Reviews
Rock the Bells 2009
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Guerilla Union has taken “Rock the Bells” (RTB) from an LL Cool J Single to a transnational, transgenerational hip-hop concert phenomenon. And as hip-hop heads descended upon Vancouver’s Deer Lake Park, bass lines and the smell of BC bud filled the air.
Though the Vancouver concert was not as large as other RTB venues, Guerilla Union found a new home in the Pacific Northwest, easily hosting a crowd of several thousand, eager to see the star studded lineup headlined Nas and Damian Marley.
The doors opened at 1pm and Southern California’s Short Dawg Tha Native was the first act. Short Dawg shared both his Cali and his Native American roots with a crowd of several hundred concert goers, and, as an opening act, he performed admirably, the introductory wave of the hip hop Tsunami to come.
Van City’s own Red1, HeatWave, Lamar Ashe and Joose jumped on the stage to perform their set, and the locals went crazy. Formerly The Rascalz, they jumped on stage, performed “Living for Van City” and “Van City’s Calling” and the crowds expanded. Though their performance was a bit chaotic with so many artists performing, the attendees were very familiar with their catalog and were taken in by the group’s youthful swagger and choice of hype music
Chali 2na of Jurassic 5 was the next act, performing his J5 classics as well as singles from his upcoming Fish Outta Water LP. And while Chali chose to make a foray into solo artistry, Slum Village’s loss of Baatin loomed large over the entire concert. T3 and Elzhi put on a commendable performance, considering Baatin’s death that morning.
Hip-hop’s newest supergroup, Slaughterhouse, stepped on the stage next, and blew fans minds. All renowned for their lyricism, each artist could have held the stage on their own, but as a collective, the ‘Voltron Crew’ created a level of excitement that lifted the spirits of the mourning crowd.
It was hard to expect more from a concert, but it was barely 4pm by the time Tech N9ne took the stage. An strictly independent artist without major backing, it was shocking to see the Kansas City native have such a large following–in Vancouver. Donning white surgical scrubs and the word “SICK” painted on his face, the crowd exploded when Tech and Krizz Kaliko jumped off, spitting rapid fire verses and coaxing the ladies in the audience to flash.
No concert proceeds without problems, but noone wants problems of the magnitude of a missing Talib Kweli. Slated to perform after Tech N9ne, Talib and Hi-Tek had flight issues that precluded him from performing during his slot. B-Real of Cypress Hill stepped up to fill his place. Performing classics from Cypress, B-Real kept the energy from completely dissipating from an otherwise fantastic concert.
And then came Common. Common brought all the energy he had to the stage and amped the crowd performing cuts from his last album, and performing an homage to old school hip hop and as quick as he jumped out onto the stage, he disappeared, handing the stage over to the Rza.
Throwing up the Wu, The Rza rapped solo cuts and a few joints from the 36 Chambers. The most touching part of the night was his tribute to the Old Dirty Bastard, performing ‘I like it Raw’ and sharing the stage with ODB’s son, Boy Jones, who performed “I Want a Million Dollars,” right before Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek took the stage.
Reflection Eternal wasn’t expected to perform at all, but Talib took the stage right before Nas and Damian Marley. Though the set was cut short due to flight complications, no show of this caliber would be quite right without the appearance of Kweli and Hi-Tek. Performing “Get By” and a few other Reflection Eternal cuts, Kweli and Hi-Tek set the stage for Nas and Damian Marley to close the night out.
Damian and Nas performed with a live band and a DJ and shut shit down. Nas performed most of his classics, including “New York State of Mind,” “Street Dreams,” and “If I Ruled the World,” while Damian performed not only “Welcome to Jamrock,” but his renditions of his father’s music.
After 10 hours of hip-hop, weed and beer, Nas and Damian Marley induced within the crowd a state of euphoria, a bliss presented by Guerilla Union.
Check out the Deft Mag Official RTB Gallery
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