BELLS TO ROCK!!!
two things happened to me at rock the bells Sunday night: 1) I enjoyed the hell out of it and... 2) I learned quite a bit about the dynamics of large concert venues. the second became as important a factor, along with the first, in my experience where these dynamics may come as common knowledge to regular concert-goers. Rock the Bells was actually my first big hip hop show.
On the whole, it was great. A number of surprise artists came through. The guest who had suprised me the most was the night's biggest, Jay-Z who came out to rhyme with Nas on "Black Republican." Dres came out during the De La Soul performance. Meth & Red did one of the livest sets (maybe it helped when they said "no one performs more live than us" about 4 times). Nas coming in right behind them.
But SUPERNATURAL probably ranks as my favorite performance. On skills ALONE, without aide from stage production save for the microphone in his hand, he ROCKED THE SHIT OUT OF EVRYONE'S BELLS. Having people approach the stage, he asked them to pull out random items and hand them to him so that he can IMPROVISE his rhymes about them. It's called FREESTYLING people, and it's what he does and what makes him so well known and respected in Hip-Hop. Check out his BIO AT WIKI and then his MYSPACE PAGE.
So I arrived with others at around 4:30pm. I wanted to experience the whole thing (it's a noon to midnight event) but getting everyone together became a problem. We got there at the ass-end of the De La set. Throughout the afternoon I noticed how the front portion seating of the Nikon Theater remained about half of its capacity. I looked around at the middle tier seats (where I was) and the top tier. Total, the place stood at about 2/3rds full. Mos Def (with Talib as his suprise guest) finished his set at around 7:30. Meth and Red came on after Mos at 8:00. At that time, Nikon got PACKED.
Obviously, many people don't like to, or can't, spend all day at one of these concerts. These people are concert goers in general, or have attended the Bells event before. In either case, they dont want to show up before 8pm. It's probably a combination of reasons: could be that many artists in the pre-evening hours don't appeal to them, which is VERY sad to even consider someone who listens to rap disrespecting peeps like De La Soul. This may also mean a lack of curiosity for such talented, more underground emcees such as Immortal Technique and Wale. Second, the length of the event turns off people not wanting to sit through it.
The third and most understandable reason for showing up at 8pm eclipses them all and actually breaks into two factors. a) ALL EXITS ARE FINAL - really? My best friend Chris from "Bearing the Monster at a Glimpse" told me that Jones Beach managment gets worried over dudes getting rowdy. I don't even care if it's true due to the fact that... b) THEY OVERPRICE THEIR FOOD. To avoid breaking your wallet at the ampitheater, you would definately eat a good meal before arriving, acquiescing to one item of food and a drink if absolutely neccessary. Nikon Theater would make much more money than they do if they sold their shit for half of those ridiculous prices. This is why I never go to stadiums to watch professional league sports. They make it this way because enough people regularly go to these places and waste money like that.
The place holds about 11.000 people. It seems that if they at least took care of problem 3, subsection A, then Nikon people would've brought it close to full capacity through the day on average. Managment can throw around their concerns over security, yet such concerns bear no precedent. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the next location holding next year's Rock The Bells (as in, hope it's not THIS place). In the meantime, I'll continue looking out for Supernat. If talent equaled weight in the rap game, this guy would make everyone's top ten.
On the whole, it was great. A number of surprise artists came through. The guest who had suprised me the most was the night's biggest, Jay-Z who came out to rhyme with Nas on "Black Republican." Dres came out during the De La Soul performance. Meth & Red did one of the livest sets (maybe it helped when they said "no one performs more live than us" about 4 times). Nas coming in right behind them.
But SUPERNATURAL probably ranks as my favorite performance. On skills ALONE, without aide from stage production save for the microphone in his hand, he ROCKED THE SHIT OUT OF EVRYONE'S BELLS. Having people approach the stage, he asked them to pull out random items and hand them to him so that he can IMPROVISE his rhymes about them. It's called FREESTYLING people, and it's what he does and what makes him so well known and respected in Hip-Hop. Check out his BIO AT WIKI and then his MYSPACE PAGE.
So I arrived with others at around 4:30pm. I wanted to experience the whole thing (it's a noon to midnight event) but getting everyone together became a problem. We got there at the ass-end of the De La set. Throughout the afternoon I noticed how the front portion seating of the Nikon Theater remained about half of its capacity. I looked around at the middle tier seats (where I was) and the top tier. Total, the place stood at about 2/3rds full. Mos Def (with Talib as his suprise guest) finished his set at around 7:30. Meth and Red came on after Mos at 8:00. At that time, Nikon got PACKED.
Obviously, many people don't like to, or can't, spend all day at one of these concerts. These people are concert goers in general, or have attended the Bells event before. In either case, they dont want to show up before 8pm. It's probably a combination of reasons: could be that many artists in the pre-evening hours don't appeal to them, which is VERY sad to even consider someone who listens to rap disrespecting peeps like De La Soul. This may also mean a lack of curiosity for such talented, more underground emcees such as Immortal Technique and Wale. Second, the length of the event turns off people not wanting to sit through it.
The third and most understandable reason for showing up at 8pm eclipses them all and actually breaks into two factors. a) ALL EXITS ARE FINAL - really? My best friend Chris from "Bearing the Monster at a Glimpse" told me that Jones Beach managment gets worried over dudes getting rowdy. I don't even care if it's true due to the fact that... b) THEY OVERPRICE THEIR FOOD. To avoid breaking your wallet at the ampitheater, you would definately eat a good meal before arriving, acquiescing to one item of food and a drink if absolutely neccessary. Nikon Theater would make much more money than they do if they sold their shit for half of those ridiculous prices. This is why I never go to stadiums to watch professional league sports. They make it this way because enough people regularly go to these places and waste money like that.
The place holds about 11.000 people. It seems that if they at least took care of problem 3, subsection A, then Nikon people would've brought it close to full capacity through the day on average. Managment can throw around their concerns over security, yet such concerns bear no precedent. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the next location holding next year's Rock The Bells (as in, hope it's not THIS place). In the meantime, I'll continue looking out for Supernat. If talent equaled weight in the rap game, this guy would make everyone's top ten.
posted by Omar at 11:49 AM
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