Rock the Bells reveals 2008 lineup
Rock the Bells, the annual and critically acclaimed hip-hop touring music festival, has revealed its 2008 lineup. Headlined by the legendary and once again reunited hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, the lineup features a quality mix of both young and old act along with DJs and a special guest appearance by The Pharcyde.
A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mos Def, De La Soul, Method Man + Redman, Raekwon + Ghostface Killah, Rakim, Immortal Technique, Dead Prez, Murs, Spankrock, Santogold, Kid Sister, The Cool Kids, Jay Electronica, Wale, B.o.B, Kidz In The Hall, Amanda Blank, Flosstradamus, The Pharcyde
More acts will be announced in the coming weeks. Visit the festival’s official website for a list of who is playing when.
As for tickets, they will be available via ticketmaster.com. We will post the link when it becomes live.
We recently posted a related story on Rock the Bells headliner A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip. Check it out here.
Rock the Bells 2008 Tour Dates:
July 19 - Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
July 20 - Toronto, ON, Canada @ Molson Amphitheatre
July 26 - Boston, MA @ Tweeter Center
July 27 - New York, NY @ Jones Beach Amphitheatre
Aug 2 - Miami, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
Aug 3 - Philadelphia, PA @ Susquehanna Bank Center
Aug 9 - Denver, CO @ Coors Amphitheatre
Aug 16 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
Aug 23 - Los Angeles, CA @ Glen Helen Amphitheatre
Aug 30 - Vancouver, BC, Canada @ Venue TBD
Done Im going to the Boston show. Tribe and Nas completley sold it for me.
damn i wish they were doing a show somewhere near me in austin…houston is a big hip hop city…wtf?…
I LOVE MOS DEF AND WILL SEE HIM IN BOSTON!!!!! DEAD PREZ AND MOS DEF SOLD IT FOR ME!!!!!!
What a throw back tour! Throw in Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch and Biz Markie and its the Spitkickers Tour from 1999 (the NY Roseland show may have been the best hip hop show that I’ve ever experienced). Actually, I guess this is more of a Spitkickers vs. Wu Tang tour. Either way, its very east coast heavy.
It would be nice if they added a few more up and coming hip hop acts. Its cool that they tried to diversify the lineup, but its clearly top heavy. They should add some other mid-level names next to Murs and, perhaps, a classic turntablist. In particular, I’m looking for adds along the lines of Brother Ali, Roots Manuva, Mac Lethal and, a Rock the Bells vet, Nu-Mark.
If we’re sticking with the old school vibe, how about an Organized Konfusion reunion? Pete Rock & CL Smooth? While I’m dreaming, let’s also bring my favorite DJ over from Japan: DJ Krush.
This tour is awfully similar to GU’s other festival, Paid Dues.
I would like to see MF DOOM added he supposed to be at the San Fran show last year but wasn’t.
Rumor is that some if not all of these acts show up to Bumbershoot in Seattle, seeing as the festival takes place directly after the Vancouver, BC show here.
Is it coming to the UK??!!
Tribe & Pharcyde.
thats it man im there!
for the past few yrs i have attended the RTB festival religiously. im still just as psyched and lookin forward to the 2008 peice. as i broken-hardedly missed immortal technique’s much anticipated performance in ‘07 due to a 4-car pille-up collision that i was sandwiched in just as we were exiting off of glen helen dr.. i’ll be sure to extend all efforts in helping the L.A.-based trip go as smooth as possible. WTF dont they put technique’s act towards the end w/ the rest of the hip hop gods??? …oh and btw, take a damn umbrella …u will be sorry if u dont.
I went to the Boston one last year, by no means am I saying I didn’t have a good time, but only half of the show showed up. Most of the artist that were suppose to be there went to NY because that was where the show was the next day, so they skipped Boston. So I’ll go this year, but if they pull that shit again I’ll be pissed.
shit looks tight, tribe n ghostface yee, def hittin this van-city show, how much these tickets go 4
?
murs nas mos deff mos deff gana be there ya hered
yeahhhhh wooo Rock The Bells 2007 was the best concert ive ever been to!! ahhhh fuck yeah im goin this year
Should do something like this in Australia… Plenty of demand for it here…
I be there in BOSTON, damn can wait to see Rakim live!! sick ass line up this year!!
crazy line up, I’ll be at the Boston show too, cant wait to see Rakim!!
