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Fan Review: Rock The Bells ‘09
Is hip-hop’s biggest annual pow-wow getting too big for its britches?


Above: La Coka Nostra at Rock The Bells on 8/8. Photo by DJ Mikey.

By Tai*ga Style, Bakotopia.com contributor

A red carpet, a VIP lounge, and $16 frozen margaritas.

Sounds like the latest nightclub hot spot, right? Actually, these amenities could be found at Guerrilla Union’s famous Rock The Bells hip-hop fest on Aug. 8.

Unfortunately, the show that brought together hip-hop royalty and underground emcees, to the city of San Bernardino, CA seems to be on holiday. In its place - an over-priced commercialized spectacle - at least in this writer’s eyes.

If you’re a RTB regular like myself, you remember standing in the scorching San Bernardino sun until your feet got numb and your skin bright red. You’ll also remember drinking the overpriced water to keep cool, or passing out from heat exhaustion like I did once (good times.) And if you’re a hard core hip-hop head, you remember going into the “concert pit of no return.” I call it that because if you went in, chances are you would be without food, water, and more importantly a restroom for hours. Getting out was close to impossible, BUT it was all worth seeing a good show, meeting new people with the same love of music, and having the bragging rights when you got home.

This year’s show was held at The San Manuel Amphitheatre, in Devore, (same venue as last, different name). I had no complaints of the venue itself. It was clean, and the surrounding hills and lake was a nice change from the original NOS Fairgrounds from the show’s original years.

But watching a majority of fans stuck in segregated seating for an event like this was a disappointment, especially those sitting in their own private VIP booth, equipped with servers, food menus. Fans with “lawn seating” had no access inside the amphitheatre or the main stage; only the vendor area and the “Paid Dues” side stage. Long gone are the days where you had to earn your place in the pit. Now, a pink wrist band with the words “ENTER PIT AT YOUR OWN RISK” allowed fans to be where they longed to be, front and center.

Despite the noticeable changes, The Bells continued its tradition of showcasing hip-hop pioneers, this year being no exception.

House of Pain bandmates Danny Boi, Everlast, and DJ Lethal joined forces with Slaine and Non Phixion’s Ill Bill as the super crew La Coka Nostra performing new cuts from they’re new album “A Brand You Can Trust” as well as ‘90s classics “Jump Around” and “Who’s the Man?”

The iconic Slick Rick, served as the very special guest, as he blessed fans with his timeless classics. Busta Rhymes gave us a short medley of his club hits, but it was the legendary Roots crew that stole the show with their funky rendition of classics “Seed 2.0” and my favorite “You Got Me”.

Rock The Bells has certainly changed over the past few years, raising a level of hip-hop recognition that creator Chang Weisburg might not have expected.

Once the underdog, Rock The Bells is now in competition with other mainstream music festivals. Who knows what might happen next year?

If you’re missing the original Rock The Bells vibe, check out next year’s Paid Dues Festival.

Don’t forget to support true hip-hop music and preserve the culture.

Peace to all my B Boys & B Girls.

STAY TUNED For live photos from RTB ‘09 at:
www.bakotopia.com/seen

www.guerillaunion.com/rockthebells
www.guerillaunion.com/paiddues

Also printed in Bakotopia magazine, issue 61, 8-20-09