Tag Archives: Rock the Bells

Deltron 3030 performs during the Rock the Bells Festival in Devore on Sunday, Sept. 8 ,2013. (David Bauman/Staff Photographer)

The most interesting act at Rock the Bells is likely Deltron 3030. Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Dan the Automator and Kid Koala were backed by not only a full band, but a string section, a brass section and backup singers.

As the sun set over the hills of Devore, Deltron 3030 took us n a journey to outer space.

Kid Koala showed up on stage first, looking the most modern of the trio, wearing a baseball cap and a T-Shirt as he manned the turntables.

Dan the Automator, on the other hand, was looking fancy with a tuxedo jacket (with tails) as he conducted the musicians on stage as well as the crowd.

Del looked the most like he came from outer space, wearing a blue helmet with a visor and reflective sunglasses behind it. He also sported a white track jacket and cargo shorts, but those were way more Earth-based.

Fun fact: Deltron 3030 had the most women on stage at Rock the Bells. I counted nine between the backing vocalists and musicians.

A good chunk of the set was dedicated to material on a forthcoming album, the long-awaited “Event 2,” due out Oct. 1.

One of the new tracks, “Nobody Can,” required crowd participation.

“Deltron is our hero, if he can’t save us nobody can,” Dan the Automator taught the crowd.

Another highlight of the new material was “Melding of the Minds,” which features Zack de la Rocha, of Rage Against the Machine fame, on the hook. Sadly, he didn’t appear on stage as a surprise guest, but to be fair, the stage was already really crowded.

However the highlight of the set is the closing song, Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood.” (Both Dan and Del have been part of Gorillaz.)

Kendrick Lamar performs on stage at Rock the Bells at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore on Sept. 7. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

I’m back at San Manuel Amphitheater for the second day of Rock the Bells.

You can follow along with me on Twitter at @vanessafranko or here.
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A worker checkes the lighting for a hologram performance for this weekends Rock the Bells concert on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013 in Devore. (Stan Lim/Staff Photographer)

I’ve been fortunate enough to cover a number of special events and festivals during my tenure at The Press-Enterprise, but I had the opportunity to do something really special on Friday night–I spent the evening being a fly on the wall, or in this case, on the field, for the final preparations in advance of Rock the Bells’s San Bernardino kickoff.

I want to extend a very special thank you to Guerilla Union for allowing us to tell an infrequently-seen part of the story. This is the second blog about the behind the scenes experience. You can  also see Stan Lim’s photos from behind the scenes over at PE.com. You can also read about Eazy-E’s performance with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony here at the Audio File. 

We started to gather around 8 p.m. on Friday night, posting up along the back barricade of the VIP pit in front of the main stage at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore where thousands of fans would be standing Saturday night.

The stage floated down and a test pattern appeared as workers spent hours testing and tweaking lights and more.

Suddenly, the N.W.A. classic “Straight Outta Compton” played over the speakers at half-volume. The house lights are  still up, but the magic is getting closer as security comes by to lock up the phones of the lucky people watching.

Before the show, at festival founder Chang Weisberg’s final pre-fest meeting with the staff, the head of Guerilla Union warned the staff not to take photos. It is all about the element of surprise for the fans. He also directed them on how to work with the staffs behind the technology.

RELATED: See photos from behind the scenes at Rock the Bells

“The hologram team are kind of like headliners,” Weisberg said.

By 9:10 p.m., the house lights are off and 20 minutes later, we get our first sounds of Eazy-E. The “Whassup L…” is cut off before he can finish the A for Angeles. Eazy-E’s widow, Tomica Wright, has come down to the pit, noting that she hears that familiar voice.

Next up are the bone rattling tests of various frequencies, the low-end version of the high pitches that drive dogs crazy. The vibrations shake the stage where Eazy-E will perform so the technicians calibrate the sound. It feels like I’ve been swallowed by a sonic whale or it could be a weird scene out of “Lost.”

Chang Weisberg, founder of Rock the Bells and head of Guerilla Union, watches as a crew sets up the stage while Chris “Broadway” Romero, V.P. of Animation and R & D for Play Gig It, works on his computer as they prepare to test a hologram featuring the late Eazy-E from NWA, the evening before the concert on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013 in Devore. (Stan Lim/Staff Photographer)

At 10 p.m. we see our first hologram on the stage, a woman with long blonde hair twirling and dancing. Those watching a few people down from me joke about her signature moves as she dips and bends.

About 20 minutes later, the dancer is gone and Eazy-E is in her place. Two workers stand next to the hologram in order to size him appropriately. I can’t help but think of Mike Teavee in the original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” after he travels through Wonkavision.

Weisberg, who has been working with the family and AV Concepts and Play GIG-IT to bring this to life over months, watched the hologram on the big stage.

