[Celtic1982citleC]

Just wanted to give a brief overview of the show I trekked down to Manhatten with DA KING to see this past Sunday.

American Gangster Tour - Jay-Z

This concert was very hush hush and tickes sold out in about 30 seconds when they went on sale. I was able to snag a pair reasonably off eBay and strapped up to head down to the city, knowing I'd get to see Jay-Z live for the second time (saw him at Rock The Mic at SPAC years ago...amazing show). Not knowing what to expect, we showed up at Hammerstein to find a lenghty line (surprise surprise) and waited a while to get in. Music/mixing was provided by Funkmaster Flex during the interlude to the actual performance by Jay. Much to our surprise, who joined Flex beside the legendary Grand Master Flash himself. Took about a total of 2 hours to wait for everyone to get in the door and for Jay to take the stage, but they did a good job with the music and keeping the energy level high. Jay came out and the place went bananas of course. Hammerstein is a small, intimate place to see a concert (3,500 max. capacity) and it was PACKED! Amongst the crowd were superstar Richard Jefferson of the NJ Nets and boxing star Zab "Super" Judah. Very cool. Moving on, the first guest Jay brought on stage after his opening set was none other than Weezy (Lil' Wayne) for a good rendition of "Hello Brooklyn". Awesome surprise. Next cameo came from the Roc crew with Memphis Bleek, Beanie Siegel, and Freeway. Performed some good Roc songs and kept the flow going. Next up...nobody would've guessed. As the beat and begining to the latest 50 Cent song "I Get Money" started...and everyone expected to see 50...none other than P Diddy made his way to the stage to jam out with Jay for a few minutes and the place went bonkers. Jay continued on doing some great old stuff and mixing in some new stuff along the way. The Roc crew came out at the end again along with newly signed Roc artist (a personal favorite of mine for a while) Jadakiss! Real cool. Awesome show, Jay played a full 2+ hours and the show went til a little after midnight. Was worth the trip, money, and would go see him again in a heartbeat. Had a huge band playing the beats to most all his songs with makes the music VASTLY improved live over hearing comptuerized beats on a record. Can't emphasize how good of a show Jay puts on. A+!