Candis Hecking: View from Creative

A few of us at AKHIA had the chance to see Jay-Z last night at the Wolstein Center.

We were pretty excited to see the opening band N*E*R*D. They put on an awesome performance. Their new female vocalist, Rhea was on stage for the entire performance. During "Spaz"  Pharrell Williams invited a female fan on stage with him. She was obviously very excited as she danced and sang along to every word. About 15 women joined N*E*R*D on stage during "Everyone Nose (All The Girls Standing In The Line For The Bathroom)".

The count down to Jay-Z began and with ten minutes before show time the screens on each side of the stage started counting down. Jay-Z made a dramatic entrance rising from below the stage as "Run This Town" started. The crowd went crazy and the stage came to life.  Without a doubt I can say that this was the best and most elaborate back drop display I've ever seen at a concert. The images changed from city buildings, fancy speakers, and live footage.

Many songs played throughout the night were from "The Blueprint 3" album. However we also got to hear "Jigga", "99 Problems", and Izzo (H.O.V.A.).

Of course LeBron James was present. When LeBron first appeared on stage Jay-Z stopped the music and said the crowd wasn't loud enough. After some extra yelling and cheering from fans the song started over again. James was on stage during a few songs throughout the night. He sort of bounced behind Jay-Z while singing along. 

The encore was much longer than I expected it to be. I was happy a few of my favorite Jay-Z songs were included such as "Can I Get A....", "Big Pimpin", and "Hard Knock Life". I think I would of refused to leave the venue if I didn't hear these songs. After talking to the crowd and addressing specific fans he ended the show with "Young Forever"