- Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA / November 13, 2004

Only hundreds of feet away overlooking the main stage directly under the Big A at Angel Stadium, traffic flowed heavily along Orange County’s HWY 57. From the highway it may have looked like a typical event, however it was far from that. Guerilla Union’s Rock the Bells festival (that also recently reunited Wu-Tang Clan for one night) had done it again, this time out they brought A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi) to the South Bay for a reunion show that will go down in this writers (and many concert goers) books as one of the greatest shows they have ever seen.

Tribe’s performance was undoubtedly the pinnacle of the event, but there was much to be seen and heard throughout the nearly 12 hour-long festival. Merchants from Hip-Hop shops to Starbucks were found aisle after aisle. Aside from the retailers, demonstrations of monster trucks, snowboarding (with imported snow) and skating were found around every corner you turned.

Of course there was also the music. The bill was filled with a variety of artists that reached every sub genre we like to label in Hip-Hop. There was something for the “backpackers,” something for the “Emo” set, something for the “herbally inclined,” something for the “mainstream” heads and a whole lot for those straight up Hip-Hop heads.

The day began at nearly 1:00pm with a set from Self Scientific. Unfortunately, as with all festivals, the crowd tends to trickle in and some quality groups are left opening the event with a small but enthusiastic crowd. This was the case with Self Scientific and a couple groups after them, but they all gave those that were there 150% and set the show off right. Chace Infinite and DJ Khalil got the crowd warmed up and rolled through a couple of their classics and some new material. Crown City Rockers took the stage next to a great response for a group that was most likely being seen for the first time by a majority of the crowd and definitely earned some new fans. CMA came through next, they have a built in fan base and gave them a little of everything. Material from their forthcoming album and some of Grouch and Lucky’s cuts that they recorded with the Living Legends Crew.

With a couple hours of solid underground Hip-Hop behind them, Little Brother and Foreign Exchange hit the crowd with something a little different. If you’ve seen a Little Brother set you know they can perform and give you your moneys worth and them some, but this time out they had a couple vocalists with them and some softer material. The crowd was very receptive and gave a great response to vocalists Darrien Borckington and Yahzarah.

Next up were a couple of LA staples, Supernatural and Beat Junkie DJ Rhettmatic. Supernat went through all his interactive freestyle routines with the crowd, his impersonations of The Notorious B.I.G. and others and even a new joint from his upcoming album. J-Rocc (also of the Beat Junkies) opened up for the production/MC collective Jaylib. J-Rocc’s sets are almost always my highlight of any event he spins at. His break sets and turntable skills are always ill, and I will never tire of them, J-Rocc is a wizard straight up. When Madlib took the stage, his presence wasn’t really felt. He rarely acknowledged the crowd and when he or JayDee did they were intent on asking over and over if the crowd copped the album, even though it was apparent many did not. Their set picked up when JayDee performed some of his rhymes from his Slum Village days, but overall it put the crowd in a bit of a lull.

During the break the DJ’s took over to keep the crowd patient. Event standards like Jeru’s “Come Clean,” Pharaoh’s “Simon Says” and the like were played and while I understand the need to keep the crowd moving, a fresh record or two would be nice. Something that would make me scratch my head for a minute and wonder who or what it was. Hearing a record or two broke, something, anything different from the standard. As I made my way back to the stage area for the next performance, the music suddenly stopped and Power 106’s Mr. Chocc took the mic and announced the passing of Wu-Tangs ODB, aka Ason, aka Dirt McGirt. I literally stopped where I was and tried to believe what was being said. Minutes and phone calls later, it was confirmed to be true. A moment of silence was immediately taken and throughout the night, every artist took time out to pay their respect which made it easier to grasp seeing the love he got from all artists throughout the night.

As B-Real opened Cypress’ set with “I Want to Get High” the crowd appeared to elevate to the next level. Everyone packed in a little tighter, became a little rowdier and vocal. Cypress are true vets and know how to work a crowd even having performed well over 100 times for LA, I have never seen two sets that were the same from them. One of the strongest parts of their show is Bobo’s live percussion being played over the records being cut, there’s something about his drums that influences the crowd to wild out. B-Real himself at one point joined Bobo and they went back and forth, switching drums and positions behind the drum kit, easily one of the dopest moments of the night.

