review i wrote on my myspace:
Jay-Z Concert Review
Category: Music
So tonight Jay-Z's world tour ends in Melbourne. I so wish that I could be there. Oh well.
I did go to the Sydney concert though
Jay-Z is one of the major icons in popular music, if you say you love hip-hop but you don't really like jay-z, you really have no idea what you are talking about. There is basically no way at all you could have a deep love for Hip-Hop music and not be a big jay-z fan without being biased or having some mental disorder. It is absolutely impossible to not appreciate the impact he has had on Hip-Hop.
Leading up to this concert, i was so excited, i think i had 3 dreams in total about being at the concert.
Anyway, the concert:
Opening Act: Tyree:
Yeah I am a bit reluctant and biased against opening acts, especially when they are unknown local acts. I do give them a chance, but i also see them as taking up precious time which could be used to lengthen to main acts performance time. Anyway, Tyree wasn't as bad as i expected, extremely generic, but i didn't expect him not to be. 90% of rappers nowadays are generic and rap about the same stuff over and over and over again. With tyree, it was nothing new, the lyrics were very forgettable so his set had to rely on beats and hooks. Were the beats and hooks enough to save him??? nope, they weren't. To his credit, the crowd seemed to be more into him than most of relatively unknown opening acts I have seen. I couldn't help but miss the intermissions when he was performaing, DJ Leon Smith's choice of records was much more entertaining to me. I would rather hear 'bumpin my music remix' (a record that Leon Smith played) by ray cash anyday than listen to anything by Tyree again.
3/10 for Tyree
1st Attraction: Ne-Yo
Now, anyone who knows me knows that I really hate most pop-rnb (either hate it from the get-go, or like it for 2 weeks and then become extremely sick of hearing it). I don't mind Ne-Yo, at all. Sure his music is not timeless, and he is not a GREAT R&B artist like a Luther Vandross or a Brian Mc'Knight. However, he is good for what he is...a mainstream Pop-RnB artist geared towards making hits.
Songs performed:
'Stay' - always liked this song, great party song and just an overall 'happy' song. This is the first song I heard from Ne-Yo and i was definently loving this performance. No room to dance, at all. And dancing would have made the song so much more enjoyable.
'So Sick' - Yeah i'm not really going to type much about this one. I don't think i even payed attention that's how sick i am of hearing this song.
'Sexy Love' - the best thing about this performance was that one of the dancers was extremely boiling hot. All my attention was shifted towards her so i didn't really pay attention to the song.
'Sign Me Up' - im sure he did this, or at least did a bit of it at the start of his set. Anyway, i don't mind this song either it's catchy and for what it is, it's a good track. Good performance from what i can remember
'When Your Mad' - again, the dancers took all my attention away. Lame acting though with the dancers acting all mad and ne-yo being like 'lolz ur so sexy wen ur mad.'
He also played a few snippets of popular songs that he has written or featured in, 'back like that' 'irresistable' etc. I wish he had did 'dream' by sam scarfo, he killed the hook on that. But i don't think many people would have known it.
5/10 for Ne-Yo.
Attraction 2: Rihanna
Hmmmm. Yeah maybe i like one or two of her songs about two listens before i completely dismiss it because they just aren't good enough to make a lasting impression.
Songs performed:
'If its lovin you want' - i like the beat for this, but i almost fell asleep.
'Break It Off' - always thought this was one of rihannas only good songs because she sounds so sexy on the hook. The best thing about this thought was her dancing.
'Unfaithful' - extremely forgettable, fell asleep.
'S.O.S' - Fell asleep. When i looked around the few lebos around me were singing along. How thuggish is that eh?
'Pon De Replay' - I really didn't concentrate enough to even remember if she performed this. But well, she must have done it because it's one of her most well-known songs. You can tell it was forgettable
She is so hot, and she is probably a really sweet and nice girl. She just isn't that...interesting, and her songs aren't that good. All throughtout the set some little bimbo teenybopper bitch was screaming at the top of her lungs, 'singing' along (even though the lebos singing along sounded better than her) in my FUCKING EAR.
