This past weekend saw Rock The Bells make a stop in Vancouver, taking place at the great outdoor venue, Deer Lake Park. There was an air of sadness surrounding the event, before it even started, as early that morning I found out that Baatin from Slum Village had passed away. Currently there are no details on the matter, we’re not sure if something happened en route to Vancouver, or in Vancouver. Nonetheless, respects to a legend, R.I.P. Baatin.
Respectively folks in attendance weren’t sure if Slum Village would still make their scheduled performance, but 2:30 rolled around and there they were, T3 and Elzhi, coming out and putting on a great show for everyone, performing all the classics, then taking a moment to remember their friend. I definitely can say I had chills during the whole time, just seeing these guys putting on a brave face and performing hard was nothing short of amazing.
There were a few changes in the lineup, as Canadians have come to expect when attending a hiphop concert. Customs can be a bitch to get through or in some cases not get through. Early in the day we were told that Pete Rock wasn’t going to be there, as well as K’Naan, Big Boi and KRS-One. B-Real was brought on to help Supernatural with hosting, but that was scraped and instead fans were treated with a full on performance of classic Cypress Hill joints. RZA was also added to the bill and he brought up Ol’Dirty Bastards son, he had a frightening resemblance to his father. Reflection Eternal had initially canceled as we were told by Livenation staff, but at the 11th hour, Hi-Tek and Talib Kweli made it to the stage and performed a slew of songs, but honestly did anybody hear any Reflection Eternal songs? I’m pretty sure they just did all Talib Kweli’s songs, correct me if I’m wrong here.
The final act saw Nas and Damian Marley together on stage, each performing their respective classics and essentially amping the crowd. Everyone pushed in closer and closer to the stage to try and catch some pictures, video or to simply take in the moment. It was a great way to end the festival.
Although our bill wasn’t as great as the original announced line-up, there’s no doubt that it was still a great festival. Check out a few of our pictures below and hit our flickr page for more pictures, lots more.
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/killahbeez
August 5th, 2009 at 6:03 am
Are there any videos of this?
August 5th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
nah, they were pretty strict, we weren’t authorized to take video, just photos.