Hip-hop tour mostly rings hollow

A scaled-down festival comes to Hawaii and offers just two acts worth watching

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Fans of Wu Tang Clan and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony got what they came for at Saturday's Rock the Bells concert at the Blaisdell Arena.

To call the event a "music festival," however, was a vast overstatement, as the event was but a shadow of the national "Bells" tour that rocked mainland cities this summer.

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DESPITE ITS mischaracterization as a "music festival," last weekend's final stop of the 2007 Rock the Bells Tour was a relatively entertaining evening that served mainly as a walk down memory lane for fans of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and the legendary Wu-Tang Clan.

Saturday's concert wrapped up two months of touring for the Clan, which headlined Rock the Bells stops across the country. What Boston, Atlanta, New York and San Bernardino, Calif., fans experienced that those in Hawaii didn't, however, was a true festival experience.

Take the Southern California show on Aug. 11, for example, which featured four stages with concurrent performances by the likes of EPMD, the Coup, Mos Def, Public Enemy and the Living Legends before headlining sets by Cypress Hill, Wu-Tang Clan and Rage Against the Machine.

What did Hawaii get? One stage with two groups worth listening to.

THERE WERE only a few hundred people, at most, inside the Blaisdell Arena when the night started on right on schedule at 7 p.m.

Still, it was probably one of the biggest audiences that local openers the Spacifics had ever played for, and they rose to the occasion. Seph 1 and Risup showcased their lyrical skills before bringing out Creed Chameleon and Emirc to wrap up their 20-minute set.

With a shout out to Tom Moffatt, the local boys made way for a rapper from New York who'd won a contest to perform on tour with the Clan.

Lex Butter's prize must not have included airfare for a DJ or hype man, since he spent his 20 minutes of fame spitting five tracks that nobody had ever heard of with some guy taping his every move for posterity.

Where were Krystilez and Big Mox? Or how about Jonah the Whale, Jeyetik, Bladez Whyte or Samoan Dynasty?

Why give an unsigned mainland performer all that shine when a number of local acts deserved that time on stage? The words "Represent, Respect, Recognize: A World Class Platform" were projected onto a screen at the Blaisdell, but Hawaii hip-hop definitely didn't represent to the fullest, which was a definite lack of respect and failure to recognize on the part of the promoters.

After an educational set from MC Supernatural that included a Hawaii-themed freestyle and impersonations of Busta Rhymes, Slick Rick and the Notorious B.I.G., local favorites Bone Thugs-N-Harmony came out to perform hits like "1st of the Month," "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and "Days of Our Lives."

But the lack of a quality lineup meant they got an hour on stage, when all they really needed was 30 minutes. Within 15 minutes of starting their set, Krayzie, Layzie and Wish headed into tribute territory, paying homage to Eazy-E, Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.

Shortly thereafter the trio started to wax poetic about their love for marijuana, urging the crowd to join them in getting lifted even as Blaisdell security and HPD officers were actively searching the crowd and physically removing violators from the building. That might also explain the absence of Redman, who was a no-show at the concert despite being a late addition to the Honolulu lineup.

Luckily for their Hawaii fans, all eight surviving Wu-Tang members made the return trip some 10 years after their last performance in the islands. Joined by at least another 15 to 20 people on stage, the Clan came out firing on all cylinders with "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothin' to F-- With."

Looking polished and relaxed, the Clan stuck to hits off previous albums and made little mention of the upcoming "8 Diagrams" release until the end of the night. Method Man took turns with RZA and Ghostface to keep the energy level up, but it was the Ticallion Stallion who got the biggest cheers when he repeatedly jumped onto the stage barrier and dived off of it to crowd-surf.

"Bring the Pain," "Protect Ya Neck" and "C.R.E.A.M." were all well received, as was the tribute to Ol' Dirty Bastard via "Shimmy Shimmy Ya." After wrapping up with "Triumph," the Clan stuck around to invite the crowd to an after-party at their hotel and wished Ghostface a happy birthday. Then RZA capped things off with the line of the night.

"Y'all got a piece of paradise," he said. "Make sure you respect it ... and spread the culture."

After spending four hours with the sneaking suspicion that hip-hop really might be dead, replaced by a commercialized faux festival that's driven by the almighty dollar, it was a relief to see someone representing his talent while recognizing the fans and giving Hawaii the respect it deserves.