ROCK THE BELLS ANNOUNCES HIP-HOPS OFFICIAL SUMMER FESTIVAL SERIES
WU-TANG CLAN, NAS, CYPRESS HILL, UGK, TALIB KWELI & MORE CONFIRMED FOR 13 CITY-TOUR
SO CAL DATE MOVES FROM NOS EVENTS CENTER TO HYUNDAI PAVILION AT GLEN HELEN
Guerilla Unions ROCK THE BELLS North American festival series will kickoff July 26 in Mansfield, MA and travel to 12 additional cities across the nation. As previously announced, Wu-Tang Clan and Nas will headline and be joined by Cypress Hill*, UGK*, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, David Banner, Immortal Technique and Jedi Mind Tricks for the five week-long hip-hop extravaganza, hosted by freestyle legend Supernatural and Rahzel The Godfather of Noyze. (*Indicates will appear on selected dates.)
After announcing our historic shows with Rage Against The Machine & Wu-Tang Clan headlining earlier this year, we are overwhelmed with the enthusiasm of fans who want ROCK THE BELLS brought to their cities. There is no other hip hop music festival more vital to the artists, community, and fans it serves than ROCK THE BELLS, says festival organizer Chang Weisberg. We want to build an annual event in all of these cities to serve their musical communities and prove that quality hip-hop is NOT dead. Actually, over 130,000 people have already disproved the notion and bought their tickets. By the end of the summer, over 200,000 fans will have voted that quality lyricism and deft live performances are still very much alive.
The ROCK THE BELLS tour launches in support of a huge resurgence of real hip-hop in popular culture with half of the participating artists awaiting monumental album releases: Pharoahe Monchs Desire (in stores June 26), Talib Kwelis Eardrum (in stores July 24), David Banners The Greatest Story Ever Told, UGKs first album in over five years with the highly anticipated double disc self-titled Underground Kingz and the Wu-Tang Clans first album release in six years, 8 Diagrams (in stores August).
The massive success of the Rage Against The Machine-headlined August 11 date in Southern California will move from the NOS Events Center to its new home 20 minutes north to the Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen. The line-up will stay intact and all tickets already purchased will be honored at the event. Glen Helen is the perfect canvas for the festival with its lush grass, flush restrooms, ample parking and infrastructure, which will be transformed into a Mecca of hip-hop. Seating in the orchestra section will be removed to accommodate the general admission crowd. A Verses area and Guerilla Union Summit will be introduced at this show with its open forums, guest speakers, live art installations and some very special surprises.
The complete dates for the Guerilla Union presents Rock The Bells North American Festival Series powered by San Disk and fueled by RockStar Energy Drink are:
Thu 7/26 Mansfield, MA Tweeter Center *Sat 7/28 New York, NY Randall's Island *Sun 7/29 New York, NY Randall's Island Thu 8/2 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre Fri 8/3 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Sat 8/4 Miami, FL Bayfront Park Amphitheatre Tue 8/7 Dallas, TX Smirnoff Music Center Wed 8/8 Houston, TX Reliant Park *Sat 8/11 San Bernardino, CA Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen Sun 8/12 San Diego, CA Coors Amphitheatre (parking lot) *Sat 8/18 San Francisco, CA McCovey Cove (parking lot) Tue 8/21 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre Wed 8/22 Denver, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre Sat 8/25 Minneapolis, MN Metrodome (parking lot) Tue 8/28 Chicago, IL Charter One Pavilion Wed 8/29 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre Thu 8/30 Toronto, Ontario TBD
* denotes festival dates with Rage Against the Machine. Stay tuned for further announcements regarding ROCK THE BELLS line-up additions.