“Oh my God, there is Eazy…E,” he said.

He and Wright walk around the pit in front of the stage, examining Eazy-E from every angle and taking notes.

RELATED: See photos from day one of Rock the Bells

Meanwhile, DJ Yella, who was in N.W.A. with Eazy-E, steps on stage to rehearse “Straight Outta Compton” and “Boyz-N-The Hood” with the hologram.

At this point, the three dozen or so people in the pit move closer to get a better look at the performance.

This isn’t like Tupac Shakur’s hologram at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival–Eazy-E isn’t as static. He’s moving and performing and interacting.

Soon, Eazy-E’s protégés, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, are on the stage to rehearse. Weisberg said they had been practicing in a theater with holographic capabilities, but that it was not as large as the stage at San Manuel Amphitheater.

Bizzy Bone asks that someone take a picture so he can post it on Instagram. But with the no camera rule for the night, he accepts the promise that someone will snap one for him on Saturday.

After running through “Foe Tha Love of Money” with the hologram, Wright suggests that Bizzy and Krayzie Bone swap places as to not interfere with the hologram. Bizzy moves around more on stage.

RELATED: Eazy-E joins Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on stage

They practice again and again in preparation for Saturday night’s performance.

And after Kid Cudi finished his Saturday night set to end day one of the festival the work started all over again, this time preparing for ODB’s performance with Wu-Tang Clan on Sunday night.

Kid Cudi wrapped up day one of Rock the Bells’ Los Angeles area date, but before he emerged from a cave-like structure on the stage, the crowd heard some ground rules first.

Kid Cudi wouldn’t allow pictures at Rock the Bells at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore, so here is a poor drawing of his stage set instead. (Vanessa Franko/Staff)

Rule No. 1: No pictures or video of Kid Cudi’s performance allowed.
Rule No. 2: No throwing things onto the stage.
Rule No. 3: No pushing and shoving
Rule No. 4: Keep partying alive? (I think that’s what I heard, but it seemed way more Andrew W.K.)

I kept expecting number five to be “The fifth rule of Kid Cudi is to never talk about Kid Cudi” a la “Fight Club.”

I’m not sure about rules 2 through four, but number one was definitely broken by everybody and their cell phone. However, I squashed my inner rebel tendencies and instead of snapping a forbidden picture of the cave that could have belonged to an Austin Powers super villain, I drew the stage instead (see right and see why I write instead of draw).

RELATED: See photos from Rock the Bells artists who were cool with getting their pictures taken

The cave was the predominant structure on stage. Rock shards shaped like obelisks lined the front of the cave. At the top of the cave there was a large white circle, with black concentric circles with dots and the outline of a man drawn inside. I have chosen to recreate that man with a stick figure. Kid Cudi even had a little row of low rocks in front. It was like a white picket fence fit for a caveman. Or, with the celestial space theme going on the screens, maybe it was a space cave?

Anyway, when I saw the stage, I had no idea what to expect when Kid Cudi appeared outside of it, but he was wearing a black ringer T-shirt with white 3/4 length sleeves with Pink Floyd on on the front of it. His pants were  black leather with white panels and weird zippers on them.

As he moved around the stage, opening with the song “REVOFEV,” I kept noticing how wide and bright his smile was, which then just made me more confused about rule number one.

I heard him do “Down & Out” and “The Soundtrack to My Life” before I started making my way to the door to beat traffic and rest up for a second day of Rock the Bells fun, in which I might just speak to everyone in Wu-Tang Clan and ODB song titles.

I’ll be back here tomorrow and if I can get a signal, you can follow me on Twitter at @vanessafranko, too!

Kendrick Lamar told everyone to pull out their cell phones and they obliged. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

Kendrick Lamar rocked Rock the Bells.

As part of the collective Black Hippy, Lamar had a huge solo set backed by a real live band.

Black Hippy, made up of Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab Soul and Jay Rock, had the penultimate set on the main stage for the opening day of Rock the Bells at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore.

I missed the beginning of the set while I was working on my Bone Thugs-N-Harmony/Eazy-E article, but fellow journalists told me Ab-Soul started the set and brought out guest star Danny Brown. I caught the very end of Schoolboy Q’s set, but didn’t see Jay Rock at all.

Kendrick Lamar performs on stage at Rock the Bells at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore on Sept. 7. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

Then it was time for Lamar, who brought energy and was one of the most dynamic performers at Rock the Bells I’ve seen in a while. He jumped in the air, played to the audience and most of all–just nailed his performance.

Highlights included “M.A.A.d City,” “…Don’t Kill My Vibe” and “Swimming Pools.”

He encouraged the audience to have a good time.

“This is your moment to let this…go,” Lamar told the crowd.