Rock The Bells is looking cool, but no DC date?
http://rockthebells.net/
I'm guessing the guy who runs this festival didn't really appreciate getting boo'd and cussed at by the crowd last year. He said something amounted to "you know we don't have to come here... we could easily skip Balitmore/DC, but we do it for you" at one point while he was trying to make excuses for Lauryn Hill taking nearly 2 hours to come on stage and it was all downhill from there.
It was actually over 3 hours, and here's what Chang Weisberg, founder and organizer of Guerrilla Union and Rock the Bells said (it may also be worth noting that he received more cheers than boo's):
"Guys I'm not-- I'm not one to be on the microphone-- we appreciate DC, there are a lot of other cities that're really pissed off that they don't got Rock the Bells but we love DC, we wanna keep comin' back to DC and this man is not tellin' a lie: Lauryn's in the building, she's dehydrated and her throat is kinda shot and I don't want her to do anything crazy. But she's gonna be here tonight, we gotta be professional, take care of A Tribe Called Quest, take care of Wu-Tang Clan, take care of Snoop Dogg, and if we're lucky man we're gonna make some fuckin' crazy shit happen for you guys. I promise. We wanted to be forthright with DC you guys have respected us and shown us so much love, and we're gonna make some shit happen tonight, it's not over."
and for those interested in the full story, here's what the Washington Post reported a couple days later:
"[...]Lauryn Hill, the eccentric erstwhile Fugee who has mostly stayed out of sight since her lone solo album, 1998's still-scintillating R&B masterpiece "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," was clearly the lineup's chief curiosity. When it comes to her behavior over the past decade there's been no rumor too bizarre to believe. Sunday's rumor was a doozy, and it was true -- she really was three hours late to the stage because she was getting a manicure-pedicure. Suddenly, the attempt by her former band mate Wyclef Jean to become president of Haiti doesn't seem quite so self-centered.
As her 4:30 start time approached, the elaborate stage plot was ready to go. And then . . . nothing. A 10-minute wait became a half-hour, which became a full hour. Scattered heckles became heavy boos as the stage was broken down at 5:30. [...]
After a staggering two hours of silence A Tribe Called Quest hit the stage to the rabid delight of festival-goers dying to hear, well, anything. [...]
Her toenails apparently dry, Lauryn Hill was finally next, but she probably shouldn't have bothered. The performance was a messy rush through highlights from "Miseducation," but they were hardly recognizable due to her hoarse voice, speedy delivery and clunky, overstuffed arrangements. Hill wasn't lacking for energy, just focus. The feedback on her microphone was ear-splitting; special guest Nas came out for a 45-second cameo, and his microphone wasn't working for half of it. After 20 minutes she departed to an equal mix of cheers and boos, seemingly oblivious as to why anyone might be upset."
And for the sake of accuracy, Lauryn's set was just over 25 minutes, not 20 (as the Post incorrectly reported). It consisted of 6 songs and was much closer to 30 minutes than 20.
And just so that we don't get too carried away feeling that our dismay at Lauryn Hill's absence was the catalyst behind RTB not returning, let us bare in mind that they also dropped Chi town.
