Rock the Bells

[Drunk Monk]

@ SLA 8/16/8

I spent the day building a hot tub with a zen priest. It was much easier than expected so instead of going home and watching more Olympics, I crashed RtB. They told me I had just missed an IPR which they rolled because they couldn't handle it without me or a senior psych person (never mind there two professional psych on staff, but they're newer, so they weren't called in). Anyway, most of it was me listening to other RM leaders bitch about the state of RM. Just because I'm 'psych', I get to listen to everyone else's problems, never mind my own issues. The show ended earlier than expected for me. Nas was playing and I totally missed it. Caught a little of Tribe and wasn't impressed. Hip Hop never works for me at SLA. It works in small city clubs, but not SLA. Hip Hop just doesn't translate to large venues in my mind.

[Drunk Monk]

So RZA was headlining on the side stage (aka paid dues stage) and he hooked me up with a VIP pass. RtB has so many bands that the VIP pass is totally meaningless - it's just a token thing they toss out to keep people happy but doesn't grant access anywhere. I got there early, like around 11ish. I spent my time posing at RM, hanging out at table service, talking smack to the crowd and trying to jonze donations. It was hot and that was a shady spot that offered a good view. Everyone at RM wanted to see my phishbite, and that grew tiresome, so I got out of there.

My seats were in row D in the 203 section, decent view but in the sun, so I didn't really hang out there. I snuck backstage for a spell but RZA wasn't there yet. Hung out 'til about 3 or 4, then went to pick up my kid and go home until S got off work. By the time I left, none of the acts I wanted to see had played. I came back around 9:30 and it was like a fish swimming upstream since the exodus had already begun. Streets were blocked off and I had to take a very circuitous route to get back in the venue, but I crossed paths with an old friend in parking, who gave me great access (after all, the show was just about over). Once back in the venue, I made a beeline to my seat and caught part of Naz/Jr. Gong and it didn't move me - too hip hop - then scurried over to the side stage where RZA was finishing up. Caught the very end of that, then scurried back to my seat for the concluding Could you be loved? but didn't make it back in time. The houselights were on by the time was near my seat again. It was a long day of bad timing. Never did hook up with RZA, but it was really nice of him to kick down the tickets (even though I could have just RMed it if need be). Wound up stealing a beer from RM on the out and listening to the new vols tell me that they called for me because some chick thought she smoked some PCP-laced pot. They rolled her. After a few more phishbite inquiries, I left feeling rather unfulfilled with the day.

[Drunk Monk]

Haven't posed that hard in years. And you know what? It felt really good. DM should do more of that. Call time was 8:30 AM but DM arrived at 6PM. There was a gaggle of vols wanting Dm's attention for various reasons - book inquiries, some new vols wanting to show off their martial affiliations, and some general fanvols wanting to bask in the superstardom of dm. dm would have none of that. Instead, he got into a texting duel with RZA and RZA's assistant, hoping to hook up a pass. After a good half hour of that, wound up hooking up 4 backstage wristbands, which gave full access everywhere but on stage itself, so dm gifted the extra three to some RM vols. He let the SLA supervisors choose the vols based on their recent merit, and then surreptitiously had them drop their RM colors and took them on a magic carpet ride backstage. Dm knew two of them well, a mom and son. The third was a new girl who kept having to pick her jaw up off the floor after dm told some miscellaneous rm war story (dm had to back off as had he unleashed the monster tales, her skull would have surely exploded). They all had a blast. Once they were comfortable and not in anyone's way, dm ditched them and got back to Wu's room, which was billowing like Spicoli's van. RZA was 'in the zone' and not much in the mood for casual conversation, plus he was surrounded by groupies, so dm didn't press it. It was fun to watch him surrounded by worshiping fans. Caught Wu's set and Snoop's set, all from the side of stage and back stage. It was a very relaxing evening, but dm is pretty ragged today, more ragged than he was after Outside Lands. That's amazing as Dm's Outside Lands experience was from like 9AM Sat to 11PM Sun, while the Rock the Bells was only like 6Pm to midnite. Must have been the Patron. After some embarrassing tequila incidents, like L.A. kareoke, dm swore off the stuff, but will only drink it with RZA as it's his fav. Dm wound up stumbling back to Rm after the show, to catch his breath and sober up for the drive home.

