Jay-Z @ ACC on Hovaween!

November 2nd, 2009

Jay-Z by Wendy Heisler

I don’t know how many emcees could hold down the Air Canada Centre like Jiggaman, but then again, no other emcee can boast more number one albums than Elvis, can they?

Nope.

Combine endless swag, the Roc Boys band (possibly one of the best touring bands in the biz), a beat-thirsty Halloween crowd and a near endless supply of hits and son… you’ve got yourself a SHAAOOW.

More, plus photos after the jump!

There’s not much I can say that hasn’t been said in this London review, cause in essence it seems like the basics of the show remains the same. Although Jay’s pushing his latest album, he doesn’t shove it down our throats – instead, he peppers the new songs through a solid lineup of older favourites. It may be a little disappointing for longterm fans that he didn’t touch American Gangster (not even “Roc Boys”!!!!!) OR Reasonable Doubt (his first, and best album) but perhaps it’s S-M-R-T to rely on his biggest twunes to cater to a giant mishmash audience.

He doesn’t waste time in doing things big: right off the bat he dropped “Run This Town” and “D.O.A.”, then occasionally echoed Run This Town’s opening line throughout the night: “This is Roc Nation, pledge your allegiance!” Roc Nation signee Bridget Kelly emerged to sing Alicia Key’s magic on “Empire State of Mind”, and show opener Pharrell returned to sing the hook on “So Ambitious”. I guess it wasn’t REALLY a surprise for Drake to show up, but it WAS a surprise that Jay gave him the spotlight to perform “Successful” (from Drake’s So Far Gone mixtape). But I wonder why they didn’t make use of Drizzy’s presence to perform “Off That”? And why didn’t Pharrell come out for “I Just Wanna Love U”? Meh.

It was pretty rad to see a few people dressed up for L’Halloween in the crowd (even Jay rose from the stage with a Friday the 13th mask), and it’s always pretty enchanting to see thousands of diamonds in the sky (thumbs and forefingers together). No doubt this show was pretty phenomenal, but I gotta say, it was even BETTER when he came to Toronto with Mary J. Blige in 2008 (even in the nosebleeds!). Hard to imagine that it could get any doper than this.

Setlist
Run This Town
D.O.A.
You Don’t Know
99 Problems
Show Me What You Got
Diamonds Are Forever
I Just Wanna Love U (Give It To Me)
Jigga My
I.Z.Z.O.
Jigga What
Public Service Announcement
Heart of the City
Already Home
Empire State of Mind
A Star is Born
So Ambitious
Drake – Successful
Dirt Off Your Shoulders

Encore
Thank You
On to the Next One
Excuse Me Miss/Venus Vs Mars/Bonnie & Clyde/Lucifer/Swagger Like Us (medley)
Can I Get A
Big Pimpin’
Hard Knock Life
Encore
Young Forever