LA Times: Rock the Bells
I really can’t say enough good things about Rock the Bells. The line-up was great, the accommodations generous and comfortable, the crowd knowledgeable and passionate. Plus, everyone involved gets extra-props for ensuring that no one gave the Black Eyed Peas any love during their “Hey, Don’t You Guys Remember That We Weren’t Always the Worst Rap Group on the Planet” nostalgia trip, made extra-ironic by the Peas performing their Behind the Front material, i.e. songs devoted to the notion that they would “never sell out” and always “keep it real.”
As I discuss in the Times article, Pharcyde, Tribe and Rae and Ghost were easily the day’s sonic highlights. However, Rock the Bells 2008 will be forever ingrained in my memory for the site of David “Bud Bundy” Faustino, owning the VIP room, rocking a fedora and a Dipset shirt. See photo here. Sadly, the 100 degree heat left me near heat-stroke, which meant that I stayed away from alcohol and thus was in no condition to inquire whether he would be willing to rap the first 16 bars of “Reppin’ Time,” for me. Perhaps next year. In the meantime, I suppose it’s just Byrd gang 4 life.
LA Times: Rock the Bells Review
Download:
MP3: A Tribe Called Quest-”Same Ol’ Thing”
MP3: Pharcyde-”Pork”
MP3: Ghostface ft. Raekwon & Fat Joe-”Clientele”
Stumble It!
August 11th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
How was Red and Meth? I would have gone just to see them
August 11th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
They were really good, although Meth missed the first half of the show because he was late getting to the venue. Apparently, the Rock the Bells people wanted to cancel their set but Red refused and opted to go on solo. He was pissed but got happy and by the end was stage-diving into the crowd. They claim Blackout 2 is dropping later this year.
Other side note, Rae was screaming that OB4CL2 will come out next February. For sure. We’ll see.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Yeah, Raekwon came across like a guy who owes you money when he brought up Cuban Linx 2 — “really, guys, really, I’ll have it to you by February, for real this time, I swear to God…”
Did anyone else notice that Jay Electronica was scheduled for 11:30-11:55 a.m., and yet the show itself was scheduled to start at noon? It seemed intentionally insulting. I wonder if he even showed up…I certainly wasn’t there that early.
August 11th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Doors opened at 11:00 but yeah, I didn’t get there until Murs at 1:00. Disappointing because I wanted to see him and Wale.
I didn’t see it as an insult as much as a conscious decision on the artists part for insisting on playing the big stage. They could’ve probably gotten mid-day on the little stage had they so desired. My guess is that it probably had to do with desire to avoid the potential “hipster rap” association of playing Stage 2.
August 12th, 2008 at 2:30 am
I didn’t even know there was a second stage.where was it located at.and I also heard dj quik came out?too bad I was running late.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:39 am
how nice of you to take my picture and flip it.
be real about it.
he wasn’t drunk and he wasn’t hitting on any girls except for his girlfriend.
August 13th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
[…] just read Weiss’ wrap on the Rock the Bells LA show. The most interesting part was that he mentioned Bud Bundy was in the house and in the VIP tent, […]