3/10 for Rihanna (hey look Tyree, at least your performance was as good as an establish superstar's act eh
)
Main Attraction: Jay-Z
Why do I like jay-z so much? Why do all of his loyal fans love him so much? Because they have listened to songs like 'lucky me' 'cant knock the hustle' and 'dead presidents.'
It is a damn shame that these songs are pushed into the background when casual hip hop fans think of jay-z. But i guess that's inevitable.
Songs peformed: all tracks were excellent and crazy so i won't bother saying 'he did a good job' on each one of them because that is implied.
'What more can i say' - this was his first, i expected this to be as well because of the opening, gets you so hyped up.
'PSA' - this was the main one i was waiting for, i went absolutely nuts when the songs started. And when he hit us with 'allow me to reintroduce myself' it was the single greatest moment ever.
Ok i'm really tired of typing so i won't do a paragraph a song now. other songs done in no particular order:
99 problems
jigga what, jigga who
jigga my nigga
hovi baby
hola hovito
beware of the boys
song cry (with his twist on LL Cool J's infamous verse on 'i need love' - the one he did at fade to black)
heart of the city (my 2nd fav performance from him)
u dont know
do my (memphis bleek's song feat jay-z)
is that yo chick
can i get a...
i just wanna luv you (one of my fav club songs EVER and i forgot to press fkn record stupid me)
girls, girls, girls
excuse me miss (got the whole crowd to 2 step, was a nice peformance)
encore
big pimpin
dirt off your shoulder
hard knock life
03 bonnie and clyde
his verse from 'crazy in love'
a dedication to aaliyah, jam master jay, biggie and pac where he played 'hail mary' 'ambitionz az a ridah' 'one more chance remix' 'mo money mo problems' 'peter piper' and 'i miss you'
9.5/10 for jay-z
he didn't do anything from reasonable doubt or in my lifetime vol. 1. If he did 'dead presidents' or 'cant knock the hustle' he def would get a 10 from me. I still enjoyed it immensly and i went absolutely nuts for every song. Would kill to relive the moment where he kicked into the first verse for 'PSA' or the whole 'heart of the city'
Crowd notes:
alot of stereotypical teenyboppers (ie, lebos and wog chicks). A fight nearly broke out, oh and guess who it was between...two lebos what a fucking coincidence.
This lebo chick asked her lebo bf 'what does the diamond mean??' he goes 'i dunno' (earlier he was singing along to rihanna).
This 17 year old aussie dude, the fully sick type that try to be like typical lebos was lining up near us. The door was about to open and my mate and I walked closer to the door' the aussie tried to act like a hard cunt 'OI THERES A LINE YA KNOW' i just laughed at him and raised my eyebrow. Everyone laughed at him. I hope he felt embarassed, that's what wannabe thugs get for trying to act hard. fkn gronks.
There were kids there with their mums (no doubt to see ne-yo and rihanna) lining up for the fkn floor. Bet they didnt know what to expect.
Security is extremely fucking stupid, they made the first few rows sit down before the concert started. and there was no room to sit down. people probably got cramps i know i nearly did. And when everyone stood up everyone just pushed more and knocked down those who were to slow to get up. Yeah real good safety precaution you dumbass security year 10 drop outs.
And why the fuck do they give a shit if people are recording parts of a performance with a video camera or not. Most of them didn't, but this one security guard with a mullet was cracking down on everyone with a cam, so i just hid mine behind peoples heads when filming (its because of this most of my vids werent as good as they could have been).
hey teenyboppers next time you want to come along to a concert where a hip hop artist is performing, and you are just a fickle little cunt who doesn't know shit about them....dont come! leave tickets for the real fans.
Concert overall - 8.5/10 (only because of jay's set).
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i will upload vids when i get broadband back on 1st nov