- National Orange Show / San Bernardino, CA / August 5, 2006

"Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang," could be heard all day long throughout the venue. From 12:00pm until 2:00am the chant could sporadically be heard somewhere in the venue. Much of the crowd was on hand for the last Rock the Bells Wu-Tang performance back in July of 2004, and those that weren't heard about it and were not going to miss it again. Although Wu-Tang was one member short this year, ODB was there in spirit and his life was celebrated throughout the day culminating with a performance from Wu-Tang Clan overseen by ODB's mother herself. Aside from the historic reconvening of one of hip-hop's supergroups, there was a lot more to be seen at the annual festival.

The day began quietly at 12:00pm, away from near 100 degree heat in an air conditioned VIP ball room, where MC Supernatural began his quest to enter the record books with the longest freestyle ever. His journey would successfully end at 9:10pm. That's right for 9 plus hours (with mandatory 5 minute breaks every hour or two) Supernatural rhymed about anything and everything and freestyled his way into the record books. As artists arrived at the venue they would step onto Supernats stage and show their respect while he dropped bar after bar about his history with whomever he was sharing the stage. The stage was setup as a living room with magazines, sofas, coffee tables and a dictionary that Supernat would consult for even more rhyme ammo. There was also a chalk board that fans would write topics on for Supernat to rhyme about. Even after defeating the previous record and being officially entered into the record books, Supernat stepped back on stage and dropped yet another verse thanking everyone for their support. Supernat later made an appearance on the main stage in front of the ocean of fans and was introduced as the new world record holder. It's unfortunate that more people weren't able to witness the event live throughout the day because it was truly amazing to witness and was my personal highlight of the day.

Festivals (especially in San Bernardino in the Summer) are a tough venue for any artist, especially for an artist playing early on in the day because most people show up later in the evening for the bigger names but there were a few that were able to get a good reaction from the crowd and put on a good show. Planet Asia brought out his partner in rhyme Rasco and gave a great performance despite the thin crowd. Other highlights early on were Murs who put on an engaging show as usual, and managed to make better use out of the stage with his energy than some groups with as many as 5 members. The Visionaries had a big following out to support them early and got a good response, which was more than could be said for Cypress Hill front man B-Real. B-Real performed a lot of material from his mixtapes that mostly consisted of jacked beats and it didn't play well with the fans at all. B-Real has always been known as original and many didn't know how to take his new borrowed material. His set turned around though when Sen Dog joined him on stage and they performed some Cypress classics like "Insane in the Brain," and "Hand on the Pump.

The mid-way point saw stage veteran Del rock through classic after classic to an excellent response as well as Immortal Technique who displayed the most passion of anyone to hit the stage at any point during the day. The near 100 degree weather didn't make a good combination with Aesop Rocks lackluster set that kind of put the crowd into a lull. The Living Legends did their best to wake everyone up and Murs' presence on stage them got the crowd moving again, and everyone was live when Dilated hit the stage about 5:00pm and "brought the cool Cali Breeze" with them as Evidence put it when they took the stage. Dilated bounced through early classics all the way through tracks from their latest album "20/20" like "Back Again" and "You Can't Hide, You Can't Run."

Despite the crowds buzz for the Wu-Tang performance, the performance of the night was from De La Soul. Heads bounced, and arms waved through classic after classic like "Rock Cocaine," "Saturday's" and "Breakadawn." When fellow native-tongue MC and special guest Dres of Blacksheep hit the stage to lead the crowd through "The Choice is Yours" it was officially the performance of the day. Dres restarted "The Choice is Yours" 3 times and each time the crowd recited it back louder and louder. De La had one more trick up their sleeve, Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest. It was only two years ago that tribe headlined Rock the Bells 2004, but the audience certainly hadn't seen enough judging by their overwhelming reaction to the partial Native Tongue reunion that was going down on stage. Together De La and Phife A tribe Called Quest classics like "Award Tour" and "Check the Rhyme."

