It’s a shame that Adam Yauch’s medical dilemmas kept the Beastie Boys from performing yesterday, but the crowd seemed more than happy in welcoming the Boys’ fellow Brooklynite to entertain.
Nearly the entire festival trudged through the disgusting mud-pit that became Liberty State Park towards the main stage last night in hopes of getting a better view of Jay Z’s set.
The performance began explosively with a freestyle homage to the Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” complete with live guitar shreddage and a three-piece horn ensemble.
“Say Hello” came next, as stills from Reservoir Dogs played on the backdrop, followed by “Death of AutoTune,” Jay Z’s indictment of the rap genre’s recent direction. Fellow Roc-A-Fella Memphis Bleek came on stage to hype when “U Don’t Know” played, where he stayed for the majority of the set.
More than once, Jay Z took his performance in a temporarily solemn direction. While he performed “My President is Black,” the on-stage screen showed images of Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and President Obama.
Jay Z also offered a tribute to the passing of Michael Jackson, letting the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” play before a montage of images from the pop legend’s youth. “We don’t mourn death, we celebrate life,” were Jay Z’s words offered on the passing of the beloved artist, which were met with cheers of agreement from the audience.
The set closed with “Run This Town,” the recent single that features a vocal track from Rhianna. Contrary to hopeful rumor and suspicion, however, Rhianna was not present for the performance.
Like any good rock-star, Jay Z played a lengthy encore, starting with an a capella teaser from the upcoming The Blueprint 3 album. From there, “La, La, La,” “99 Problems,” “Big Pimpin’,” and finally, “Hard Knock Life” were performed, while the stage exploded with digital imagery and aggressive rhythms.
All Points West...
Day 1
Flying Lotus, Q-Tip, and MSTRKRFT
Day 2
Neko Case, Crystal Castles, and The Ting Tings
Day 3
MGMT, Lykki Li, The Black Keys, and Etienne de Crécy
Other Festivals...
