The Watch the Throne album, (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/watch-throne-deluxe-version/id455402261) in my opinion, has only 5 or 6 songs, out of 16, that are upbeat enough to entertain a concert crowd. So, being the weirdo researcher that I am, I kept abreast of each show, leading up to this one, to get a good sense of what to expect. I hate being surprised. I’m the type of person who reads the last page of a book to see how the story will unfold or plays 10 seconds of each song on a new album to see if I will like the entire thing. I knew what songs were going to be in the rotation, what images were going to display on the jumbotron, the light show spectacle and everything else down to Kanye’s attire at each set. But, none of this prepared me for the awesomeness of actually experiencing everything up close.

They opened with “H.A.M.”, as I knew they would, sending a wave of heavy bass through the amped crowd that stood on its feet. Like a great tennis match, Jay and Kanye then bounced collaborations as well as solo hits back and forth to each other like a conversation. No backup dancers, no guest appearances, no celebrity DJ and no opening act all equated to the genius of their showmanship and also spoke to their low overhead. I know that Forbes is going to have a great time with the increasing net worth of these two, thanks to this tour.

At one point, when Jay-Z had left the stage to take a possible breather and costume change, West held down the fort by belting out a medley of his songs that were reminiscent of his VH1’s Storyteller show. He stood on top of a red-lighted box about 20 feet high (I’m guessing that number, but it was hella tall) and even felt the need to shout out his ex, Amber Rose, without using her name of course, while singing Runaway. (http://www.complex.com/music/2011/11/quote-of-the-day-kanye-dedicates-runaway-to-amber-rose-during-philadelphia-performance) Jay-Z finally returned to go through his potpourri of anthems, before they both took a quiet moment to sit down on the stage and rap “Made in America” and “New Day”. The concert took a turn at this point, where an elegant yet powerful conversation ensued through flashing pictures of Hurricane Katrina, the Ku Klux Klan and infamous bombings.

After several more medleys, I was beginning to get tired. The arena was packed and I had screamed for so long and so hard that my throat simply wanted to cave in. But, I knew, as everyone else did, that we were rocking to the blast from the past just eagerly waiting. Waiting for that infectious song that probably causes road accidents on a daily. “N in Paris” (See Graphic Designer, Joseph Maruca’s, creative and unofficial video for it here - http://vimeo.com/28798133). This was undoubtedly the highlight of the evening. So much so that they performed it, brought it right back and performed it again, ended the show, then came back on stage to perform it again for the encore. 3 times. Iconic. Epic. The audience didn’t waver in energy not once. Now I have to go finish drinking my Organic lemon spice tea with honey because I just might have busted my vocals chords.