He laced the crowd with classics and new joints for over an hour and a half and every paying customer got their money's worth to the penny. He jumped off with "Run this Town" and went straight into "DOA." The live band came through perfectly on these cuts and the whole stage show was really quite simple but executed perfectly. The towering video screens had some real stunning visuals, especially during "Empire State of Mind" when it turned into the New York city skyline.
He went through classics from BP1 like "HOVA" and "Ain't No Love," Vol. 2 "Can I Get A" and "Hard Knock Life," Vol. 3 "Big Pimpin" and the Black Album "PSA" "Lucifer" and "Encore." That is just scratching the surface.
Suprisingly, some of my favorite performances were from BP3. I am not the biggest fan of this record in it's entirety, but 50% of it is damn good listening and he picked the choice ones. "Empire State of Mind" "Already Home" "Thank You" and especially "On to the Next One" seriously brought the crowd to a whole nother stratosphere and I was going dummy. Swizz Beatz is a fool for that one.
The show was such a great experience 'cause I have never seen Jay, and this was his first time back in Seattle in 10 years. Not to mention he is the greatest living wordsmith and has a catalog that would have allowed him to perform hits well into next week. He was flawless on the mic. His set list was perfect (besides not having a single song from American Gangster). The band added a great element and didn't overdo the instrumentals. The video screen was original and complimented his set perfectly. And the final element that really brought it all together was the vibe in the building. It was ALL LOVE. The crowd was into it from minute one and didn't stop screaming or put their diamonds down for the entire show.
Cheers to Hova for putting on a very memorable performance that was equal parts entertainment and pure musicianship. ON TO THE NEXT ONE!
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