Spring Gathering review of (hed) PE and Fishbone

(hed) PE definitely had their fans inside the main stage at the National Orange Show as part of the Dr. Greenthumb & Tommy Chong’s Spring Gathering.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to catch much of the group’s set because I wanted to catch some of the Music & Marijuana -What A Concept! discussion.

Nonetheless, the Huntington Beach group blasted through songs like “Raise Hell” from their 2004 album “Only in America,” “Renegade” from their 2009 album “New World Orphans” and others that I can’t print the titles much less the lyrics to all delivered in their energetic and punk-rock influenced manner.

Also, after toasting the crowd with an Irish whiskey the lead emcee M.C.U.D. (Jahred Gomes) actually came out later and stood in the audience to watch Fishbone and the Kottonmouth Kings but would take photos with fans.

Next up was Los Angeles based Fishbone, who has been around since 1979. The group stole the show despite having new members like keyboardist Dre Gipson (who was added in 2004) and a core of there-from-the-start musicians like bassist Norwood Fisher and saxophonist Dr. Madd Vibe.

Fishbone’s mix of ska, alternative rock, reggae, punk rock, funk and more fit perfectly with the different group of musicians performing Saturday. The group, who like all of the artists Saturday I watched said they were in favor of legalizing marijuana, tore through songs like “Suffering,” “Alcoholic” a cover of Sublime’s “Date Rape” and another song I can’t write the title to. Dr. Madd Vibe was all over the stage (and into the audience) during the performance and would also do hand stands which really got the audience cheering. Gipson also went into the crowd and would take over as vocalist from Dr. Madd Vibe on some of the songs. 

Fishbone’s final song was their 1985 noted crowd pleaser “Party At Ground Zero” that features a mix of punk and ska that is infectious.

Dr. Greenthumb and Tommy Chong’s Spring Gathering is today in San Bernardino

For some reason, my story about the event (and interview with Brad “Daddy” X of the Kottonmouth Kings) did not make it online but today is the Dr. Greenthumb and Tommy Chong’s Spring Gathering at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino.

Method Man and Redman, Kottonmouth Kings, Rebelution, Fishbone, (hed) PE, Supernatural, Icehole, Short Dawg and other acts will perform. The venue opens at noon. The festival lasts until 11:30 p.m.

Besides music, there is also a medical marijuana expo featuring speakers and vendors.

Tickets range from $38.50 to $429. Information: http://www.guerillaunion.com/springgathering/

Wiz Khalifa, Fashawn and Logic sold out the Glass House

The Glass House in Pomona, which can hold about 800 people, was sold out Wednesday night for the hip-hop sounds of Pittsburgh-based headliner Wiz Khalifa, Fresno’s Fashawn and Logic.

I actually tried to purchase a ticket Wednesday and was told the venue was sold out. The line for the show (of people who actually had tickets) went around the building.

Here’s the story I wrote to preview of the show:

Fresno independent hip-hop artist Fashawn will
perform Wednesday with headliner Wiz Khalifa and artist Logic at The
Glass House in Pomona.

The 21-year-old artist was able to create the critically praised
“Boy Meets World” album in 2009 that received a lot of attention in the
hip-hop world and online.

“I’m happy with it, man,” he said in a recent interview. “A
lot of people perceive that as a classic. I got the chance to tell my
story and see people’s reactions to it. To say I have an album on the
shelves in 2010 that people went out and bought … it’s like a lost
art.”

Fashawn, real name Santiago Leyva, said his live show is “more
of a party environment, where everyone is involved and theatrical. It’s
the story of my whole life.”

Fashawn said he will continue to work with producer Exile, who
created the sound for his “Boy Meets World” album.

“We have so much music you haven’t heard. We just did some
recording in Paris and Germany. Me and him and (hip-hop artist) Blu …
it don’t stop. We’re creative people and this is what we do when you get
us in a room.”

Ice Cube, the pioneering gangsta rap artist and actor,
recently made some comments that some people have interpreted as being
negative against new artists from California. On his blog in late
February, Cube wrote: “For 7 or 8 years now the West Coast has been
trying to do music that appeals to the South and Midwest … Left coast
MCs were now trying to change their sound to cater to all the followers. We lost our way.” In a
March blog he clarified the comments and wrote “I wish every young MC
nothing but success, especially the ones from the New West.”

Fashawn, when asked if he heard about the comments, said, “He’s
one of my favorite emcees … I’ve never met him. Is he talking about
me? I don’t know. If so, it is what it is. You can’t have the new
without the old and vice versa. I don’t trip off it. I represent central
Cali.”

