HIP HOPS BIGGEST SUMMER TOURING FESTIVAL, ROCK THE BELLS SELLING OUT SHOWS FROM NY TO LA

After two sold out and tremendously successful shows in New York on July 28th and July 29th, Hip Hops biggest summer touring festival, Rock the Bells, brought their multi stage mixture of heavy weight hip hop acts, up and coming artists, a Vendor Village and one of Rage Against the Machines small handful of reunion tour dates out West. Featuring over 20 live performances from the likes of Nas, Mos Def, Wu Tang Clan, Public Enemy, The Roots and Talib Kweli to name a few, the Rock The Bells festival also teamed up with Paid Dues at select locations as well. Paid Dues, organized by MURS 3:16 in association with Guerilla Union, features some of the best and brightest in underground hip-hop including Felt (Murs of Living Legends, Slug & Ant of Atmosphere), Sage Francis and Brother Ali, Cage, Mr. Lif, Grouch & Eligh, Hangar 18, Blueprint and Lucky I Am.

Two very special surprise performances thrilled the San Bernardino, California crowd on August 11th as Scott Ian of Anthrax joined Public Enemy’s set and Shavo Odadjian, bassist for System of a Down performed with Wu Tang Clan as well. After Wu Tang Clan’s performance you could feel the energy level increase of a sold out crowd anticipating Rage Against the Machine’s set. Although tempers did flare and a few barricades were broken as fans rushed closer to the stage the security was able to somehow restore order with the use of Pepper Spray. This is something that’s obviously not new to Rage Against the Machine who have been known instigate a few riots in their time, the Democratic National Convention of 2000 comes to mind and ever since their reunion show at Coachella this past April the bands fans have been at a near fever pitch to catch one of their limited performances. We caught up with Tom Morello, guitarist for Rage Against the Machine to talk about the high energy level their music seems to ignite in their rabid fans and how natural he feels when he’s onstage with the police trying to calm the crowd.

“Apparently there’s a relationship between the Los Angeles Police Department and the music of Rage Against the Machine because the second we began playing ‘Killing in the Name’ the riot police came in, the kids tore up the barricades, business as usual. It felt very comfortable, yeah.”

We also caught up with B Real of Cypress Hill, who are the most successful Latin Rap Band in history and who have been a part of so many ground breaking Hip Hop Tours in the past to get his thoughts on performing on this years festival.

“I’m glad to be a part of it actually. It’s a hell of a lineup so to be on it, it’s an honor. To rock the stage with Public Enemy and Wu Tang and Rage Against the Machine once again you know, it’s something you want to be a part of.”

After two sold out shows in New York, the word spread like wild fire that this tour was something that couldn’t be missed and the San Bernardino show on August 11th, which is outside Los Angeles sold out the day before the event. We also talked with B Real about how the vibe was at The NY shows on Randalls Island July 28th and 29th.

“The New York shows went well. I mean both of them were packed. Crazy packed. The audience was pretty perceptive as they should be. It was a great crowd. I think the second day was a little better for us. rnWe were a little more on our game for the second day but all and all both shows were pretty off the hook.”

Rage Against the Machine will next be performing on Rock The Bells at McCovey Park in San Francisco, California on August 18th. This San Francisco show now marks one of only seven opportunities where fans could experience the powerful return of Rage Against The Machine in 2007, which includes Coachella, The two New York City Rock The Bells shows, one headlining show with Queens of the Stoneage on August 24th in East Troy, Wisconsin and at Vegoose in Las Vegas on Halloween weekend. After San Francisco, Rock the Bells will then continue on touring the Mid West and West Coast with dates extending until August 29th in Detroit, Michigan, before concluding the tour in Hawaii on September 1st.