yesterday i went to the rock the bells tour at the comcast center in mansfield, mass with my friend cip. this is my second year in a row going and i am planning on going again next year. they really bring in some good hip-hop artists. we walked into the place at about 3:30, right in time for k'naan, who i was really excited to see. he put on real good show even though not even half of the place was filled. he performed "ABCs", "take a minute", and "waving flag"-which are my favorite songs by him. during "waving flag" he got everyone to learn the chorus and everyone was singing by the end, he knew how to work the crowd. i think he gained a lot of fans after that performance.
next reflection eternal hit the stage. it was a chill performance mostly for the big fans of talib kweli. im really into his music but i dont think he would impress anyone who wasnt a fan of his already. he played the hits off the "reflection eternal" cd like "move somethin" and "this means you" and ended it off with "get by" which was awesome.
tech n9ne came on stage and brought a lot of energy. im not really familiar with much of this music but it wasnt bad. common played next and was one of my favorite sets of the day. he played all his hits from "i used to love h.e.r." to "universal mind control" he even did his verse in "get em high" which is one of my favorite verses by him. he also let his DJ scratch for like 10 minutes straight which was real cool. he was scratchin behind the back, and spinning around while mixing "10 crack commandments".
big boi was up next. he basically did his verse in every outkast song that you want to hear. he went back to "southernplayalisticadillacmuzik" and performed a bunch of old stuff for the real fans. he then turned up to perform "i like the way you move" and "i be on it (kryptonite)". the crowd was getting more full and more excited for the rest of the show.
the roots came next and played a great set. it was very chill. everyone was basically just relaxing listening to them. ?uestlove could have done a set by himself with his drumming skills. the guy on the tuba went into the aisles and started playing while running past all the fans, which i thought was pretty cool. i was kinda dissapointed that they didnt play "you got me" but overall they did a good job.
after a little intermission, it was time for the main act: nas and damien marley. they are performing together to promote their upcoming cd "distant relatives". the place was packed now and the sky was finally dark. nas came out with "hip hop is dead" and everyone went nuts. he did almost everything off of "illmatic" which i was very happy about. when he brought out damian marley, they did "as we are"- the snippit they release about a month ago. their sound together is amazing. damian then performed his set which i wasnt familiar with at all but it was still good to hear. then nas came back out and performed all the hits: "i can", "got yourself a gun", "made you look", "rule", "if i ruled the world", his verse in "black president" and more. the highlight is when he did "one mic" he did it accapella with no beat except a small bongo drum. it made it real dramatic as everyone rapped the lyrics along with him. he didnt play "hero" but you cant get everything you want.
overall, the show was incredible. nas is definitely up there with jay-z, kanye, and lupe for the best performers ive seen. and when supernatural freestyled during the intermissions, it was pretty impressive. he told people in the front row to hand him stuff and he rapped about each thing such as a fake watch, camera, phone, lighter, and a blunt (which of course he lit on stage).
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