Smokeout Fires Up and Keeps Burning

If the nation’s war on drugs takes a back seat to the war on terrorism, Cypress Hill probably won’t even notice the difference.

The local rap crew has been blatantly celebrating the virtues of marijuana for more than a decade, and while their pro-legalization stance is clear, their rhymes are more cannabis-love odes than activist rants.

Four years ago, the group decided to gather some of their favorite acts for Smokeout, an all-day, “mind-opening” music festival. This year’s event Saturday at the Blockbuster Glen Helen Pavilion in Devore offered one of the most massive lineups ever.

Rap, metal and electronic grooves were each represented in three locations on the grounds throughout the day. As is the case with most grueling music marathons, it was impossible to see and hear everything during the 12 hours--unfortunate for lively acts such as the Kottonmouth Kings and DJ Swamp who played on the “second” stage at the same time as main stage performers Busta Rhymes and NOFX. Later, fans had the added choice in the techno tent leaving the two stages to see all-star DJs Richard Humpty Vision and Armand Han Helden.

Accompanied by only a backup rapper and a DJ, Rhymes offered a dynamic bare-bones performance--unlike the 10-man posse that took over the stage earlier in the day when hip-hoppers Method Man and Redman worked their lyrical skills.

The festival’s hard-rock acts provided a clamorous complement to the more soulful rhythms, with Fear Factory adeptly spewing its noisy aggro-anthems and Cypress Hill’s B-Real debuting a new rap metal project featuring members of Fear Factory and the Deftones.

Equally forceful, yet more complex, the Deftones themselves presented a meld of heavy and ethereal in dramatic style, even if singer Chino Moreno’s breathy vocals were a little too drawn out and downbeat for a live setting. An appearance by H.R., singer of seminal punk band Bad Brains, made up for any lagging moments in the band’s set.

By the end of the evening, predictably, the men of the hour were Cypress Hill’s wordsmiths B-Real and Sen-Dog.

Backed by a full rock band on some tunes and DJ Muggs on others, the duo shouted out hemp-obsessed hits such as “Insane in the Brain” and “I Want to Get High,” proving themselves to be both the rock and rap superstars they sang about on the group’s key track on its last album, “Skull & Bones.”

Cypress Hill obviously loves all kinds of music and Smokeout’s broad approach is truly unifying. Still, these types of bonanza events are sometimes better enjoyed with smaller bills and shorter sets because when it comes to all-day concerts, you can have too much of a good thing.