if yr having tent problems i feel bad for you son...

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

[Poll #1213093]

SRSLY, i've never seen a live hiphop set that good (reports from awesomewells suggest it was as good live as on the telly), it avoided all the bad things that can happen (too much shouting/hype men, interminable funk jams, rubbish audience participation) and ripped the piss something chronic out of Noel Gallagher into the bargain. just THE FLOW dudes, i'd never rly thought of Jay-Z in terms of rapping skill, but he was phenomenal, holding a massive crowd in (and i apologise for the cliche, but there's no better way to describe it) the palm of his hand, and gracious enough to thank the crowd repeatedly for their support (yeah yeah, i know words are easy but he looked very sincere about it).

HOWEVER, do avoid the "westwood meets jay-z backstage" clip, it's toecurlingly bad from both of them...

UK ppl should totally watch it on iplayer if they missed it, non-uks should at least check here or here to see if it works or just wait for it to pop up on youtube ;)

Comments

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

I still don't know about next year. Last year was so apocalyptically horrible that I am not sure if I want to face the possibility of it being like that again.

But yeah, Mr Carter looked absolutely awesome on telly.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Yeah I'm still in the don't know camp, though of course I've had "if only" style pangs next year. But there's other ways to run through three hundred quid! It's quite possible the next time I go I might be in 1xteepee in the family field.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I am crap at festivals because I hate people and am not sure I even like live music very much. Getting pissed in a field appeals, though.

However, I agree thoroughly about the Jay-Z set.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

OMG the 'A Milli' freestyle. OMG. That was incredible.

I'm so glad Jay-Z met the crowd halfway without ~compromising~ in the slightest.

I still don't want to ever end up in a tent in my life ever again though. Lamely I'm not going to see him at Wireless cuz it's Wimbledon QF day.

I had forgotten how bad a song 'Wonderwall' is, urgh.

[koganbot]

Sorry, this video is only available in the UK

[koganbot]

OK, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Qw-w9Tf_w

Very smart performance, watchful, then turns on the energy, knows what will come across to a massive festival, big gestures, doesn't lose the rhythm.

Strangely, just a few minutes before logging onto lj I was listening to his guest shot on Tha Carter III, he and Wayne celebrating their common name, and Wayne's been weaving and bobbing and jitterstepping and twisting like silly putty and then Jay-Z enters and it's sudden deadness, a slow presence, almost pedantic, I assume the strategy was deliberate but it doesn't work.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I like Jay-Z's spot on 'Mr Carter', it's got tremendous elder-statesman gravitas; the generosity of the passing-the-torch theme counteracts the sonic (realtive) deadness.

Favourite moments of that set (and Jay's entire career) = 'Can I Get A...' and 'Big Pimpin'.

[koganbot]

Yes, those two are my favorites of his career (along with "Beware Of The Boys," but that's Panjabi MC's and Lhab Janjua's song more than it's his).

I thought his live delivery of "Umbrella" was much more dynamic than the recorded version - though no matter what, when Rihanna takes over, you forget what came before.

(Speaking of Can "I Get A...," Wiki claims a second Amil album is due this year, though I'm skeptical.)

[koganbot]

Lhab Janjua = Labh Janjua

[koganbot]

OK, that one skipped a lot, so here's more

Jump like you gonna reach the sky

My name is Jay-Z and I'm pretty fuckin' awesome

Everybody know to put up their diamonds up

Jigga what? Jigga who?

Give it to me, give me that funk, that sweet, that nasty, that gushi stuff

Let's smooth this whole thing out

You put your number on this paper cuz i would love to date ya, holler atcha when I come off tour

(There are two more that he hasn't posted yet; we'll see how long they stay up.)

[koganbot]

Final two:

I got not passion and I got no patience

Hardcore, do you want more?

[infov0re.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was great. To be fair, I expected him to be about that good flow-wise - I was mainly blown away by how much he was giving - no coasting here. Totally agree on the being sincere - for a guy who basically has to do a lot of rapping, he worked the audience really well. His acapella stuff was good, the covers were good; it was just a great set: nice and long, he just got better as it went on, and as a result Memphis Bleek dropped out of it quite a bit by about the halfway mark. Highlights for me: probably Izzo and Show Me What You Got.

(Also, Wiley and Hot Chip doing "Wearing My Rolex" was fantastic).

[jel-bugle.livejournal.com]

I saw some of Jay-Z, it was okay, I only really like H to the IZO, did he play that? I liked the diamond thing, he copied that form the wrestler Diamond Dallas Paige.