Brightest Young Things

words and photos by: Joel Mittleman

Last weekend was weird, man. Saturday, I saw Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. Sunday, I saw Snoop Dogg and Ghostface Killah. Only in America.

Though Restoring Honor and Rock the Bells brought out rather different crowds, they weren’t completely dissimilar events. Both celebrated unlikely American icons. Both harkened back to an imagined golden age. Both understood themselves as taking up the unfinished work of Dr. King.

Replace “honor” with “real shit” and “socialism” with “wackness:” basically the same event.

In its seventh year running, Rock the Bells is the undisputed premier hip hop festival in America. This year, the festival took a page from All Tomorrow’s Parties and had its acts perform their classic albums in full. Not coincidentally, the albums performed by the night’s three headliners—Snoop’s Doggystyle, Wu Tang’s 36 Chambers, and Tribe’s Midnight Marauders—all came out during the same two weeks in 1993. Slick Rick, Rakim and KRS-One each performed albums released in ’87 and ’88. All this triumphant old-schoolery aged the crowd significantly (as did, perhaps, the hefty ticket price). But that was a good thing: it created a positive, intergenerational vibe, as if the elders onstage and in the crowd were saying, “pay attention, kids, it’s important that you get this.”

Rock the Bells has made a name for itself by providing a forum for Big Deal reunions. In its first year, it (just barely) reunited the entire Wu Tang Clan, as documented in the event’s excellent documentary. Since then, Rock the Bells has hosted reunions by Rage Against Machine, Tribe Called Quest, Black Star and EPMD. This year, the big reunion was Ms. Lauryn Hill, who was reunited with a microphone, a band, and a crowd of almost religious fans.

After dropping the greatest album of all time, Ms. Hill more or less disappeared, to the chagrin of a great many fans. After 13 years of disappointments, a lot of us didn’t believe that Lauryn was going to show. And, when the crew began breaking down her stage setup at 5:30 for what was supposed to be a 4:30 performance, it seemed like we were right. Right and furious. Tribe came out soon after and killed it, bringing on surprise guest Busta Rhymes (who gave an inexplicable shout out to “17th & Euclid.” Wait, what?) Still, everyone was in a sour mood. She might have been fourth down on the bill, but everyone I talked to was there for L. Boogie.

So, you could imagine the surprise and delight that overtook the crowd when, out of nowhere, there she was. Just as everyone was spilling out into bathroom lines between sets, she just appeared. And, well, she was kinda awesome. Her voice was off, she played too fast, her set was too short, but, damn, it was Lauryn. She looked great. She had incredible energy. She apologized for making us wait. And, she brought Nas! Oh, Lauryn, who can stay mad at you?

Wu Tang was a beautiful hot mess. Snoop was everything you’d expect Snoop to be. It was a great day to be a hip hop fan.

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre
• 2/7: LiveDC: Augustana/ Graffiti6 @ 930 Club
• 2/6: LiveDC: All Things Go Presents: Reptar/ Casual Curious/ Fort Lean @ Gibson Guitar Showroom
• 2/6: LiveDC: TYCHO/ Beacon @ RNR Hotel