mention of the fact that this was the location and event where they last did a show with Ol' Dirty Bastard. I wonder how the show would have been different with ODB. I think it made a difference. I can only imagine a Public Enemy set without Flavor Flav. Some guy from System of a Down joined them for a little bit. He was wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey with the name "CHAMBERS" and number 36. I thought that was clever.

Then it was time for the headliners, who I don't really think of as a hip hop group, Rage Against the Machine. At this point I was, as I think most of the audience was, exhausted and I had already seen the groups I really went to see. There were a few Rage songs that I had already liked. But I think seeing their set made a fan out of me. As tired as I was, I loved the energy they brought. They brought it far more than anybody else that day/night. I recognized more of their songs than I realized. (I once had a similar revelation about the Eurythmics.)

In a mosh pit, which I expected to see, some kids started a fire, which I didn't really expect to see. I later found out another fire in the audience was partly fueled by plastic bottles. Brilliant. The staff didn't seem to have a problem with that but they wouldn't let my friends bring in bottles of water because they were open. Anyway, I once saw guitarist Tom Morello playing on one of the late night TV talk shows and I was impressed. On this night he stole the entire show. He used different guitar effects, and loudly, while kicking and spinning as lead singer Zack de la Rocha darted and jumped around the stage. Of course they left the stage to get the audience to plead for their return and then obliged with an encore to put a bow on the whole thing. And that was about all I could handle. Then it was the long walk back to the car followed by sitting in said car for about two hours waiting to get out of the parking lot.

While Rock the Bells didn't give me any sense that the torch of hip hop was being passed on to able hands (maybe I arrived too late and attended the wrong stage for that kind of thing), I did have the comfort that some of the groups I listened to growing up are still going strong. Even 20 years later. BlackState.com August 2007

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