Warner Theatre, Washington DC
Monday, January 19, 2009
Despite the cold front of a 20+ degree weather, Mr. Cater brought heat on stage at Washington DC's own Warner Theatre.
Dressed in a Abraham studded tee, Cater began the show at approximately 9:32pm. As crowds (even celebrities) greeted the man of the show with pure excitement and adrenaline.
As his opening song, "Brooklyn Go Hard"- Carter, himself informed the audience that he was ready for a big night and that he felt, 'fantasic'... and hoped everyone brought their lunch pails, "'cause I can go three, four hours- nine, 10 hours!" He also said that he brought a extra clothes with him and could rhyme all the way until it was time to go to the Inauguration, of course- we all know that this was only going to be a two hour show.
With the live band, dynamic light show and a large screen behind the man, you can't blame the audience for standing on their feet for the duration of the show.
Moments later after performing "Can I Live", "A Billi", and "Swagger Like Us"- Jay brought his second guest (With Memphis Bleek being the first), Young Jeezy. Dressed in all black, he pleased the audience with "Mr. President" and his beat catching "Put on". Images of newspaper front pages made up the montage of the screens, while the MCs reunite the current hip-hop anthem: "My president is black, my lambos blue"- this is before when Jay decided to throw Bush's face on the screen, while the crowd raised their middle fingers at the screen, with a "F**K YOU!" Very clever, to say the least!As Jay then rapped the verse acapella style "My president's black, but his house is all white" victory shall be claimed for this man's talent to a remix of Jeezy's 'Mr. President'.
Later on during the show, Jay's long-time partner in crime, Mary J Blige, danced out on stage for the classic "Can't Knock the Hustle". I must say, MJB did her thing and really was pumped during her segment of the show; you can tell she was feelin' the crowd. As she took it back with "Real Love", Jay rapped the lyrics to the late Notorious B.I.G. that synced the remix. MJB, who marked the end of bad times with her track, "One" from her 2005 album, The Breakthrough. She ended her segment with "Just Fine" with the Swizz Beatz remix in the end as she did her Jacko dance like in the video.
10:45pm- Jay's other surprise...well, do I need an introduction to this one? As he teased the crowed with the dynamic duo's "Bonnie and Clyde", the tracks stopped, the lights went off as the screaming fans knew who to expect.
B came from behind a skinny screen that lit her silhouette (a'la the single cover). As she walked down the front stage (without falling) to "Single Ladies". With no backup dancers, B shut the building down on her own. A sample of what to expect on her upcoming "I Am" tour. After her performance came to an end, she walked towards backstage while Mr. Cater met Mrs. Carter and smiled at each other and locked eyes briefly, as Jay continue to rock the show.
As Jay took the crowd back to a medley of his throwback hits such as "Song Cry", "Big Pimpin'", "I Just Wanna Love U" to name a few... we were approaching the end of a fantasic show. Jay laughed and stated that "You know it’s a new day, when mayors are at rap concerts" as the camera shows D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in the mid-balcony seated along with his entourage. Bleek came out seconds later with a huge bottle of Jay's Ace of Spades champagne, as Jay's staff brought and passed out the glasses themselves (which were really heavy) to the front crowd and raised a toast to a new beginning!
Jay ended the night with "Encore" and what better way to celebrate hope than with a champagne toast. As he left the mic icon advised, "Look forward to a beautiful tomorrow, a beautiful eight years!"
Among other celebrities that were sighted are Samuel L. Jackson, Raheem DeVaughn, Eric Benet, Redskins' Jason Campbell (who was booed, by the way) and Usher Raymond.
1 comment:
Sounds like it was a great show.
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