Sway and Tech of the World Famous Wake Up Show made their way to the stage and introduced Chino XL to squash the incessant rumors that he had been shot and killed recently. He dropped a couple freestyles and then introduced Jurassic 5. It’s hard to follow up someone like Cypress, but J5 came out gave a solid performance.

The thing about their performances though, are generally that if you have seen them more than once, then their sets seem to drag and some of their songs kind of melt together. If it’s your first or second time seeing them, then you’re in for a great show. They weave in and out of each other’s verses flawlessly and Charli 2na’s presence is undeniable. The one part of their show that I’ll never tire of (nor should anyone!) is the turntable skills of their DJ’s Numark and Cut Chemist. Their set is something every single Hip-hop fan must see.

At this point, it had been announced throughout the night that Mos Def and Kanye West would be making guest appearances. Anticipation was building and the crowd was stirring. I made my way backstage to get in place for some photos when I saw the largest entourage of people I had ever seen making its way my way. Xzibit and The Strong Arm Steady Gang were in the middle, geared down in brown prison jumpsuits ready to take the stage.

When X finally stormed the stage to his personal Anthem “X” the entire house was waving and jumping. “Pimp My Ride” definitely elevated X to another level of stardom. X bounced through all his classics including “Paparazzi,” and “What U See Is What U Get” and even new material from his upcoming album “Weapons of Mass Destruction.” The highlight of his set was his introduction of the Alkaholiks (sans Tash). With rumors circulating about beef between X and them since Xzibit's alliance with Dr Dre, it was definitely a sight not to be missed. Reunions seemed to be a recurring theme of the night. Before X’s performance Fatlip and Imani appeared on stage and expressed their interest in reforming The Pharcyde after feeling the positive energy Tribe was receiving. I won’t count on it actually going down until I hear some new material, that’s a tough one to believe.

After an extremely long wait between sets and almost 11 hours of standing on their feet, the crowd was beginning to feel the effects of the day. It was almost nearly 11:00pm when Tribe made their way to the stage by way of the “Midnight Marauders” tour guide. As they approached center stage, there was a long pause and Q-Tip and Phife embraced and signified the apparent squashing of their troubles. It obviously wasn’t their first time on stage in years, but by the end of the night and the way the fed off each other on stage, it really came across to be genuine. After the crew squashed everything they immediately launched into “Buggin’ Out” and the crowd went absolutely wild. Phife was ferocious with his delivery infusing his ragga delivery throughout the night. After putting a couple classic singles like “(We’ve Got) The Jazz,” “Oh My God,” and “Can I Kick It” behind them, they slowed the show down and introduced some of their favorite album tracks. A majority of the crowd wasn’t responding to them and Tip routinely questioned the crowd’s alertness, but for those of us that had been waiting for years, and year to hear them, it didn’t get much better than hearing “Date Rape” and “Sucka Nigga” live.

Determined to get the audience to recognize the classics, Tip announced they had brought a couple friends along to bless them with the classic vibe. Special Ed, the youngest in charge dropped undeniable classics like “The Mission,” and “I Got It Made.” But it wasn’t over; next up was Brother J of X-Clan who sounded just as ill as he did in 1990. He performed the single “Heed the Word of the Brother,” “Grand Verbalizer,” and even the album cut “Verbal Milk.” Tribe’s first guest of the evening was Mos Def (Kanye was a no show) who came out and performed two songs including “Sex, Love and Money” from his new album. Mos’ performance slowed the set down a bit, people were fiending for more Tribe, not some mediocre album cuts from an album that isn’t even a month old.

From there on out it was as hyped as I could have ever imagined it. Tribe dropped hit after hit and classic after classic. It’s kind of blur still two days later, but some of the highlights were Jarobi jumping on the mic filling in for Busta Rhymes on “Scenario.” The entire crowd swaying and stepping to “Bonita Applebum”, the first few notes of “Electric Relaxation” hitting and the collective “oooooh” from the crowd. The drums hitting from “Find a Way,” the bass from “Hot Sex” and finally, Tip restarting the beginning of the evening’s closer “Award Tour” four times because the crowd wasn’t hyped enough. Tribe genuinely appeared to be enjoying every minute of being up on stage in each others presence and hopefully this mini-reunion tour brings them back together once again for good.

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