Jay-Z In Detroit ROC City BP3 Tour Concert Review

As reported by Adam Graham / Detroit News

A sold-out Palace crowd of 15,000-plus was in a Jay-Z state of mind Sunday night, as rap's top performer brought his rousing BP3 tour to Auburn Hills (Sunday, March 14).

Backed by a massive 10-piece band that included a three-piece horn section and a wall of video screens fashioned into a city skyscape, Jay -- dressed in his standard-issue all black everything -- took the stage to "Run This Town," one of several hits lifted from last year's "Blueprint 3" album.

He rolled into his verse from "Diamonds from Sierra Leone," positioning himself at center stage, where he stood still, shifting his weight from his front to his back foot, motioning through the lyrics with his hands. A suite of "Blueprint 3" tracks followed, with Jay working both sides of the stage and looking customarily cool behind a pair of darkened shades.

As reported by Gary Greff / The Oakland Press

That wealth of material certainly worked to Jay-Z's advantage on Sunday, allowing him to survey an entire career of flavors and forms from the in-your-face material of his 1996 debut "Reasonable Doubt" -- including a particularly hot "Can I Live" -- to mainstream crossover fare such as the show-opening "Run This Town," "Empire State of Mind" and "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)." He mixed tight medleys with full-length song performances, confidently swaggering through favorites such as "On to the next One," "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," "99 Problems," "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" and "Swagga Like Us" and issuing his trademark command -- "Bounce!" -- to keep the Palace crowd rocking from note one to the final bows. And he kept things even more "real" by ending several of the songs with forceful a capella raps

He had a little help, too. Memphis Bleek served as Jay-Z's hype man for about a third of the show, while opening act Trey Songz sang during "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)" and "Already Home." Young Jeezy's appearance during "Real As it Gets" led to a 25-minute solo set that somewhat stalled the show's momentum, but Jay-Z brought the energy back quickly with "My President."

Read each Detroit Newspaper full concert review here:
Detroit News - Jay-Z staying on top of his game
Oakland Press - Jay-Z's rap blueprint pays off at Palace

(Quality footage courtesy of 2 short skirts)

Jay-Z's BP3 2010 Tour dates:

Mar 16 Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena
Mar 18 Chicago, IL - United Center
Mar 19 St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
Mar 20 Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse
Mar 22 Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
Mar 24 San Jose, CA - HP Pavilion
Mar 26 Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center