Wow I can’t wait until I go and half the people don’t show and I am stuck listing to a fake doom.
Wow I can’t wait until I go and half the people don’t show and I am stuck listing to a fake doom.
no one yet has mentioned De La as their reason for going… yall are wack. Pretty much every artist on this bill is dope, but true heads know the soul is as good as, if not better than the tribe and nasty.
I was at Rock the Bells 2007 in Chicago, and simply put, it was off the fucking hook. I’ll be there this year again. Hip-Hop lives mothafuckas!
BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!!!! Chicago kicks off the RAW-ness
TRIBE KICKS ASS
Yo this line-up is like the 90’s hip hop all stars. …with the exception of a few comers- that are actually dope too. Good to see Hip-Hop doing a show like this. Honestly this line-up could pack the United Center- maybe even Soldier Field- thats where we need to take Hip- Hop in 2009. Peace Love and Blessings
Hit Esquire
Yo I peeped this show in chicago yesterday and it was nothing short of the livest hip-hop shit I’ve seen in a minute. Meth and Red joined by the raekwon and the ghost… set the party off for the night. Mos was honestly kinda weak, but having seen blackstar before this wasn’t a big deal. Pharcyde nothing short of what I expected, however it would’ve been dope to have them play longer. And are you kidding me Rahkim was the bomb. I didn’t go last year because and in all honesty wasn’t that dissapointed. This combination of great acts including MR. Escobar… Like I said this show was the fucking shit!!!
HitEsquire…how can you say this lineup could pack Soldier Field when it did not sell out the venue it was at?
Review is coming…but the short version is this: the artists were great, the venue sucked, and whoever was running the stage screwed up by lagging behind and cheating us out of full sets from most of the higher ranked artists.
I saw this show in the CHI!!!
I would just like to say…. DA BoMB.
Here is the run down.
KIDS In the hall_ I always see this video and turn the channel, overall they was ok.
Jey Electronica- WACK WACK AND MORE WACK. I honestly had never herard of him and thought I would open my mind to something new..Well after seeing his performance or shall I say non performance It definately would not make me go buy his album. waste of time.
MURS!!!!_ Good show. His equiptment was not together but he made it work.(Jay Electronica take a page…) I actually have a mix tape cd wth him on it. Was nice to see.
Immortal Techinque_ Hot and Down to earth. Good SHOW
Rakim’s set was too short THIS IS A LEGEND…… I was disappointed in the length of the show, Never the less good show.
METH AND RED_ TOW IT DOWN!!!!!!- To me, The Best!!!! Ive seen them in person so I knew it would be fire but MANNN!. HOT
DE La SoUL _Good Show. SET WAS TOO SHORT!!!
DEAD PREZ__HOt HOT HOT
Pharcyde.. Im on the fence with this one…Good Show!! But If i had to choose between seeing them or NAS or DE LA SOUL, or RAKIM..sorry but they would lose.\
MOS DEF!!! -Im a fan!!! I love you. BUT BOO> The Show was wack!
NAS… PROMOTERS GET IT RIGHT!!! This is one of the best! 4 songs not hot. Good show tho! HOW can such big names have such short sets!
TRIBE CALLED QUEST_ Hot. Hot. HOT One of my favorite groups. No complaints but one. De LA SOUL and tribe shoulda perfomed BUDDY! That woulda been so dope.
If they got their shit together and started the show on time Nas could have played is whole 45 minutes.
how long did the concert last? anyone
Eleven hours
i was in attendance in LA! show was hot my favs were meth and red! the rocked that shit right and left. Nas surprised me with he good performance….De La rocked it….Atcq rocked it….why the fuck was the black eyed peas ther and have a longer set than pharcyde! who btw rocked that shit too…..i met Murs! he made my day……i got 50 shades darker….and i spent 10 dollars just on ice!!! Best Concert ever!
man that shit sounds dope.they going to uk ?
Apr 23rd, 2008 at 10:22 am
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