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Here is a concert review by Dominic Salerno for the Arizona Republic newspaper; check out what he had to say about last nights show in Phoenix. He gave Weezy some mad props! Let us know what you think.
One might be named Jeezy, the other Weezy. And one may have started as Lil J, while the other ended up as Lil Wayne. But the two men vying for the America’s Most Wanted title on this tour couldn’t be more polar opposite if you’d posted them at the east and west entrances of the Cricket Wireless Pavilion for Wednesday night’s concert.
Young Jeezy never strays far from the traditional gangsta template that rap fans are supposedly tired of, if the ascension of Kanye West and the disappearance of 50 Cent are any indication. Headliner Lil Wayne, on the other hand, has been pushing the envelope by introducing incessant smiling and dalliances with hard rock into his game. He even has a full-on rock album, “Rebirth,” in the can, still awaiting release after three ill-fated street dates.
Young Jeezy’s upcoming “Thug Motivation 103? is also nowhere in sight, but the Atlanta rapper bolted onstage in front of a huge TM 103 banner nonetheless. Preceding him was a humorous fake Eyewitness News report on how the “America’s Most Wanted” rapper has eluded capture thus far. “Some believe he’s getting help from the street,” a stone-faced reporter grimaced.
That was probably the last attempt at humor in Jeezy’s patently angry and impatient set – unless you count his angrily reminding the audience “This ain’t no R.V. show.” While it’s standard to do extremely truncated raps and stop midway through a song while the man at the mic berates the crowd to make some noise, Jeezy’s set felt like it never built up steam until more than midway through. “Welcome Back,” Who Dat” and “Bang Bang” all got short shrift, as if Jeezy was trying to adjust the crowd like someone fidgets with a radio dial to get better reception. He finally got the crowd at a frequency he was willing to work with during a full-on “Put On,” which featured a horn section and a live band, and he kept them engaged with “I Luv Your Girl” and “I Luv It”, which inexplicably failed to catch McDonalds’ corporate attention as a viable tie-in but became popular enough for Hulk Hogan to sing on his reality show. After “Soul Survivor,” Jeezy’s guitarist played “The Star Spangled Banner” while Jeezy did a brief spiel for “TM 103? and the set ended like a question mark punctuates a sentence. Although he name checked our black President at some point, for a man who had the foresight to name his last album “The Recession” months before the real recession hit, it was business as usual.
Following Jeezy’s grim black and white backdrop, Lil Wayne’s set came like a burst of daylight, with a high tech show of lights, fly girl dancers, fireworks and flashpots. And let’s not forget his impressive flame shooters that suggest he shops for such things the same place that KISS and the Wizard of Oz do. Opening with “Cannon” (complete with cannon fire and explosions at every point the title came up), Wayne had the crowd several notches higher than Jeezy’s best. Plus he did it with a lot more smiling, ease and humility. Well, funnier humility anyway.
During “Got Money” he brought out Young Money MC Mack Maine and four luscious dancers with bandito bandanas over their mouths. And you never saw a crowd happier to point “this away, that away”.
Like a ballplayer that continually reflecting glory back on the team, not only did he share the spotlight with the Young Money Entertainment roster, he worked in tributes to the dead (Tupac and Biggie), the living (Jay-Z, Kanye) and the legendary (Run DMC, punctuated by a brief bit of “Walk This Way,” the blueprint for Lil Wayne’s rock jonesing). But he’s not shy about reminding you of his place among them (cue up “Best Rapper Alive.”
His rock single, “Prom Queen,” which failed to ignite the charts, was a positive showstopper here and an indicator that Lil Wayne’s fascination with hard rock stems from the fact that he can actually pull it off credibly (he strapped on a brown Les Paul which featured prominently in the close ups even while his lead guitarist was soloing in the shadows). It’s on numbers like “Prom Queen,” the closer “Shoot Me Down” and even inconsequential but fun numbers like “Phone Home”that having a live band play throughout packed the necessary punch an arena necessitates.
After “Shoot Me Down,” Wayne remained onstage for what had been the planned encore in other tour stops, “Every Girl in the World (Young Money)” and a tribute to Michael Jackson, where “R.I.P. King of Pop” was flashed on the screen while Wayne asked for some noise for everyone onstage and DJ Drama played “I’ll Be There” and “Billie Jean.”
It should be noted that Drake, who sustained knee injuries at a previous show, did not perform, although on the Cricket’s cell phone messaging board, some informed fan texted “Break a leg Drake” anyway.
Set list:
“Cannon”
“A Milli”
“Got Money”
“Sky Is The Limit”
“Phone Home”
“Swagga Like Us” video
“Mr. Carter”
“Go DJ”
“Fireman”
“Money On My Mind”
Biggie tribute (record played)
Tupac tribute (record played)
Jay Z tribute (record played)
“Best Rapper Alive”
“Walk This Way”
“Prom Queen” (with Shanell)
“Play in My Band” – Shanell featuring Lil Wayne
“I’m Me”
“Turnin’ Me On”
“Kush”
“You Ain’t Know”
“We Taken Over” (with Birdman)
“I Run This” (with Birdman)
“Always Strapped” (With Birdman and Mack Maine)
Lil Twist showcase
Lil Chuckie showcase
T-Streetz showcase
Jae Millz showcase
Tyga showcase
Gudda Gudda showcase
“3peat”
“Let The Beat Build”
“Comfortable”
“Mrs. Officer”
“Lollipop” (With Shanell)
“Tie My Hands”
“Shoot Me Down”
“Every Girl in the World (Young Money)”
Michael Jackson tribute (records played)
One might be named Jeezy, the other Weezy. And one may have started as Lil J, while the other ended up as Lil Wayne. But the two men vying for the America’s Most Wanted title on this tour couldn’t be more polar opposite if you’d posted them at the east and west entrances of the Cricket Wireless Pavilion for Wednesday night’s concert.
