‘Cause I Got High

  Roadrunner Records Fear Factory will be bringing their
hard rock sound to Blockbuster Pavilion this Saturday.

By David Holmberg
Daily Bruin Staff

Pack ’em in, light ’em up, and burn ’em down;
it is time for the fourth annual Cypress Hill Smokeout to begin. On
Saturday, Oct. 6th , the air will be filled with the sounds of
heavy metal, hip-hop, electronica and the smell of uh, other stuff
at the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion.

Since its inception in 1998 by the hip-hop/rock band Cypress
Hill, the festival has become the largest single-day musical event
on the West Coast, with last year’s attendance topping 50,000
people. Tickets for the
“All-Day-Mind-Opening-Music-Festival” went on sale on
Sept. 8 at, appropriately, 4:20 p.m. ““ the purported
international smokeout time.

As with previous years, the line-up is a diverse and eclectic
collection of notable musical acts, both in style and in notoriety.
In the past years, headliners have included Limp Bizkit, System of
a Down, 311, Pennywise and more.

  Roadrunner Records Despite the fact that, according to
singer Robert Flynn, they don’t smoke, Machine Head will perform a
set at this year’s annual Smokeout. There will be several stages
this year to account for such a huge harvest of performers and to
keep the music going.

The hard-rocking heavy metal bands who will be smokin’ out
this year include Fear Factory, Ill Niño, Chamaira, and
Machine Head, who are also on their own separate Roadrage Tour
across the United States.

Robert Flynn of Machine Head talked about their involvement in
this year’s Smokeout.

“Well, none of us actually smoke weed,” Flynn
laughed. “But it’s something that should be legalized,
because most people are chill when they’re stoned. It’s
ironic that we don’t smoke. But it’s not just about
weed; it’s a musical celebration, everybody getting loose and
doing what they do. And we’re the metal in this hip-hop/punk
sandwich.”

Keeping the hip-hop flame alive will be Busta Rhymes, Cypress
Hill and the borderline hip-hop/comedy routine of new sensation
Afroman.

Somewhere in between hip-hop and rock exist Southern
California’s own Long Beach Dub Allstars, who mix in a
healthy dosage of ska beats to create a unique mixture of reggae
and rap.

In the same pot are the Kottonmouth Kings, which was High Times
magazine’s doobie award-winning “Band of the
Year” in 2000, and thus an obvious choice for a festival of
this nature.

  Dreamworks Records Long Beach Dub Allstars will bring
their unique style of music to the all-day music festival this
Saturday.

Kottonmouth King’s Brad Xavier explained, “We got
involved when Cypress Hill approached us to do the show.
There’s a small musical community that are freedom fighters
for the legalization of the plant, so that’s how we got
involved.”

For those looking to get high on electronica, DJ Sneak, DJ Swamp
and DJ Z-Trip (2×4) will be on hand to take care of business.

DJ Swamp, who was Beck’s DJ for four years prior to his
solo departure, will be ripping out his own concoction of rock and
hip-hop beats.

“My stuff is turntable punk rock,” explained DJ
Swamp regarding his own style. “But it’s hip-hop based.
I do as much as I can get away with.”

DJ Swamp also played at last year’s Smokeout, so he was
able to offer some insight into what this year’s
festivalgoers can expect.

“It was crazy,” he said.”The whole thing feels
pretty underground, like how can you get away with this. Hip-hop in
general can sometimes be a tough crowd, and especially one that
big. They had lots of security.”

As for how DJ Swamp figures into the whole crop of performers,
the answer is fairly clear.

  Capitol Records Voted High Times magazine’s doobie
award-winning "band of the year," Kottonmouth Kings are ready for a
big smokeout. “I’m down to smoke,” he said.

For more hardcore users, Method Man and Redman will be supplying
the rap, while NOFX will be blazing their punk rock style across
the stage.

With so many artists on the line-up, there will certainly be
enough of everything to pass around. Even within each band
variation of styles abound.

“We play an eclectic musical style, incorporating hip-hop
beats and punk attitude,” explained Xavier. “But we
also have funk, reggae, all that stuff. We try not to limit our
boundaries, so we create our own movement. It’s all about
stretching to do all types of things. It’s going to be a good
time for sure, a whole celebration. It’s an honor to share
the stage with so many amazing bands, like Method Man, Redman, Long
Beach Dub Allstars, Cypress Hill and all them.”

The Cypress Hill Smokeout is an amazingly comprehensive fusion
of popular, although not necessarily mainstream, musical talents.
And, as DJ Swamp pointed out, crowds as large, diverse and
energized as this year’s festival is expected to elicit mean
extra security, so searches are expected to be the rule, not the
exception.

Although the event planned to blow over to the East Coast this
year, the New York date has been postponed because of a conflict of
interests between Smokeout’s producers, Guerilla Union, and
the PNC Arts Center where the event was scheduled to be held.

The festival also planned to move north to San Francisco, but
unfortunately this show has been canceled due to a necessary
rescheduling of several baseball games due to the crisis at the
beginning of last month. However, the festival will still be
burning strong in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, Oct. 21.

For those in the Los Angeles area who want to get really high,
on music of course, then head to Blockbuster Pavilion for one grand
Smokeout, because in the end, everybody must get stoned.

General admission tickets are $57.50, and VIP are $207.50. Doors
open at 10 a.m. For more information, visit Smokeout’s Web
site at www.smokeout.net.General admission tickets are $57.50, and
VIP are $207.50. Doors open at 10 a.m. For more information, visit
Smokeout’s Web site at www.smokeout.net.