[Drunk Monk]

Wasn't going to go because of Yosemite, but we pulled out early on account of the fire, so I hit up RZA and he hooked me up with a free lawn seat. Which is ironic, of course, because I can slither into SLA at anytime really, given my RM connections, but that little ticket allowed me to play. Got there late and there was the usual hassle with will call - so many artists at this fest means wacked out guest lists, but after a few follow up texts, I was in.

4 stages - several hip hop bands doing their classic CDs. Honestly I'm not that into hip hop. It's a lot of black people yelling at you to incomprehensibly loud base (which I like) and screeching midrange (which I don't like) in a really monotonous beat. But my two fav hip hop acts were there: RZA & some of the Wu, and Cypress Hill. C lot had 2 side by side stages in an old skool sound clash duel: Guerilla Union vs. Festival of 36 Chambers. That's a double barrel shotgun of stages with a lot of black people yelling at you to incomprehensibly loud base and screeching midrange in a really monotonous beat. There was a cacaphonic position between the two stages that I found delightful. For most of the day, GU ruled. But then when a few Wu clan members came out, 36 dominated.

I went total ninja in cap and hoody, spied on RM a little (after working SLA for two dozen years, RM is like a magnet - if I don't pay attention, I naturally gravitate back there), bought a $12 beer (how do people afford to get drunk at these shows?). There was a heavy 215 influence - that part of hip hop has blown up massive.

Caught the first half of Cypress Hill from the concourse with an kung fu/rm and really enjoyed it as I've watched that band from the onset and have many fine memories of it. Caught the second half from the lawn with the new shaolin rasta, which as also enjoyable. After that, I hung out at the 36 stage, trying unsuccessfully to catch RZA's eye (hard to compete with all the groupies). 36 was sponsored by Marvel v.s Capcom 3. GZA opened with a sample from Shogun Assassin, the one I used on my phone message during my Santa Cruz spell. I was deep in the crowd, and the shaolin rasta tracked me down. Then a mosh pit broke out right next to us and I had to bail as it was harshin my buzz (some fat dude stepped on my foot and after the Yosemite hike, well, like that's what I wanted to do right then, get in a mosh pit :roll: ). I tucked on the rail on stage left for the rest of the show. There was an amazing spitting demo, downright Supernatural, with objects passed up from the front row integrated immediately and cleverly into the ongoing rap - hardcore skillz, man, hardcore. After the Wu ended, I left w/out checking out Lauryn Hill on the main stage, to get a jump on the exodus. Never been much into Hill and it would have been a bummer after Wu's energetic set.

[Drunk Monk]

Funny how all these years, dm doesn't really plan to do this show and somehow get pulled in. Odd too, that both Yosemite and the Olympics come up in earlier posts (OSL is always neighboring, so that's not so odd at all). This year, it was the interview with RZA where he said 'you should come out'. So dm did, and dm is glad he did. RtB has tapered back to 3 2-day fests. Dm got there late and RMed it, not wanting to bother with the backstage pass dance w/RZA this year. As soon as he arrived, a dozen MVPD raided the chronic candy booth, which sells pot-flavored lollipops. They suck. Okay, seriously, they do suck. You'd have to suck back like 3 dozen of them before copping any sort of buzz and they taste as much like pot as grape kool-aid tastes like grapes. But still, it was a dramatic bust, exacerbated by dozens of patrons trying to film it on their cell phones. Big brother is really the iPhone. The event was heavily sponsored by Man with the Iron Fists, which is why dm interviewed RZA and why he's glad he went. There were posters, vinyl signs and trailers, and everyone got these cute MwtIF fans. Dm was taking a photo of a vinyl sign when the new RM director and a former SLA supervisor walked by. They asked if dm wanted it, which he really didn't but said 'sure' just to see what would happen, and then, borrowing dm's handy new leatherman, they gut it down and rolled it up for dm to take. Dm will hang it in the front office later. A friend of dm's is the founder of the Hip Hop Chess Federation, which is all about the confluence of hip hop, chess and martial arts. It's very Wu. They had a booth, so dm spent more time hanging out with them than w/Rm, which was great fun to talk politics, community, youth issues, and how to save the world, made even more fun when RZA dropped by to play two simultaneous games. He won both. Dm mostly hung out at the Paid Dues stage where caught Zion I, who sounds like they always do. Also caught Murs, Deltron and Immortal Technique. Deltron was cool as it boasted a horn section, a real drummer and real back-up singers. It would have been much better if they abandoned the turntables and mixers - like acoustic hip hop, if that makes any sense at all. Dm cut out as soon as the show was over because he had to get up early to make his flight to Vegas...