All Points West Highlights: Who Rocks Hardest? (PHOTOS, POLL)

Despite rain delays and muddy fields, the show went on at the All Points West Music & Arts Festival in Liberty State Park this past weekend.

Featuring sets by the likes of Jay-Z, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, TOOL, Coldplay and MGMT, the three-day festival was a who's-who of both established performers and those on their way up. Check out the photos below (possibly NSFW) for highlights and vote on who you think rocks the hardest, and who you couldn't be paid enough to see. For more fun, take a peek at our pics of the muddiest attendees there!

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Jay-Z

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Vote and Share Choose Your Top 5 Cut The Mic! Encore! Now Make Your Own Top 5 And Share with Your Friends RANK: AVERAGE:  OUT OF 10 Jay-Z, who served as a last-minute replacement for the Beastie Boys, dedicated his entire set to the cancer-stricken Adam "MCA" Yauch. It was a move so cool he had to wear sunglasses at night to do it.

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Comments

[Steve Neptune]

Elbow and The Black Keys blew everyone else away.

[Matt Wilstein]

A couple of good APW videos:
http://www.gotchamediablog.com/2009/08/jay-z-no-sleep-til-brooklyn-at-all.html
http://www.gotchamediablog.com/2009/08/coldplay-covers-beastie-boys-and.html

[weebils]

They trashed the park and the music stunk. End of story. I hope they won't have this crap again.

[Doc0976]

Gogol Bordello ROCKED MY FACE! Energy, presence, they ENTERTAINED us with MUSIC! Will be downloading them shortly...

YYYs are the best, hands down...

Jay-Z...wh­at can I say...not a fan of misogynist rappers that use language no different than klansmen in the South.

[MCMetalHasReturned]

You ask "Who Rocks The Hardest" with a pic of Jay-Z ?

Are you serious ?

[Doc0976]

I will give that a hearty "CONCUR." The YYYs made it worth the rainy, muddy poop hole!

[Balzac]

It was cool, wish I'd been there.

[Pabalive]

ummm - the real music was being played in Red Rocks for the past four nights. So thankful the MSM has not been able to figure this out.

[G-guy]

Regarding Rap. Some may say it sends a message, all its own.

I have listened to and loved good music all my life.
From Elvis, and all the great rock groups, blues, and soul music.
Many hundreds of talented performers, all individual sounds and talents.

The message todays rap music sends is, "we've lowered our standards".
Wheres the great performers, at the microphone, and on all instruments?

I see a lot of electronic enhancement, a lot of prancing on videos, a lot of jewelry.

Hard to tell one from the other. Dress the same, move the same, sound the same.
Sure, the great ones are tough acts to follow. But maybe this stuff is just to easy.
That's why everybody's doing it. Little talent, lots of bucks. That's just the way it is.

Sorry. Some things are a fact, whether you choose to believe it or not.

[G-guy]

Want my painfully honest answer?
None of them. Expectations for music, voice quality and talent have fallen.
These no account, poor voiced hoppers would embarrass the original rockers,
and musicians, from Elvis, to Motown's Kings, right on down.

Give me the Temptations, Four Tops, Beatles, Sam Cooke, Jackson 5, and so on.
Far to many we can name, that put all these dudes to shame.....­....

[bnww]

Thumbs definitely DOWN to the N-word using Jay Z!!

http://www.Educate-Empower.com

[HST]

Rocking the HARDEST: Lamb of god, Slipknot. Google 'em.

[adg87]

Just because a band plays instruments doesn't mean they have talent. Don't let your dislike for hip-hop cause you to make asinine statements.

[HistoryGeek]

I have no doubt in my mind that Tool rocked the hardest.

[STUPIDgit]

Yes. They did.

[ubeman]

Sorry, but Rappers do not Rock. As for Vampire Weekend-are they as incredibly hip and relevant as the press makes them out to be? Just wondering, cause nobody has ever heard of em.

[binarystar]

I guess you never heard of Run DMC

[STUPIDgit]

Most people who claim Rappers aren't musician, artists or able to rock haven't heard anything in the genre other than MC Hammer or Kanye West.

I'm a big rock and metal fan, and for those of you who are looking to expand your horizons a bit let me recommend a few old but good hip-hop treats you might actually enjoy:

Public Enemy
BooYah T.R.I.B.E.
NWA
Gravediggaz
Cyprus Hill

And anyone who can listen to Common, The Geto Boys, Brand New Heavies, Spearhead or Black Sheep and not hear true musical talent is just close minded.

Don't let the modern crop of dance music parading as hip-hop spoil the reputation of what is a great art form. It'd be like judging all rock by only listening to the GooGoo Dolls and White Snake.

[oldtree]

I am curious. Who in their right mind compares bands that actually play their instruments to hacks that talk over preprogrammed crap that is typically stolen from someone that can play their instrument?
What happened to talent? Are those without it so upset that they pretend they have it?