Greg went to the Jay-Z concert

And while I did take a few pictures, it was so dark the shutter speed had to slow to 1/4 on the camera, so they are all pretty blurry. Anyway, while I can't possibly give a full account of what happened, I can simply tell you about some things that happened.

I went with my sister who actually showed up to meet me early (if you knew her, you would know how amazing this was). We got in our seats which were admittedly a little high up, but still were somewhat close to the stage as some local dj was playing a set. Before long, Trey Songz comes on. I can't name a Trey Songz song. I'm sure I've heard one though. Well, after last night I'm really sure I am. I guess he was alright for what he's about. I feel like a 19 year old white boy isn't really his target audience. He did his thing, singing and moaning while some softcore porno played on the screen in the background. The black girls around us were going insane. The black guy next to us sparked a blunt about 30 seconds in.

Then, the first surprise of the night. After Trey Songz there was a long break and then the countdown began. Even as the countdown hit zero I was confused because I thought Young Jeezy was playing a set, but low and behold, it was Jigga who took the stage. And boy did he take it. His songs take on a whole new level with a live band and the intensity he puts into his performance. Run This Town, DOA, On to the Next One, all amazing. Memphis Bleek came out to help out (when the hell will Jay give up on this guy?) and they even brought Trey Songz to sing the hook on Heart of the City. Jeezy finally comes out and Jay then peaces out while Jeezy does a set. This was kind of a downer for me because I'm not much of a Jeezy fan. He only seems to impress me on remixes (Hurt remix, Top Back remix). He goes on for a while until My President is Black which is when Jay returns to do his verse from the remix.

Enter one great transition. He puts up a video of Obama. I think we are about to watch a healthcare video, but it's video from Obama at a speech brushing off his shoulders to which he says something like, "That's just what you gotta do." Jay turns around and says, "Well let's do it then."

Most of the show was all stuff from The Blueprint 1 onward, especially BP3. I was disappointed in no American Gangster or Kingdom Come songs. No Roc boys? Really?

After Thank You, Jay tells all the people who came for the Blueprint 3 that they can head home and beat the traffic, but no we are going back. I was pretty juiced at this point. Can I Get A, Hard Knock Life, and especially Big Pimpin were absolutely awesome. At one point he asked who had Reasonable Doubt and when a lot of people yelled, he said it was time to test them. He played the whole song "Can I Live" which is definitely a hidden gem in his catalog, but instead of singing the chorus, he just asked the crowd, "What's the name of this song?" I knew. I was yelling.

He spent some time checking out people in the crowd. One guy had a Heinz Ward jersey. Everybody cheered. One girl had a sign asking for a hug. He let her come on stage. Finally, he wrapped things up with Encore and before you knew it he was gone.

I gotta say, it was one hell of a show. The live band really took things to another level and the lights were amazing. Jay has incredible stage presence. While it's hard to compare, I still think I liked Girl Talk more simply because his show was like a non stop party. As far as stadium concerts go, Jay has now set the bar. Go see him if he's coming to your town.