Recap: Rock The Bells 10 Year Anniversary (Day Two)

By | October 2, 2013 at 1:33 am | No comments | Featured Post, MUSIC, Recaps | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Day 2 found me gripping a bottle of Hennessy right before I got wrist-banded up and stepped behind the gates into the wilderness that is Rock The Bells. After grinding the graveyard shift after Day 1, I needed some very fine cognac to set the event off right after arriving to the venue in the afternoon. I missed checking out Danny Brown, Freddie Gibbs and Rapsody with 9th Wonder, but all of the performers I had missed were still kicking it tough in the artist village like it was rock creek park.

Dilated Peoples showed everyone that worse comes to worst their peoples still come first. Action Bronson told his Saab stories and Slick Rick rocked buku chains while Doug E. Fresh reminded everyone Cali Swag District wasn’t the first to Dougie. Joey Bada$$ brought Pro Era along for the ride across the 36 Chambers stage. (RIP Capital Steez) Trinidad James reintroduced himself to people after the “All Gold Everything” and rocked on the Guerilla Union stage. Dom Kennedy kept things smooth on the Rock The Bells stage, and then came the Mob.

Accumulating Status And Power is something that comes natural to the Harlem natives that are collectively known as the A$AP Mob. Rocky took to the stage and cycled through his collection of trill-wave classics. A$AP Na$ty caught his ad-libs. Ferg came through to put in “Work” and rocked both the original and the remix to his hit single. Of course “Shabba” turned the crowd up. Even the Cutthroat Boyz made an appearance at the close of the set as A$ton Matthews & Joey Fatts could be seen on the side of the stage. Shout out to Yamborghini and D-A dollar sign.

J. Cole broke out his “Born Sinner” confessions next on the main stage. Drake was rumored to make an appearance during his set, but rumors are just rumors. Cole rocked the house while Del the Funky Homosapien reunited with Dan the Automater on the 36 Chambers stage and broke out the 3030 classics as well as unveiled some heat from Event 2.

I caught a golf cart ride from stage to stage and ended up behind the scenes while Juicy J kept things extra trippy on the Guerilla Union stage. A$AP Rocky made a guest appearance and performed “Scholarship” alongside the Three 6 Mafia legend. If bands won’t make her dance then I don’t know what will.

I circled back to the main stage and bamboozled my way down into the pitt. It was time for the Wu Tang Clan to swarm the stage in true killa bee fashion. Method Man was there, the RZA, the GZA, young Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, U-God and Masta Killa were all there. Even Street Life and Cappadonna were there. The big question was where is the Chef and where is Tony Starks? They’re resurrecting Osiris in holographic form and you’d think the whole clan would be there to rub ya ass in the moonshine when ODB made his triumphant return.

There were a couple technical difficulties during the set before we got to Big Baby Jesus, but Meth was right there to bus acapellas off his dome and keep the show moving. The Clan went through their classics and then the 2nd stage lowered and everyone stared in amazement as the ghostly figure of ODB materialized on stage. He rocked “Shame On A N*gga” & “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.” RZA & Ol’ Dirty’s son got down with the hologram version of Dirt McGirt. Dirty was sliding around and keeping things funky on stage. I gotta keep it 1000, it was definitely a sight to see, and definitely ghostly. Mos Def it felt eerie in the San Manuel amphitheater as the Wu Tang Clan honored their fallen brother.

How do you top that? Well… it’s kinda hard to tell you the truth. When Dirty vanished, a big blue Wu Tang W rotated on stage and RZA and the rest of Shaolin cycled through more of their darts. Redman made an appearance alongside his “How High” brethren and performed “Da Rockwilder.” And as the curtain fell on the evening, the Wu Tang W shined bright over San Bernadino.

It’s been 10 years of Rock the Bells summer festivals. That’s a big X in Roman Numerology. It ain’t quite caught up with the super bowl yet, but it’s still pretty impressive. Once again Guerilla Union has proven that Rock the Bells is the premier platform for hip hop live performances, and yeah… Wu Tang is still forever, reinforcing that machine gun rap to keep stadiums packed. Ask Drake, he’ll tell you… It’s Yourz. Ha.

-You know ya man’s Drop Jewelz

All photos shot by Eric Soul

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