Pittsburgh-based Khalifa is touring off the just-released
mixtape “Kush & Orange Juice.”

Fashawn said he also has new material coming up. He said he’s
getting ready to release a free mixtape titled “Ode To Illmatic,”
another mixtape with Fresno artists called “Grizzly City 3” and
sophomore album “The Ecology” in 2011.

 

Ozzfest is coming back Aug. 14

Here’s the news release (in whole):

“OZZFEST RETURNS:


EXPLOSIVE 2010 BILL THIS
SUMMER

TO BE HEADLINED BY

OZZY OSBOURNE AND MOTLEY
CRUE

OTHER ARTISTS ONBOARD
INCLUDE

METAL LEGEND ROB
HALFORD,

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY,
DEVILDRIVER, AND DROWNING POOL

 

This is the tour where the fans
have always screamed the loudest…

More than 15 years after OZZY
OSBOURNE debuted OZZFest, the defining blueprint
for hard rock tours and festivals returns this August in six American
cities with an explosive bill co-headlined by OZZY and, in their
first-ever OZZFest appearance, Mtley Cre–touring together for the
first time with OZZY since he invited the group on their now legendary
1984 arena tour.  Expect the energy to go way off the charts at the
all-day extravaganza of music and deranged merriment.

The 2010 OZZFest–back after taking
a year off in 2009 and the 2008 one-off stadium spectacular in Dallas,
TX with OZZY and Metallica headlining–will kick off August 14 in San
Bernardino (the birthplace of the first OZZFest in 1996) and then
make stops in Chicago, IL, Hartford, CT, Camden, NJ, Pittsburgh, PA and
Boston, MA.  Live Nation will promote the tour nationally.


The main stage will feature full
sets from Ozzy, Mtley Cre and Rob Halford (who last appeared on
OZZFest in 2004 with Judas Priest), performing songs from his solo
career along with material from Judas Priest and Fight.  DevilDriver and
Nonpoint will round out the main stage line-up.  Second stage
headliners and six-time OZZFest veterans Black Label Society will be
joined by Drowning Pool, Kingdom of Sorrow, and Goatwhore,
Skeletonwitch, Saviours and Kataklysm.


Each OZZFest date will include 13
bands on two stages with music beginning at 1:00 PM. In addition,
concert-goers can once again visit the OZZFest “Village of the Damned”
featuring a mix of interactive activities, shopping and entertainment
throughout the venue concourses.


These OZZFest dates mark the
first concerts in the U.S. in connection with the June 15 release of SCREAM
(Epic Records), the OZZFest‘s founder’s first album in three
years and 10th studio album overall.  OZZY’s band consists of
his OZZY’s new guitar player, Gus G., bassist Blasko, drummer Tommy
Clufetos and keyboardist Adam Wakeman.


Tickets for the show’s go on sale
May 22 at www.OZZfest.com and www.LiveNation.com.


The 2010 OZZFEST dates are as follows:

DATE                 CITY                         
VENUE

Sat, Aug  14       San Bernardino, CA     San Manuel
Amphitheater

Tue, Aug 17        Chicago, IL                 First
Midwest Bank Amp.

Thurs, Aug 19     Pittsburgh, PA            First
Niagara Pavilion

Sat , Aug 21       Hartford, CT               Comcast
Theater

Sun, Aug 22        Camden, NJ               
Susquehanna

Tue, Aug  24       Boston, MA                Comcast
Center

 

About OZZFest

Since 1996, OZZFest has been a
virtual breeding ground for rising bands. The festival has been
instrumental in igniting the careers of platinum-selling artists like
System of a Down, Disturbed, Linkin Park, Incubus, Slipknot, Queens of
the Stone Age, Godsmack, Avenged Sevenfold, Mudvayne, Lamb of God,
Killswitch Engage and Lacuna Coil, among others. It was cited as “one of
rock’s biggest juggernauts” in the cover feature of Sunday’s New
York Times
‘ “Arts & Leisure” section (6/25/06).  

 

About Live Nation:

Live Nation Entertainment
(NYSE-LYV) is the largest live entertainment company in the world,
consisting of five businesses: concert promotion and venue operations,
sponsorship, ticketing solutions, e-commerce and artist management. 
Live Nation seeks to innovate and enhance the live entertainment
experience for artists and fans: before, during and after the show.

 
In 2009, Live Nation sold 140
million tickets, promoted 21,000 concerts, partnered with 850 sponsors
and averaged 25 million unique monthly users of its e-commerce sites.
 For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.”