Rock The Bells Rocked By Security

Molson Amphitheatre

Toronto, ON

on Jul 5 2009

Pete Richards (CHARTattack)

07/06/2009 4:27pm

Rock The Bells '09 was a nine-hour event that brought some of hip-hop's biggest icons to the Molson Amphitheatre on a gorgeous day to be outside.

The sun was shining. The music was good. Funny scents wafted through the air. And security was continually looking for new guests to throw out.

Over-zealous security tried to spoil it for some. They were swarming people. They were undercover. They were losers. I'm sure they all got the speech beforehand: "I want you to be vigilant today, fellas. Things could get hairy out there."

The fact is, people were just there to have a good time.

M.O.P. took the stage surprisingly early, banging out their biggest anthems "Cold As Ice", "Ante Up" and lot of material from their first album.

Slaughterhouse (Joe Budden, Royce Da 5'9", Joell Ortiz and Crooked I) had the tough job of following, but each member's solo material, including Royce's "Boom" and "Scary Movies," went over well.

Beer wasn't sold until 5 p.m. The timing was perfect, though. Lines formed at concession stands while Tech N9ne was onstage. He may be the self-proclaimed fastest rapper in the world, but he was also the most ridiculous of the day.

Luckily, spirits were revived by said beer and Toronto's K'Naan, who moved the crowd, followed by Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek).

My personal fave was RZA, who celebrated his birthday with Toronto fans. He's got a deep catalog to work with and dipped into his Gravediggaz material to perform verses from "1-800-Suicide" and "Nowhere To Run, Nowhere To Hide."

It was hard to top legends EPMD, whose Toronto-only performance was truly a special moment. Or someone like KRS-One, who hosted the show and performed before Big Boi of Outkast as the sun went down.

As a bonus last-minute replacement for Common, Mos Def flew in from Switzerland and took the stage after dark, joined by Talib Kweli to perform as Black Star.

For many fans, though, it was all about headliners Nas and Damian Marley. The two showed amazing chemistry onstage, as they collaborated and took turns to perform their solo classics, and were also joined by special unannounced guest DJ Green Lantern.

Nas absolutely shut things down and could have continued far past the Amphitheatre's curfew. The music at Rock The Bells — simply — ruled.

Still, I couldn't help but get a bad vibe from what was happening on the sidelines all day. Judging by the amount of people I saw security escorting from the premises there are a lot of folks out there who experienced worse vibes.

The minimum wage-earners on guard clearly overstepped their authority. If you were spotted having a little too much fun, you may have been kicked out for "being drunk." This included dancing, which some guards saw as a means for removal. I saw it on numerous occasions, much to the protest of onlookers, who were coming to the defense of whoever security's latest victim would be.

It was heavy-handed and almost ruined a day of great music.

To check out Zack Vitiello's photos  of Rock The Bells 2009 in Toronto, click here.