[AXGreg]

Last Night I went to watch Jay Z at the Manchester Arena, so thought id write a small review for you guys...

Turned up at the arena about eight o'clock......to some massive ques.....I had standing tickets and went with three mates.....so by the time we got in it was already quite busy and we missed the first warm up act, which i think was Akayla....but im not quite sure, there was alot of flyers going round for Chamillionaires show in Glasgow with Akayla as special guest, so im sure it was him!

Anyway, we go towards the stage, got quite close to the stage without being too crowded. So anyway, there blastin tunes out mostly from rocafella artists and def jam, when all of a sudden Ps & Qs starts playin.....which brings Kano out onto the stage! Me along with the rest of the M.E.N. were lovin this, Kano seemed really popular with the Manchester crowd and alot of people to my suprise knew all his lyrics. He rolled out all his most known songs like Typical Me, I dont know why & Nite Nite he went down well. I was half hopin for "reload it" but that didnt happen and he finished with "nobody dont dance no more"....he finished by sayin "do ya'll want me to f*ck off" and too be honest i dont think many people would have minded him doin a few more tracks....but anyway, he dissapeared to a huge reception....

So then, we see a DJ booth with a spotlight on it, but then it dissapeared, so we were all ready for Jay Z....but instead we hear "WESTWOOD THE BIG DAWG...IS IN THE BUILDING!!"....so the crowd was goin insane, personally i was abit like "bring kano back on", but i thought id give him a chance. He started off ok, playin some decent enough tracks like "all about the benjamins" and "Golddigger" which went down a storm, but then he started playin some really random stuff like sean pauls "temperature" and followed by "Smells like teen spirit" by Nirvanna, which at a rap gig didnt go down to well. He regained abit by playin young Jocs "its goin down" but i felt he'd lost the crowd and it was sort of a relief when he had ended his set.

So then with all the lights out, the smell of haze in the air all around(seriously im surpised i saw so many joints), the tour promoter told us to give it up for DJ Green Lantern....which sent the whole crowd goin crazy! He came on and said "Jay z told me to come and see if your ready!" and then proceeded to tease us by mixing intros to all his tracks together, until finally he came on and stage, which sent the whole crowd into a frenzy, with the Diamonds bein waved by every single member of the crowd!

"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED" Blasted out.....followed by "What more can i say", Sean Carter paced round the stage with his hood up like a dude on a mission and had everyone in a frenzy. He then blasted out a few hits off the black album such as "public service announcement" and then moved onto the Blueprint tunes like "Rulers back", occasionally tellin Lantern to cut the music so he could go accapella.

He then brought out memphis bleek and they were havin competitions to see who had the loudest side of the crowd, which was a nice interaction with the crowd. Over the course of the next hour we heard hits such as Hola Hovito, 99 Problems, Izzo, Money aint a thing, Can i get a, hard knock life.....

My favourite moment and alot of the crowds favourite moment from reactions came when jay z was doin "is that your bitch"....DJ GL went into "Forward Riddim" and jay carried on with the tune over that beat and the whole crowd went nuts. I never thought id see an american mc over a british beet like that, it was absolutley awesome.

He then went on to do a "beyonce" mix, and do his verses off bonnie and clyde, crazy in love & Deja Vu. Most of the crowd thought Beyonce was gonan come on, cause she'sin the UK with him, but she never did, but i werent bothered!

Jay and Bleek then paid there respect to the lost soldiers such as 2 pac, Jam master J, Biggie, Aliyah, Big L, Left Eye, Pun etc...which was a nice moment, but the smell of weed was gettin stronger and stronger, which kinda added to the occasion.

Jay then went on to finish the concert with the normal heart of the city, which got all the crowd clappin in unison and then Encore with a few more tracks in between.

By the time the concert had finished, i was worn out, but i felt like the £25 i had paid for the ticket was well worth it and it left me wanting to go and see him again and if he does ever do a UK tour again, i would deffo recomend going to see it. Ive seen many concerts such as 50 cent, eminem, Snoop, Game etc....and to be honest....this was the best ive been to!