Rock The Bells 2007

I could only imagine what this festival could have been with the likes of Rage Against The Machine, Public Enemy, DOOM, EPMD or Mos Def. Still, seeing this much FIRE power in one place is a pretty amazing thing. We missed Jedi Mind Tricks and Immortal Technique. Construction in SLC can be a BIOTCH at times. So, after the security pat down we were beer wrist-banded up…then we headed to the pit. Here are some thoughts on what I witnessed.

Pharoahe Monch: He didn’t seem that impressed with the crowd after several call and response attempts went nowhere. The live band he came with provided a nice touch. I caught “Desire” & “Simon Sez”. I wonder if he rocked some Organized K. isht?

Best Moment: The look on P’s face every time he tried to get the crowd going.

Talib Kweli: I enjoy Talib. More as a lyricist then a live performer. He can hold his own when he brings the live but I like getting lost in his wordplay, delivery and cadence. His set seemed really short and the presence of the Strong Arm Steady went mostly unnoticed. Except for Krondon…who might be the UGLIEST thing on the planet.

Best moment: One of the sound guy’s comes on stage to tweak a monitor and Talib calls him out by saying “Why the fuck would you do that. Fucking dickhead.”

Cypress Hill: There is something so butt rock or I guess…butt rap, about these guys. I have seen them like 6 times now? And mostly all by accident. Don’t get me wrong. They do have a tight show but really how many songs about WEED can you do? And the GREEN GRINCH was definitely in the air. I didn’t have any at all (really) and I still needed Visine.

Best Moment: “Hand On The Pump” & “How I Could Just Kill A Man” ruled!

Nas: One mic, A DJ and Nasir. He ripped through his set song after song. He covered the classics “NY State Of Mind”, “The World Is Yours”, “Street Dreams”, “If I Ruled The World”, “Made You Look”, “Get Down” and “Hip Hop Is Dead”. He jumped from song to song and covered a lot of history in the time he was on stage. He missed some cues but his presence commanded attention. Dope isht!

Best moment: “Y'all got some good weather, some beautiful women, some good weed," Nas announced. "And some of y'all have four or five wives, huh? I'm thinking of moving out here."

Wu-Tang: There is nothing better then yelling out “Bring The Mother Fucking Ruckus” with complete strangers by your side. The WU stage show was chaotic as I counted at least 12 maybe 13 people on stage at all times. A lot of feedback from the mics and eight emcee's on the choruses can be a little much at times. Still, a lot of energy and a lot of fun. It need more GZA though…that guy is slept on.

Best moment: Method Man saying that “Old Dirty loved him some pussy”. CLASSIC!