Watch The Throne x Philadelphia

Otis

      Philadelphia was almost on hip hop overload last week as new mixtapes were released from Freeway and Young Chris along with live shows featuring Theophilus London, Kendrick Lamar, and local fire starter Meek Mills.  Last, but definitely not least, was the Watch The Throne concert at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly featuring the king's Jay-Z and Kanye West.   Expectations were super high for this dynamic duo, who are both considered icon's in the game, as they are traveling across North America in support of their collaborative album, Watch The Throne.

Hova

     The excitement was definitely in the crowd as the females dressed in their best club attire along with the dudes showing off their latest kicks, as you can imagine, it was the place to be seen….that is until the lights went down and the speakers started to thump.   Fans went scrambling like cockroaches for their seats as Hov and Ye started the show with "HAM".  They each were standing on elevated cubes on opposite sides of the arena floor.  This theme continued all night as they alternated songs with each taking turns on the cubes while also both being on the main stage belting out hit after hit.  Each side of the cube showed various images of sharks and all kinds of wild life, along with the images shown on giant screens on the main stage.  Huge flames and a tremendous laser light show also highlighted the epic event as we expected nothing less than a rock star performance.   Kanye definitely dressed the part as well by wearing a leather kilt along with the anticipated Nike Air Yeezy 2's.  Hov donned his usual Yankee cap, this time snap back and all black everything.
     Some of the highlights included Kanye's performance of "Runaway" as he was on the far cube by himself as it glowed red in the middle of the arena.  That song is definitely made for stadium status.  Kanye also gave Philly local and ex-gf, Amber Rose, an emotional mention during the song.  I  managed to get that on video and posted after the break.

Runaway

Jigga and Ye played on their relationships with their ladies as they did intro's for the classics GoldDigger and then 99 Problems.  Mr. West and Jay also took a seat on the stage to do what Kanye says his is favorite track on the WTT album and most introspective ever, "New Day".  "Me and the RZA connect…"  They both did their own best hits while sprinkling in most of WTT which gave the concert great energy.  Their catalogs drip with classics as they continue to make more.  The night culminated in everybody's favorite right now, "N***** in Paris" as they literally did a triple encore of the jam that lasted more than 12 minutes.  Yes, three times.  Crowd went bonkers every time.  Of course, there was one more song to appropriately finish the show and that was Jay's "Encore"…. do you want more.  Yes, of course we do.
     One thing that impressed me was the genuine emotion that Kanye and Jay put into the show.  They continually talked to the crowd, shook hands with the front row, ran and danced all over the stage and really gave a total effort.  Both smiling and enjoying the audience dancing all two and a half hours while they were in complete control.  They've accomplished everything that most artists can dream of and instead of competing or staying in their lanes, they've combined their talents to really give the fans a great experience.  Both the album and show set the bar of what great artists can do.  It doesn't have to be the best show or album ever, but their resumes draw those kinds of expectations.  Honestly, they didn't disappoint on either account.  If anything, they've cemented themselves as truly great artists of any musical genre and personally, my all time favorites…..  as they say...it's get the people going.
More pics at the break with the set list.

“To the city of Philly, I wanna thank y’all for making the incredible person that this song was made for, “The one place I f****** up most is I thought, I thought you’d always me mine.”

Runaway 

Touch The Sky

Set List for November 2, 2011
H.A.M. / Who Gonna Stop Me / Otis / Welcome to the Jungle / Gotta Have It / Where I'm From / N---- What, N---- Who / Can't Tell Me Nothing / Flashing Lights / Jesus Walks / Diamonds From Sierra Leone / Public Service Announcement / Run This Town / Monster / Power / Made in America / New Day / Hard Knock Life / Izzo (H.O.V.A.) / Empire State of Mind / Runaway /Heartless / Stronger / On to the Next One / Dirt Off Your Shoulder / I Just Wanna Love You / That's My Bitch / Good Life / Touch the Sky /All of the Lights / Big Pimpin' / Gold Digger / 99 Problems / No Church in the Wild / Lift Off / N----s in Paris