I'm betting that for my money, tomorrow's Rock the Bells concert will be the best show I see all year, hands down; a Hip Hop head's dream, a head nodding, beat filled day of worship before the gods of The Four Pillars. In fact, if recent reviews are in any way accurate, I'm expecting "Greatest Show Ever" status. Right up there with The Roots in 2000, Michelle N'degeocello in 2002, TV on the Radio in 2006 and that one beach rave in Barcelona way back when, where I had too much "fun" to remember the details.

Since first getting started in 2004, the festival has become the goto event for hip hop heads of the "purist" persuasion. Oversold and underrepresented, heads have grown bitter when faced with the overwhelming mainstreaming of the culture. Finding a good freestyle cipher or B-Boy circle has become increasingly difficult over the years, and while it's cool to Crank That Soldier Boy and the constant beefs to see who's the most thugged out MC are somewhat entertaining, there's really nothing like being surrounded by thousands of your backpacker brethren, fists in the air, classic lyracism on stage and that feel good party vibe floating through the crowd with every kick of the 808 bass.

Even if you never took Hip Hop 101, the lineup for the daylong festival reads like a cheat sheat for the culture's last 30 years. The legendary movements are there: from electro hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa and the God Rakim to Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul representing the jazzy Native Tongue family of the mid 90's up through the late 90's "New York Rules" days of Nas, Raekwon Ghostface and The Mans: Red and Method. And taking a forward thinking approach, the organizers brought in some of the most innovative of the hip hop new school, mostly performers in their early 20's who blend styles and produce sonic collaborations light years past the beat matching and sampling we constantly defended as legitimate music forms "back in the old days." While staying true to the general beat/rhyme framework, groups like Spank Rock, Wale, Jay Electronic and The Cool Kids sound like they pay absolutely no attention to genre. Categorizing your music? Dude, that's so 1998.

After pulling the impossible coup of getting all gazillion members of the Wu-Tang Clan back on stage at the first year's festival, RTB has gained a reputation for "wet dreams" lineups and much needed reuniting of former bandmates, and this year is no exception. By bringing together the members of Tribe Called Quest together for the headlining spot (even Jarobi, the mysterious 4th member), I can now check off the last box on my "legendary hip hop groups to see before I die" scorecard. And the reunion of the Phayrcyde-SoCal's favorite psych/stoner hip hop pranksters-only sweetens the deal.

I have to admit though that I'm a little concerned by reports of an unconvincing MF Doom stand-in making the rounds on several legs of the tour. The recent no shows by sir Metal Face are enough to raise an eyebrow but the surprise guests-which so far have included Jay-Z, Slick Rick and DJ Quick-should be enough to make up for the absense of Monsieur Doom.

19 hours to go. My backpack's packed, my water bottles are full, my camera's primed and my pen is poised. I'm watching the hours like a kid on Christmas Eve. Guerilla Union don't let me down, I'm counting on you to deliver like Hip Hop Santa Claus.