Blaze N' Glory Fest 2015 - Review

[Lori Hatmaker]

This first annual Blaze N Glory festival took place on May 15th and May 16th at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, CA. This two day event was a perfect mixture of reggae, rock, and hip hop, all in one venue. I had the pleasure of joining Day 2 of the festival. I was so excited to take my little road trip from San Diego to the festival.

From the moment I walked in, I loved the setup. From the huge area of vendors and merch, to the carnival rides and food stands, it was such a fun atmosphere. I got there right before the gates opened, just in time for the opening band, Special Blend. Special Blend was actually the winner of the SlideBar contest. I had heard their music before, but had not yet seen them live. They put on a great set and got the crowd ready for the day.

Soon after, the crowd started to pour in. To see the crowds of people running through the entrance, down the hill to the stage, was such an amazing sight. The vibes were high from the very opening of the festival. Next up was HIRIE and HIRIE always puts on an energy-packed show. Of course, the set included my personal favorites, “Smile” and “Sensi Boy”. The crowd really started to fill up during this set.

After HIRIE was Twiztid and Kottonmouth Kings. These acts definitely got the crowd pumped up. They even were throwing water on the crowd and everyone went wild. Being a huge Island reggae lover, I was so stoked to see The Green perform again. I got pretty close to the massive stage and the crowd was singing along to every song. That was one of my favorite moments of the festival.

Next up were Body Count and then Pepper. I have been a huge Pepper fan for years and I always love to see them live. They definitely keep the fans moving. Rebelution was next and by the picture below, you can see it was a massive performance. As usual, they did an amazing mix of both old and new tunes, and it was just good vibes all around. I walked around during their performance of "Safe and Sound" and I was purely in awe. From the sound, to the lights, to the crowd; it was like being in every reggae festival-lover's dream.

Finally, Slightly Stoopid took the stage to end the night. This was one of my favorite performances from Slightly Stoopid over the years. They really love to perform and engage the crowd. The perfect ending to the perfect day filled with music, new friends, and good vibes.