Young Jeezy never strays far from the traditional gangsta template that rap fans are supposedly tired of, if the ascension of Kanye West and the disappearance of 50 Cent are any indication. Headliner Lil Wayne, on the other hand, has been pushing the envelope by introducing incessant smiling and dalliances with hard rock into his game. He even has a full-on rock album, “Rebirth,” in the can, still awaiting release after three ill-fated street dates.
Young Jeezy’s upcoming “Thug Motivation 103? is also nowhere in sight, but the Atlanta rapper bolted onstage in front of a huge TM 103 banner nonetheless. Preceding him was a humorous fake Eyewitness News report on how the “America’s Most Wanted” rapper has eluded capture thus far. “Some believe he’s getting help from the street,” a stone-faced reporter grimaced.
That was probably the last attempt at humor in Jeezy’s patently angry and impatient set – unless you count his angrily reminding the audience “This ain’t no R.V. show.” While it’s standard to do extremely truncated raps and stop midway through a song while the man at the mic berates the crowd to make some noise, Jeezy’s set felt like it never built up steam until more than midway through. “Welcome Back,” Who Dat” and “Bang Bang” all got short shrift, as if Jeezy was trying to adjust the crowd like someone fidgets with a radio dial to get better reception. He finally got the crowd at a frequency he was willing to work with during a full-on “Put On,” which featured a horn section and a live band, and he kept them engaged with “I Luv Your Girl” and “I Luv It”, which inexplicably failed to catch McDonalds’ corporate attention as a viable tie-in but became popular enough for Hulk Hogan to sing on his reality show. After “Soul Survivor,” Jeezy’s guitarist played “The Star Spangled Banner” while Jeezy did a brief spiel for “TM 103? and the set ended like a question mark punctuates a sentence. Although he name checked our black President at some point, for a man who had the foresight to name his last album “The Recession” months before the real recession hit, it was business as usual.
Following Jeezy’s grim black and white backdrop, Lil Wayne’s set came like a burst of daylight, with a high tech show of lights, fly girl dancers, fireworks and flashpots. And let’s not forget his impressive flame shooters that suggest he shops for such things the same place that KISS and the Wizard of Oz do. Opening with “Cannon” (complete with cannon fire and explosions at every point the title came up), Wayne had the crowd several notches higher than Jeezy’s best. Plus he did it with a lot more smiling, ease and humility. Well, funnier humility anyway.
During “Got Money” he brought out Young Money MC Mack Maine and four luscious dancers with bandito bandanas over their mouths. And you never saw a crowd happier to point “this away, that away”.
Like a ballplayer that continually reflecting glory back on the team, not only did he share the spotlight with the Young Money Entertainment roster, he worked in tributes to the dead (Tupac and Biggie), the living (Jay-Z, Kanye) and the legendary (Run DMC, punctuated by a brief bit of “Walk This Way,” the blueprint for Lil Wayne’s rock jonesing). But he’s not shy about reminding you of his place among them (cue up “Best Rapper Alive.”
His rock single, “Prom Queen,” which failed to ignite the charts, was a positive showstopper here and an indicator that Lil Wayne’s fascination with hard rock stems from the fact that he can actually pull it off credibly (he strapped on a brown Les Paul which featured prominently in the close ups even while his lead guitarist was soloing in the shadows). It’s on numbers like “Prom Queen,” the closer “Shoot Me Down” and even inconsequential but fun numbers like “Phone Home”that having a live band play throughout packed the necessary punch an arena necessitates.
After “Shoot Me Down,” Wayne remained onstage for what had been the planned encore in other tour stops, “Every Girl in the World (Young Money)” and a tribute to Michael Jackson, where “R.I.P. King of Pop” was flashed on the screen while Wayne asked for some noise for everyone onstage and DJ Drama played “I’ll Be There” and “Billie Jean.”
It should be noted that Drake, who sustained knee injuries at a previous show, did not perform, although on the Cricket’s cell phone messaging board, some informed fan texted “Break a leg Drake” anyway.
Set list:
“Cannon”
“A Milli”
“Got Money”
“Sky Is The Limit”
“Phone Home”
“Swagga Like Us” video
“Mr. Carter”
“Go DJ”
“Fireman”
“Money On My Mind”
Biggie tribute (record played)
Tupac tribute (record played)
Jay Z tribute (record played)
“Best Rapper Alive”
“Walk This Way”
“Prom Queen” (with Shanell)
“Play in My Band” – Shanell featuring Lil Wayne
“I’m Me”
“Turnin’ Me On”
“Kush”
“You Ain’t Know”
“We Taken Over” (with Birdman)
“I Run This” (with Birdman)
“Always Strapped” (With Birdman and Mack Maine)
Lil Twist showcase
Lil Chuckie showcase
T-Streetz showcase
Jae Millz showcase
Tyga showcase
Gudda Gudda showcase
“3peat”
“Let The Beat Build”
“Comfortable”
“Mrs. Officer”
“Lollipop” (With Shanell)
“Tie My Hands”
“Shoot Me Down”
“Every Girl in the World (Young Money)”
Michael Jackson tribute (records played)
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