Cypress Hill SmokeOut Festival 2012 [Concert Review]

SmokeOut festival a full day of celebrating music and that magical herb that cures all ailments. This was my first trip to the festival but not to the NOS center so I already expected the traffic which gave me the perfect opportunity to mentally prepare for the event. What i didn't expect was the ease of finding parking and effecientcy at the gate that led to the Buddah Garden. I was in line for about 5 minutes before I knew it I was inside the garden surrounded by an eclectic crowd of smokers sitting in hammocks, couches, and lawn chairs rolling and packing various devices. After spending some time in the smokers paradise trading pleasantries I made my way into the festival. I was pretty late and missed alot of the acts i wanted to see like Mobb Deep Fashawn and Currency but I was still excited to see Daedelus and Korn.

First up on the mainstage was Wiz Kalifiha who was not on my must see list, but I was pleasantly surprised to see him on stage with a live band. My cousin has been tryna get me into Wiz Khalifa for a while and finally getting to hear tracks off of the Kush and Orange Juice and Cabin Fever mix tapes makes Roll Up bearable. The highlight of his set for me was the way they slid Still Blazin right into Bob Marley's Three Little Birds. The set was pretty dope overall they just need to work on there exit.





Cypress Hill was like hot boxing in a Doloran. They kept the crowd entertained playing all the hits from there extensive catalog. You can tell these guys have been rocking shows for years, they know just how to keep the fans engaged with ill precision solos from Eric Bobo a little old school call and response and pulling out an 8 foot bong. I Wanna get High and Hits from the Bong caused some of the thickset smoke clouds I've seen in my days of concert going.

As cypress started to wrap up there set I could here a rumbeling from the low end stage and I knew it was time for my mind to be blown by the electric maestro Daedelus. As soon as I walked in the bass took over my body and I spent the next 45 minutes or so dancing, jumping, howlling and unsuccessfully explaining to the misgiude but intrigued audency what it was that they where experiencing. Random Bro with Tank Top : "Is this dubstep" Me : "Naw man this is fucking Daedalus don't step stomp!! Or maybe waltz." Not so Random guy in Physco Realm Hoodie : "A fool this shit is hard" Me : "Harder than a priest at a boy scout jamboree!" Cute girl that occasionally smokes : "His visuals are kind of tripping me out" Me : "Don't be scared look with your third eye and listen with your hearts ears". Her boyfriend super stoner trying to figure out if I just gave his girl a complement on her boobs (which I just did). My favorite part about any Daedelus performance is watching his own reaction to his dopeness and tonight was no exception. He's so animated, and with the suit and killer sideburns always looks like a 2030 version of Amadeus. Check out these videos to see him in action, unfortunately theres no footage of the girls huge brea..uh i mean her hearts ears.




After daedalus set i made my way back outside for a water break just in time to catch Sublime with Rome which is more like Eric with a really good sublime trubute band since Bud Gaugh left the band. There set had a real backyard BBQ feel to it which I thought was cool. It was like a big karaoke party because everyone knows the songs line by line. It admittedly felt a little wierd when Rome had to speak to the crowd and you realize hes just a young kid with shoes that are impossible to fill. It started to fill like a scene from Rock Star. After Sublime with Rome i went to check in on Thievery Corporation and was surprised at how thin the crowd was. I guess San Berniandino wasn't ready to get there heads blown by a funky sitar and horn section which means more room for me to groove. Afterwards I explored the shops alittle got plenty of cool free stuff like stickers and buttons and refueled at the Buddah Garden before Korn started.

I made my way back to the main stage and got a pretty good spot. These guys came out so hard an never let up. As soon as they stared everything and everybody just went crazy. Those little cute trendy girls with the tights and glasses all of a sudden turned into beast throwing bows. They started off with tracks from there 1st album for all the old heads then went into the new material. The new material sounded really good and was well received by the crowd. This was actually my first time really "hearing" the new songs. After running through some of the new joints they brought it back to some of there hits from the late 90's. Once the breakdown for Freak on a Leash started a circle pit around a fire sprang up out of now where but was quickly put out by security. Just when you thought the set was over after an extremely dope Pink Floyd cover of Another Brick in the Wall Jonathan Davis comes back on stage blowing a bag pipe getting the crowd worked into a frenzy before they bless us with four more songs including Shoots and Ladders which lead into there cover of Metallica's One.

Overall i gotta say SmokeOut was a success with just the right amount of nostalgia for the older heads mixed with new up and comers that brought out there hardcore fans. Guerilla Union is doing a great job of catering to all the different sub-cultures of the Cali music scene scene with this one. B-Real said his already planning SmokeOut for 2013 so hopefully they can keep this momentum going and keep producing dope events. Up next Paid Dues see you there.