Ali's Basement

My attempt to buy tickets (soldout in less than 60 seconds): 45 minutes
Ticket on eBay: $150
Drive from VA to Bmore to VA: 4 hours
Lunch: $30
Gas: $30
Standing in line: 2.5 hours
Standing at the sage: 2.5 hours
90 minutes of uninterrupted Jay-Z hits LIVE from 4 ft away?
PRICELESS (I want to thank God for giving me the privilege)

Read the review….

Folks, after a very frustrating attempt to buy tickets on the Ram’s Head Live (Baltimore) website I was forced to look on eBay for tickets. To my surprise, I found one for $150 (retail was $100), after attending the show, I’d be willing to pay much more.

I drove to Baltimore around noon, worked remotely for the rest of the day and then stood in line to get into the venue from 5:30 pm to 8 pm. Once I got in, I rushed to the front of the stage and got to know all the people around me as we jammed out to hits from BIG, Pac, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang, Kanye, and more. The show was supposed to start at 9:30 pm, but of course it didn’t and by 10 I was getting pretty pissed off and my feet were starting to burn as I had now been standing for over 4 hours. Just when I was about to be really fed up, the lights went off and I saw a bunch of people running around the stage, it was the band, the live band was now in place …. and there he was, the man, the myth, the LEGEND, Jay-Z. He was literally 4 feet away from me and this was a once in a lifetime experience as it was in a small club, capacity of 1500. I’ve listed the set list below for the show, all I can say is that I’m really speechless, I don’t know how to describe it, you just had to be there. I do have some video and I going to try and post it later on. It was insane in the building, Jay brought out the original ROC boys, Bleek and Sigel, and later on Young Chris (Young Gunz) even came out for “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop.”  Also in attendance were his fellow DefJam executives, JD and LA Reid, to show their support. The DefJam/ROC team later went to LOVE night club in DC for the Album Release/After Party (I did not attend). If you haven’t see Jay live, you’re really missing out. I’ve been to a number of live performances over the past 10 years and I have to say he is one of the best. He really paints the picture of his stories with his hand gestures, body movement and inflections of his voice, you feel the words more than you do by just listening to the CD. I have a whole new appreciation for his work.

The “Party Set” as they called it was:
Pray
No Hook
Blue Magic
99 Problems
You Don’t Know
I Know
N***a What, N***a Who (Originator 99)
Kingdom Come
PSA
Heart Of The City
Give It To Me
Show Me What You Got
Dirt Off My Shoulders
Hovi Baby
Big Pimpin
Jigga My N***a
Change The Game
You, Me, Him and Her
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop

He also performed This Shit Right Here (acapella), which were the original lyrics to American Dreamin’ that were later changed based on feedback from a listening party.
Check the video here: Video: Jay-Z - This Shit Right Here (Live) … [via NahRight.com] … check the lyrics below:
“N—a, this sh– right herrre/ Make you wanna go throw on your fly gearrr,” he rapped a cappella. “Put fly girls in the mirror/ Double-checking their rear/ N—a, this sh– right herrre/ Make you wear your sunnies at night, no glare/ Nowhere in site, you act like I don’t care/ I’m so fly, y’all have no idearrr.”

Then band renditions of :
Money Ain’t A Thing
What You Know About That (T.I.)
Umbrella (Rhianna)
Ain’t No
Can I Get A F*** You
Song Cry

Then Jay returned for:
Party Life
What More Can I Say
Encore
ROC Boys

There might have been more songs, I couldn’t keep track, he just kept going, hit after hit after hit.

“Fuck HD, see how clear my view is?”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSc19qYiXS0]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vuqo0L0y2w]

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=j8XWEIZanqc]

~ by alisbasement on November 10, 2007.