During the encore of JAY-Z’s Reasonable Doubt 30th Anniversary concert on Friday, July 10th, the hometown hero joked that he couldn’t leave it all on the field with two more Yankee Stadium performances up ahead. However, the following night’s The Blueprint anniversary show didn’t even feature an encore and abruptly ended after about 90 minutes.
Despite a masterful and technically sound Saturday evening performance kicking off at 9:10 p.m., the second night felt more muted and lower energy, raising questions about whether the 56-year-old MC’s stamina was up for the task of playing three consecutive nights at Yankee Stadium.
While performing The Blueprint front-to-back, Hov raised the stakes on the soaring opener “The Ruler’s Back” by bringing out Slick Rick sporting a gigantic chain nearly the size of his chest. The special guest then performed his own “La Di Da Di” before Jigga skipped “Takeover.”
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Omitting the Nas diss from the setlist made sense after the former foes were on the same page on Friday, performing a four-song run including “Dead Presidents II,” “The World Is Yours…,” “N.Y. State of Mind,” and “Where I’m From.”
Staying true to the album’s tracklist, “Girls, Girls, Girls” slowed down the pace right after “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” which had ignited the stadium. Aside from “U Don’t Know,” the crowd’s enthusiasm didn’t reach the same levels, dipping during proficient and heartfelt renditions of “Never Change,” “Song Cry,” and “All I Need.”
A highly anticipated surprise appearance by Detroit great Eminem on “Renegade” sent fans into a frenzy, serving as the highlight of Jay’s The Blueprint set — especially when he followed up with “Lose Yourself.”
After sharing that he was prepared to walk away from rapping when The Blueprint dropped at such a tragic time on September 11th, 2001, S-Dot performed “Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)” and abruptly walked off the stage at 10:10 p.m., one hour after the evening’s proceedings began.
Following a brief interlude of Frank Sinatra singing “New York, New York,” JAY-Z returned to the stage for a truncated second act.
Beginning with an Alicia Keys-less performance of “Empire State of Mind,” JAY-Z called upon Pharrell to reach into their deep bag of hits, including “Excuse Me Miss,” “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me),” “Frontin’,” and “Allure.”
Just as a dynamic, three-song run of “N***as in Paris,” “Big Pimpin’,” and “Public Service Announcement” left the crowd abuzz and expecting more bangers, the concert suddenly ended at 10:40 p.m. with a triumphant performance of “Encore” — an ironic choice because the night featured no actual encore.
Without any insider information, we can only speculate about why the abbreviated runtime left many fans wanting more. Despite continuing to show off immense technical prowess and a flawless delivery, the combination of a short set and heavy reliance on Eminem and Pharrell to do heavy lifting suggests Jay may have been hiding limitations in his stamina.
It’s certainly a worrisome trend with the third and final Yankee Stadium concert set for Sunday, July 12th. However, the handcuffs will be off; free from being restricted to a single album, he can lean further into special guests and curate a setlist better suited for his current physical shape.
Setlist:
The Rulers Back (w/ Slick Rick)
La Di Da Di (w/ Slick Rick)
Izzo
Girls Girls Girls
Jigga That N*gga
U Don’t Know
Hola Hovito
Heart Of The City
Never Change
Song Cry
All I Need
Renegade (w/ Eminem)
Lose Yourself (w/ Eminem)
Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)
Encore:
Empire State Of Mind
Excuse Me Miss (w/ Pharrell)
La La La (w/ Pharrell)
I Just Wanna Love U (w/ Pharrell)
Frontin’ (w/ Pharrell)
Allure (w/ Pharrell)
N**gas in Paris
PSA
Encore