Jay-Z: Vanderbilt University Concert In Nashville, TN Show Recap

(photo courtesy of Heather Byrd at the Tennessean)

As reported by Dave Paulson at the Tennessean

According to the man himself, Jay-Z's crowd at Vanderbilt University's Memorial Gym on Friday night was the best he had on his entire fall tour.

But that doesn't mean the crowd couldn't do better. When the rapper and his band launched into "Big Pimpin'" the audience went appropriately berserk, but he stopped the song before the first chorus to playfully chastise his fans.

"That's 'Big Pimpin'!" he told them. "That's a cultural phenomenon."

Jay (né Shawn Carter) then instructed the nearly packed house to take whatever they had — jackets, towels, hats — and spin it around their heads. When the song resumed, the gym came close to lifting off the ground.

He (Jay-Z) frequently turned his songs into spoken word, dropping the band down to a murmur and having the audience fill in the lyrics. He also got a hand from special guest and former Roc-A-Fella labelmate Memphis Bleek, who didn't deliver a single verse, but acted as a killer hypeman on songs like "U Don't Know."

Another well-known rapper was in the building, but he didn't take the mic: Nashville's own Young Buck (!) took in the show from backstage.

Over the last few years, Vanderbilt has done a better job of bringing hip-hop's A-list acts to Nashville, but their Memorial Gym isn't an ideal venue for the music. It's disheartening to hear music that thrives on lyrical nuances and air-tight grooves ricocheting haphazardly around all corners of the room.

On the other hand, the school setting let Carter — a few weeks shy of his 40th birthday — get up close with a still very youthful fanbase. He thrilled a number of audience members at the end of the show by pointing them out personally and thanking them for coming.

Carter made his exit as the final strains of Blueprint 3 closer "Forever Young" played. "Forever young, i want to be forever young," went the song's sampled chorus." It's a wish that Carter seems to share, and so far, it looks like he's getting his way.

Read the full review here:
Tennessean - Jay-Z shows Vanderbilt crowd why he's a cultural phenomenon

Photos:
Tennessean
Vanderbilt Hustler

Fan shot footage below.







Jay-Z Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN set list:
Run This Town
D.O.A.
Takeover
U Don't Know
Show Me What You Got
Give It To Me
Diamond Is Forever
Jigga My N——
Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
Jigga What
P.S.A.
Heart Of The City
Already Home (Acapella)
Empire State of Mind
A Star Is Born
Haters
Dirt Off Your Shoulder
--------------------------
Thank You

(Playback set)
(songs that were most likely played based on previous show's set list)

On to the Next One
Excuse Me Miss
Venus Vs. Mars
‘03 Bonnie & Clyde
Lucifer
Swagga Like Us
Can I Get A?

Big Pimpin'
Hard Knock Life
Encore
Forever Young

Jay-Z 'The Blueprint 3' World Tour dates:
Nov. 17 - United Spirit Arena - Lubbock, TX
Nov. 19 – Tingley Coliseum – Albuquerque, N.M.
Nov. 20 – Don Haskins Center – El Paso, TX
Nov. 22 – Frank Erwin Center Arena – Austin, TX (?)

And the second leg of the tour starts in 2010 with Young Jeezy opening the show.
Feb. 22 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
Feb. 23 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
Feb. 25 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Arena
Feb. 27 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
Feb. 28 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum Complex
Mar. 03 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
Mar. 07 - Norfolk, VA - Norfolk Scope Arena
Mar. 11 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
Mar. 16 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena
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 At San Jose
Mar. 26 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center

(video courtesy of flyestmike & skdenduluri)

Miles Davis: L.A. Times Examines 'The Complete Columbia Album Collection' Out Nov. 24

As reported by Chris Barton at the Los Angeles Times

It's a curious irony that at a time when entire music collections can be shrunk down to the size of a couple of sticks of gum, certain music packages keep getting larger.

Hot on the heels of the much-celebrated remastered Beatles sets, Sony Legacy is releasing "Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection," a beautiful but somewhat daunting stockpile of 52 albums on more than 70 CDs spanning four decades in the jazz trumpeter's storied and fiercely unpredictable career.

With each album bound in mini-LP sleeves and packed into a dense brick of music slightly smaller than a shoebox, this set is the mother lode for Miles Davis completists.

Although most of Davis' works already have been reissued -- the iconic "Kind of Blue," for instance, was released in a lush anniversary package last year -- this marks the first occasion that crisply remastered editions of titles such as the mind-bending double-album live recordings "Agharta" and "Pangaea" have been available in the U.S.

Assembled in conjunction with a three-month exhibition at the Museé de la Musique in Paris called "We Want Miles," the set's monolithic size not only serves as summation of Davis' recorded output, it's also a somewhat paradoxical reflection of a shrinking sales environment that Steve Berkowitz, vice president of A&R for Legacy Recordings, said is conducive to a "more is more" approach.

