Saturday: Lauryn Hill Delivers the Encore of the Summer at Rock The Bells

Gil Riego

Lauryn Hill at Rock the Bells

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Rock The Bells
August 27, 2011
@Shoreline Ampitheatre

Better than: Not getting to wander among four stages of music.

Live hip-hop festival Rock the Bells returned to the Bay Area for the fourth time this past Saturday. This year's edition featured the greatest sprawl yet, expanding beyond the main grounds into Shoreline's premium parking lot. There, two stages were set impossibly close together -- so near that, at times, they took on the collective effect of a rap remix of "Dueling Banjos."

With more than 30 acts scheduled and the four stages running pretty much simultaneously, we probably weren't alone in feeling occasional conflicted moments of wanting to be in two different places at once. What to do when one's favorite classic album from the Wu-Tang solo camp is happening at the same time as that hot new Southern rapper? That could be called a good problem to have, and it made us feel more spoiled for choice than upset, though we only saw a fraction of all of the music that was there for us.

Still, those who were into lyrical warfare could spend the first part of their day at the stage helmed by leading hip-hop battle league Grind Time Now. The Wu faithful could stay put at the 36 Chambers stage all day. Those into more emerging artists could hover in the vicinity of the Paid Dues stage. And the masses would be more than content to park on the lawn or in the seats for the main stage's continuous live presentations of classic hip-hop albums.

Gil Riego

Common

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It is a testament to the continuum of the genre that this festival can curate a bill of older artists with newer up and comers and communicate across an audience that spans generations. And it didn't feel like some sort of oldies vs. newbies affair, either.

Gil Riego

Black Star

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The verve and energy we saw from Cypress Hill as they shouted out local marijuana growers and served up the blunted beats of Black Sunday cuts "Hits From the Bong" and "Dr. Greenthumb" were also apparent when we rushed from there to watch Mississippi's Big K.R.I.T. and Slaughterhouse -- the latter a Voltron-esque super-group of rappers (New York's Joell Ortiz, New Jersey's Joe Budden, Detroit's Royce Da 5'9, and Long Beach's Crooked I) signed to Eminem's label and poised for larger recognition. From both the crowd and the performers, we felt the air of electric relaxation.

Set against a backdrop of books and giant platters, Lauryn Hill's presentation of her 1998 debut album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill seemed to go by in a flash, partially due to the quicker, funkier, and more insistent arrangements that Hill and her band performed. She'd often gesture urgently with her arms to her players, commanding them (we suppose) to play harder, bolder. And so they did, forming a well-oiled and tuned 10-piece ensemble (including three backup singers that sounded like six). We marveled at the stamina and energy of Hill, who gave birth to her sixth child in July, but we had no idea that she hadn't really taken off yet.

Gil Riego

Lauryn Hill

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One aspect of performing albums live in their entirety is that the sequence of the songs often means that the most popular track is going to pre-emptively fall early in the set, and so we felt a twinge of disappointment when Hill hit "Doo Wop (That Thing)" as the fourth song. That turned out to be misguided disappointment, but a lot of people missed the best part because many streamed out and to their cars before waiting for the encore.

We also typically fight the urge to escape moments before the end to avoid a lengthy parking lot exit, but something told us to stay put. And just when we thought the harsh house lights would be thrown up, Hill and band returned to deliver the encore of the summer (we might say century, but we'll put the hyperbole on hold for now).

She didn't just return to the stage, she basically ran back to the stage, drawing on some reserve of dynamite-packed energy that she didn't have earlier to set off the songs that her fans really wanted to hear but didn't think she'd touch: hits from her former group, the Fugees. She sang a reggae-tweaked version of "Fu-Gee-La" and a hyperspeed take on "Ready or Not," jumping up and down through both, and then brought Nas back for their 1996 duet "If I Ruled the World."

Prior to Hill, Nas had seemingly filled every seat with a body waving at least one hand in the air for the duration of his 1994 debut album Illmatic and subsequent hits such as "Hate Me Now," "One Mic," and "Made You Look." It was all executed under the skilled hands of DJ Premier and a backdrop of benches and project buildings meant to represent Queensbridge Houses, the NYC project where Nas grew up.

Gil Riego

Nas

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"Ain't nobody fucking with this woman right here," he later exclaimed, arm in arm with Hill. "Nobody!"

The mean man at the side of the stage drew his fingers across his throat as Hill begged, "One more, one more, one more!" He shook his head no, and the band launched into Bob Marley's "Could You Be Loved."

Critic's Notebook

Personal bias: Had the benefit of great seats at the main stage, though the loud audio system and big set designs of Nas and Lauryn Hill hopefully ensured good views and sounds even on the lawn.

Random detail: There were some great T-shirts for sale; our favorite said, "Rap - Lies = Hip-Hop."

By the way: We missed the set from Oakland's Souls of Mischief, but thanks to YouTube user hxcxian we can watch them performing the title track from the classic 93 'Til Infinity. They sound as energized as they did 18 years ago, but one of their young sons dancing in the background serves as a reminder that a generation has passed since that album dropped.

Check out more Rock the Bells photos in our slideshow.

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