Rock the Bells Festival 2009 Review

I attended the Rock the Bells Festival 2009 (RTB) at Merriweather Post Pavilion (MPP) on Sunday July 12, 2009. I got to the show around 2:30pm/3pm as I was not really interested in seeing The Knux, Chali 2na, K'naan or some of the others, even though I did see some no-name performers last year. I didn't really get a chance to listen to some of the no-names this year before going to the show, hence why I did not go early this year.

First things first, at the entrance to MPP, people were being told that they could not bring in lawn chairs or backpacks - a decision made by the production people at RTB not Merriweather, so a lot of people had to walk all the way back to their cars or homes to take back their chairs/backpacks - I was one of them. It would have been nice to know this information before even heading to the festival, but I found out from a few people that work for MPP that they were just informed of the change that morning. We were also informed once we got there, that Damian Marley was not performing due to a family emergency - I was so looking forward to hear him perform.

First, I went and bought a RTB shirt and yes, I bought a backpack as well - I had to put all those things I was carrying into something. You best believe I will be sporting that RTB backpack wherever I go - can't pay all that money for a bag and not use it.
I was able to see the group Tech N9NE which was good. Next up was Talib Kweli and his group Reflection Eternal, then Common which was great. Common did a song with Talib Kweli on stage that I liked. Big Boi was next, but I didn't really see his performance - Outkast without Andre 3000 is just not the same. The Roots was great as always, although they didn't do too many songs that I knew. Next up was Busta Rhymes - I knew he was coming when I saw the "Flipmode" bus pull up while The Roots was performing. Busta & Spliff held it down and had the crowd roaring. Raekwon walked on to their set while Busta was performing. As I waited for Nas to perform, both KRS-One and Supernatural came on stage to spit some lyrics - between listening to the two, I would have to vote for Supernatural as he took the cake. Last up was Nas who always hold his own when he performs. In the middle of his set, he brought up AZ that did a song with him, Styles P who did a few songs and Pharoah Monarch who did a few as well. Nas continued to do his thing afterwards and I enjoyed it. I actually left the show a little early as I had seen Nas last year twice (once was at the Rock the Bells Festival 2008). Overall, I would have to say that the RTB show this year was good, but for me it was not great. I will still attend the show the next time they come back to the area as for me, I will take Hip Hop any day over the stuff they now play on the radio.

All in all, the people I saw for the day were - Tech N9NE, Talib Kweli, Reflection Eternal, Common, Big Boi, The Roots, Busta Rhymes, Spliff, Nas, KRS-One, Supernatural, DJ Dummy (Common's DJ), DJ Green Lantern (Nas's DJ), DJ Radio Rock, Pete Rock (of PR & CL Smooth), Raekwon, Styles P, AZ, Pharoah Monarch.