In 2010, Jay Z and Eminem at Yankee Stadium were like parallel highways going in the same general direction, you could see one without the other and still get where you are going to. On Saturday night, Jay Z and Justin Timberlake were like a tributary flowing into a river, but it was hard to figure out which was which. Justin seemed liked a utility player on Jay Z’s songs, bookending “Empire State Of Mind” with a rousing “New York New York”, taking the Bobby “Blue” Bland hook on “Heart Of The City”, playing an electric guitar solo on “U Don’t Know”, Justin was everywhere, all over Hov’s stuff, doing everything he could to improve the set.
But for around an hour, Justin also took center stage by himself and Jay-Z disappeared the way Justin hadn’t really. A seven song miniset that went from a showstealing “Pusher Love Girl” through “Summer Love” than meandered for a good 20 minutes till getting back on track with “Cry Me A River” and “What Goes Round” which segued effortlessly into the return of Jay-Z with “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”.
So what was Justin ? Riding on Jay-Z’s tux tails, kid brother, go to guy, band leader? What?
Yankee Stadium was packed, I figure a good 45,000 folks on an evening so hot, after a day so hot, after a week so hot, to move was to sweat and the Legends didn’t keep us waiting too long, a spritely 915pm saw Justin nailing the chorus to “Holy Grail”, a song I don’t think much of, though it is in at # 8 on the singles charts last time I looked. Jay-Z , whatever you wanna say about him, can rap and does. Better live than on record. Hov continued with a sure “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” and Justin responded with “I Want You Back” which was answered with “Izzo” -no really, you saw that one coming, right? So four songs in, with Yankee Stadium completely, insanely alive, the duo had nailed it already.
The audience were ready for it. Magna Carta is number one in the charts, and 20/20 was in the top ten most of this year. These are two huge stars, the biggest popstars of the moment. And the audience were hungry for them and gave them rapt attention and way out there energy. A mix of blacks and whites, men and women: a New York melting pot and they got the return of Justin and they got the Jay-Z show of their dreams.
I’ve seen Jay-Z more or less every time he has played since 1998 (I missed the Carnegie Hall gig but that was the only major miss) and since the Fade To Black concert, he has been on a downward spiral. I haven’t written anything very pleasant about him till this years Magna Carta Holy Grail, I didn’t even much like Watch The Throne. But Saturday night he blew us away. The man is at the place now where he is better at Stadiums than Arenas, like only a handful of performers, he can devastate from afar. Saturday he did just that. Look, I expect to be very impressed with “Dirt Off Their Shoulders”, “Big Pimpin'”, “99 Problems” -those are the hits folks, with an 18 piece band plus Justin behind him, you know he is gonna sell em every which way. But I hate “Empire State Of Mind” and he was just amazing. Start with the simple ego of letting Justin sing a full version of “New York New York” before you move into “Empire State Of Mind” -I mean, how certain of yourself can you be?, and then let yourself loose and while you rhyme and flow invite Alicia Keys on stage to sing the hook, and when you’re done? Have Justin reprise the Sinatra classic.
There is every reason in the world why that should have sucked, I’ve heard Hova sing it loads of time, once before with Alicia (the 9/11 Benefit -the worst time I’ve ever seen him) but for some reason he just caught fire. The audience were dancing a storm and the heat was soaking everybody, but it was like a huge nightclub. Everybody knew every line and Jay-Z knew it better than us and he was hot and cool at the same time.
Right through the heart of the evening, Jay-Z nailed it down song after song. Don’t get me wrong, Justin had many great moments. His “Mirrors” was as good as Jay-Z’s best, but he didn’t have the concentrated energy and any way, this is New York, it wasn’t his audience. I saw Justin in 2005 and thought he was substantially better than Saturday but that was as much because Justin really improves the closer you get to him: he can really dance, he can move about a stage and keep your eyes peeled, he has a little of Michael in him, and a touch of Astaire, and on a full blown dance ballad like “My Love” his falsetto is strong and sweet and his romanticism is full. But he blows “Senorita” stuck behind keyboards (for no good reason) and another sure shot “Like I Love You” loses the momentum Jay-Z’s “On To The Next One” had built up.
The consensus on the Toronto concerts was the night belonged to Justin: The 20/20 Experience has been a huge hit for him, after years ignoring his recording career for a very successful acting career, there was reason to doubt that he could simply step back in. Honestly, who could do that? However, playing Yankee Stadium is something else and Justin didn’t have the chops for it. Not quite. At times yets but overall, it is a very tough job. In Yankee Stadium there was no doubt at all, this was Jay-Z’s night. This is the rock star performance, full blown, off the charts Arena knock out rave Hova hasn’t given us in years. The tentativeness of his Barclay Center opening performances, the precanned bass heavy New Year’s Eve show, the too much of Watch The Throne MSG -all of this is forgiven. Jay-Z is what he was claiming he was all along: for one night at least, he was the best after Biggie.
The show plays again tonight, try and make it.
Justin Timberlake – B+
Jay- Z – A
Legends Of The Summer – B+