Redman followed up their set with another great set on the heels of his appearance at Rock the Bells last year. Despite some sound problems during his set, Red got the crowd and the ladies involved in his set and brought out his own special guest, DJ Kool who led Red through an extended version of "Let Me Clear My Throat." Talib Kweli took the stage next and rolled through a few tracks from his catalog before Mos Def finally joined him on-stage for the much anticipated Blackstar reunion that left fans wondering why they don't return to their roots for another go 'round as the mighty duo. Talib quietly left the stage and left Mos to his own devices which unfortunately meant a lot of signing. Mos can carry a note or two when reciting the sample for "Ms Fat Booty," and has always performed "Umi Says" well, but all the extra vocals stretched himself a little thin. Mos needs rhyming in his life almost as much as Andre 3000 right about now.

Next up was the special guest. Everyone knew there was one, but no one knew exactly who it was. As the stage crew began to set up instruments for a band, people were wondering if it was maybe the Roots or Jurassic 5 (Nu mark and Cut Chemist like to use live instruments). After 30 minutes they stopped caring and grew restless. Down in the press pit directly in front in between it and the fans, water bottles were flying over our heads nearly missing band members who were still tuning their instruments. It had been well over 12 hours that a good part of the crowd had been on their feet and they were ready to see Wu-tang. "Wu-tang," "Wu-tang," "Wu-tang" rang out throughout the event center, when finally the host of the show (Toquon of Sol Elevation) announced that this next artist didn't need and introduction, that he would let the artist speak for their self and with that, Lauryn Hill proceeded to make her way onto the stage. The crowd was obviously surprised, excited even. After all, she is the same woman that rhymed and sang her ass off on hit after hit with the Fugees and on her own solo album not all that long ago. But then the band started and she laid into abstract versions of some of her classic songs that immediately brought back visions and sounds of Ms. Hill's recent lackluster performances and MTV Unplugged performance. It's strange the events promoters didn't recognize her poor track record of late, (the last 4 or 5 years really) and placed her in this lineup, because it would appear that she was an accident waiting to happen. In the end, her name alone is going to create an instant buzz for next year's event so I feel where they are coming from.

After 30 Plus minutes and 3 songs, Ms. Hill's time was up and it was time for what everyone had been waiting for. As the crew tore down the bands equipment an enormous mural of ODB was brought on stage and his mother posed for pictures with it who had to take a step back to stare at it from time to time, the pain obviously still strong. To complete the stage setup, the large Rock the Bells banner behind the stage was lowered and replaced with a Wu-Tang banner donning their infamous logo and the names of the entire clan.

Capadonna was the first Shaolin MC to hit the stage delivering a random verse, almost unrecognizable. U-God followed in a similar fashion and then Masta Killa. It wasn't until The Rza hit the stage immediately followed by the rest of the Clan that the party was officially on and the crowd lost their minds. Wu-Tang quickly launched into classics like "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothin to Fuck With," and "Bring Da Ruckus." Method Man roamed quietly in the background letting the rest of his family shine until it was time for him to perform his bread and butter "M.E.T.H.O.D. Man." From then on Meth took control and displayed the most energy of the Clan. Redman (who was lurking around the stage the entire set) even joined Method Man to perform the duo's hit "Rockwilder," and at close to 2:00am as their set was winding down, it was time to pay tribute to Wu's fallen soldier whom the day's events were a tribute to, ODB. RZA led the crowd through paying respects to ODB through words and the waving of cell phones and lighters. What happened next was pretty shocking, unexpected and downright traumatizing if you were anywhere near the stage. Steve-O of MTV's Jackass, got on the mic and told a story of him sharing the same prison cell that ODB once occupied and that he wanted to perform a stunt that he thought ODB would appreciate. He proceeded to drop his pants, do the "Silence of the Lambs" tuck with his "equipment" and did a back flip. Traumatizing and uncalled for Raekwon didn't take to it well and demanded an apology to ODB's mom for disrespecting her son with his performance.

Despite a only a couple low-points, the heat and Steve-O, Rock the Bells once again proved that it is the standard for Hip-Hop festivals in California or anywhere else really. There were tons of great vendors, food and plenty of water to keep the crowd cool, as well as a lineup of artists that no other festival has managed to assemble. It makes you wonder what they may have in-store next year?

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