"It's very difficult for us to get a $30-to-$40 Miles Davis box set in any particular retail outlet," Berkowitz said. "Yet there seems to be a tremendous amount of interest, domestically and globally, for something that's really big."

This set is certainly that. It includes extras such as numerous new and previously issued bonus tracks, the first full release of a recording of Davis' fiery 1970 performance from the Isle of Wight (issued years ago on a compilation as the abbreviated medley "Call It Anythin' ") and the DVD debut of two freewheeling European concerts by Davis' stellar 1967 band featuring Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock that in recent years had been available only on YouTube.

The set affords listeners a welcome opportunity to explore intriguing but less-celebrated albums such as "Miles in Tokyo," featuring Davis' brief pairing with avant-garde saxophonist Sam Rivers in 1964, and the ahead-of-its-time ambient-funk explorations of 1972's "On the Corner."

But it also includes some of the trumpeter's uneven later works. For instance, it's tough to imagine the sort of devout fan who would invest the money this set demands treating Davis' pedestrian, note-for-note cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" from 1985's "You're Under Arrest" as much more than a puzzling novelty.

Much like the Beatles sets, there are a few catches. Apart from the Paris exhibition, the collection is available exclusively through Amazon starting Nov. 24 (listed for $364.98 but discounted to $328.48) and only in its physical form -- no downloads.

"What record stores are [up and running]?" Berkowitz replied in reference to the label's deal with Amazon, adding with a laugh, "Are you going to find this at Wal-Mart? Only in the doorstop department."

The decision about the set's digital availability amounted to giving listeners what they want, he said.

"It's a physical artifact," Berkowitz said. "The idea of the entire Miles Davis [catalog] on MP3 . . . it's hard for me to believe that someone would want to spend $400 or whatever on a scrunched sound."

Though Berkowitz allowed for the possibility of the set eventually coming to independent stores as well as its new material being one day broken out for individual sale, the project already has achieved its goal in a way that transcends sales figures.

"This has allowed us to finish the mastering job on the majority of the Miles catalog," he said. "In that way, this box is already successful before it even sold one copy in America."
(source)

John Mayer Brings 'Battle Studies' Prep Show To Sydney, Australia (Live Review)

John Mayer brought his show to Sydney, Australia to promote his upcoming album 'Battle Studies' on Wednesday, November 4. The show was taped for future broadcast for Australian TV November 29.

The show recap is courtesy of Rach & Suzi at John Mayer fansite Try JM.

After months (well.. years) of anticipation for John Mayer to return to Sydney, tonight the waiting finally paid off.

Tonight saw the launch of John Mayer’s ‘Battle Studies’ with full band at The Uniting Church (Paddington, Sydney) for Australian television’s ‘Live At The Chapel’ with 300 invited guests (also including competition winners) we all already knew how special tonight was going to be.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a red carpet, free wine/beer/champagne and canapes. From outside in the courtyard we could hear John tuning to Heartbreak Warfare and the anticipation could have been cut with a knife. After a thirty minute wait, the doors we sprung open and all were huddled into the sauna of a chapel.

Setlist:

Heartbreak Warfare
Vultures
Half of my Heart
Crossroads
Perfectly Lonely
Who Says
Waiting on the World to Change
Gravity
Friends, Lovers or Nothing

Read more of the show review here:
Try JM - Sydney, Australia – Live at the Chapel – 11/4

Photos:
Wire Image

Jay-Z and Ciara live in Las Vegas at Pearl review, video and photos posted online

L.A. Times reviews last night's official 1st show of the Jay-Z and Ciara tour at The Pearl Theatre in Las Vegas.

It's nice to see fellow Roc-A-Fella associate Memphis Bleek make a showing.

If that “new Michael Jordan” thing doesn’t work out for LeBron James, maybe he should consider becoming the new Memphis Bleek.

Memphis Bleek is one of Jay-Z’s longtime associates, and he’s serving as the hip-hop star’s wingman on his few live appearances (none in the Southland) this summer. But Friday, during the first of two nights at the Pearl Concert Theater in the Palms Casino Resort, Bleek had to share his spotlight with the National Basketball Assn. MVP.

Read more of the L.A. Times show review here



Check out the photos:
Las Vegas Sun
Associated Press
Getty Images 1
Getty Images 2
Getty Images 3
Wire Image 1
Wire Image 2
Rex Features

Jay-Z, Ciara with special guest Fabolous tour dates:
Saturday July 4th Las Vegas, NV The Pearl
Tuesday July 7th Chicago, IL Charter One Pavilion
Friday July 10th Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
Sunday July 12th Atlanta, GA Chastain Park Amphitheatre