Rock the Bells Launch Party

A line circled the House of Blues in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 as fans anxiously awaited to be let inside for the Rock the Bells launch party. Not only was this the launch party for the annual Rock the Bells festival- which was celebrating their 10 year anniversary, but this intimate, SOLD OUT event would release the much anticipated line up and have special guest performances from world famous artists.

The doors opened at 9pm to an 18+ crowd and the empty venue soon filled up eager fans. The night kicked off with a press conference where performing artists sat at a table and answered questions in relation to the festival. The panel included Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Tech N9ne, Jay Rock, Bone Thugs-N- Harmony, Jhene Aiko and more. The line-up wasn’t just read off a paper but it was freestyled by the free-style champion, MC Supernatural; the curtains then closed and the stage was cleared. [youtube]eWHoPNXSoi0#![/youtube]

At around 9:30pm, a DJ entertained the crowd until approximately 10:30 when the first special performance started. Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko came onto the stage in matching white uniform like outfits; they moved around the stage, jumped around, interacted with the crowd and gave a lot of energy for the few songs that they performed. The crowd seemed a bit bored and tired, probably due to the fact that the DJ was on for far too long. After their short 10 minute performance the wait started again.

Another 30-45 minutes passed by the time the second guest was announced. Masta Killa of the Wu Tang Clan made his way onto the stage, with a sound of cheers, echoing throughout the room. He invited MC Supernatural up on stage with him and they both did their free-style raps. Their high energy performance really calmed the anger that fans had from the long wait. They interacted with the crowd and the fans eventually started throwing their hats to the rappers so Masta Killa or MC Supernatural could free-style about it. They performed for about 15-20 minutes and then left the stage, leaving fans wanting more.

The last performance of the night was seen on the horizon at around 11:00pm and after another long grueling wait, the DJ announced that the next performance was going to be “dedicated to all the weed smokers”. Following that was the song, Champagne Supernova by Oasis, playing through the speakers. The verse “Where were you while we were getting high” was replayed several times and after, Bone Thugz-N-Harmony came onto the stage. As their performance began, so did the smoking. The venue was soon filled with smoke as fans danced and rapped along to the Bone Thugz-N-Harmony. Their performance started in the East Coast and ended with a few West Coast hits, with a special shout-out and song for Tupac.

The night not only had a bunch of amazing, world famous artists in a small venue, but it celebrated 10 years of the Rock the Bells festivities. If added, altogether, the entire event should have lasted about an hour and a half but it ended up lasting 3 hours because of the constant waiting in between sets. Aside from the long wait, the show definitely left an impression on how the 2013 Rock the Bells will be like. You can buy tickets starting on May 18, 2013. http://www.rockthebells.net/ See the entire line-up below