It was the first sold-out show at the Highland Heights arena, which opened last year. A crowd of 8,800 attended.
There weren’t any glaring technical glitches or errors in execution in what was the second stop on Jay-Z’s fall tour. The show is equally simple and sleek. The 39-year-old rapper, born Shawn Carter, operated at the front of an empty stage, with his 10-piece band arranged on risers in a semi-circle behind him.
Dressed in an all-black ensemble of leather jacket, t-shirt, jeans and sunglasses, Jay-Z rose through a trap door in the stage to start the show. After performing the opening number, the hit “Run This Town” off of “The Blueprint 3,” he asked a question related to the song as to his whereabouts: “I’m really confused. Who run the town? Is it Kentucky? Is it Cincinnati?” The latter received louder applause.
A fair share of the production budget went into a three-dimensional video screen towering behind the band. It offered all kinds of stunning visual possibilities, such as showing dozens of stage shots and music-video clips at once.
As the Brooklyn-bred rapper performed “Empire State of Mind,” the screen displayed pretty panoramic nighttime shots of the Manhattan skyline. Guest vocalist Bridget Kelly sang the Alicia Keys part of the tune, another hit from “The Blueprint 3.”
“Empire State of Mind” and all of the material from “The Blueprint 3” resonated with the crowd as strongly as the old hits. “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” and “Young Forever,” two more “The Blueprint 3” hits, couldn’t have been more different. “D.O.A.” was one of Jay-Z’s typically potent blasts aimed at trend-following in hip-hop, while “Forever Young,” which he placed at the end of the set list, was a slice of good old-fashioned pop-music cheesiness.
Jay-Z saved many of his older hits for an extended encore. Joined on stage by fellow New York rapper Memphis Bleek during the encore, Jay-Z rolled through several signature tunes including “Can I Get A…,” “99 Problems,” “Big Pimpin’” and “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem).”
Vocalist Pharrell Williams was another guest, and he and Jay-Z performed their duet on “The Blueprint 3” called “So Ambitious.” Earlier in the night, Williams’ band N.E.R.D. played an opening set of synth-laden hip-hop that at its best was propelled by the complex beats of two powerhouse drummers. At its worst, N.E.R.D. took on ska a couple times and came out sounding like No Doubt.
FROM ATL Hip hop Awards TO Performing in KENTUCKY IN ONE NIGHT.
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