Who could argue that Jay-Z isn’t one of the great artists of his generation? This is a man who not only helped write the soundtrack of the 21st century thus far, but who has managed to keep his sound fresh where so many others have seen the creative well run dry.
The last time I saw him perform was back in 2012 for the Watch the Throne tour. You can tell how long ago that was by the fact he had equal billing with Kanye, before… well, everything. It remains the most spectacular gig I’ve ever seen: the two rappers each occupying a vast column that rose high above the crowd, creating a kind of aerial rap battle 50ft over the ground.
This tour has a very different vibe. There are few frills here: for most of the night, one man commands the vast Tottenham Hotspur Stadium stage (albeit with an 18-strong strings section behind him), blasting through some of the most iconic tracks of the last three decades.
And while Jay-Z may be pushing 60 (56 to be precise), boy has he still got it. You realise the sheer depth of his discography when Empire State of Mind is casually dropped in the first third of the set, followed in short order by Family Feud and Hard Knock Life. Most acts would kill to have bangers like that to close their sets with.
His unmistakeable voice is as powerful and confessional as ever, although he occasionally has to fight against a rig that pushes the bass up to 11 and beyond; the best moments are the quieter ones, when that natural lyricism is allowed to shine through.
Having said that, the highlight of the night might have been when a helicopter swooped over the stadium during 99 Problems, flashing a searchlight across the audience and beaming live video footage onto the giant screen.
Or was it the muscular rendition of No Church in the Wild (for my money his musical peak)? Or the moment he took things down a notch with Girls, Girls, Girls, every word echoed back at him by 50,000 fans.
My only gripe was that the Saturday night didn’t quite live up to the glittering roster of the previous evening, when Idris Elba kicked things off and DJ Khaled joined the party for his track God Did. And that’s not all: the inimitable Lauryn Hill, wearing a mad, voluminous hat, and her Fugees bandmate Wyclef Jean emerged to sing Ready or Not, Killing Me Softly and Fu-Gee-La. The Saturday crowd didn’t even get to see the rendition of happy birthday for Beyonce (who was apparently in the box next door to mine). This was, perhaps, to be expected: Saturday was added to the tour and I imagine Lauryn’s diary fills up quick.
We did however, get a strange and wonderful interlude in the form of Dave, who worked the crowd with a performance of his song Raindance, albeit without Jay-Z on stage with him.
But comparison is the thief of joy and this was nothing if not joyous. The feeling as he left the stage after his Linkin Park mash-up Numb/Encore had the same energy as last summer’s Oasis reunion tour: a thick serving of nostalgia combined with the giddy thrill that comes with watching something genuinely special.