It's Amazing I'm In This Maze With You...Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z, The 'Legends of the Summer' Tour in Toronto

Going into this concert I already knew I would being heavily favoring one side of this tandem. If you didn't know, Jay-Z has been my favourite rapper for as long as I can remember (2. Nas, 3. Eminem FYI); even my blog moniker was contrived from classic words by Hov himself. So of course I went in knowing I'd be rocking a little bit harder 50% of the time..

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Mr. Timberlake's work as well...just that there's a dedicated space for hip-hop in my heart and not so much for pop music. Incidentally, most of the JT songs that really resonate with me are the ones more so floating in the R&B genre than pop side. But in any case, The Legends of the Summer Tour kicked off in Toronto...
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On a hot Wednesday night in the great city of Toronto, Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake kicked off their Legends of the Summer Tour. It was my first time at the Sky Dome for a concert and I was a little disappointed the roof wasn't open despite the clear skies. I chose to approach this concert with an as-long-as-I'm-in-the-building attitude and opted for the upper decks. Much of this decision was mainly based on the 50% set split with JT, but also I've always wondered what it'd be like to sit up top the massive stadium with the CN Tower over head. Despite an initial hit of vertigo the seats were just fine. The stage was vivid even from far away, although the acoustics suffered a bit.

The Kick-Off

Kicking off the show was the Magna Carta Holy Grail intro, Holy Grail. This Nirvana-laced song set the mood for the concert. Definitely conveyed that feeling of epicness. The opening minutes reminded everyone exactly what this concert represents; two of the biggest icons in music sharing a stage together with no restraints.

Much like the Watch the Throne Tour, the two shared the stage for the beginning of the show and eventually Jay-Z and Justin diverted to their own sets, respectively. But unlike WTT, there was no competitive nature in the air and they complemented each other very well.

During the first section of the show JT got his Pharrell on a few times on Jay-Z's Give It to Me and Excuse Me Miss. A very natural undertaking for JT's voice. These two songs continued into medleys transitioning into Justin's Rock Your Body and Senorita, respectively.

As they continued on stage, they ran through hit after hit, squeezing in more medleys here and there. In one instance Justin eased into Jay-Z's Izzo with the The Jackson 5's I Want You Back which was sampled on the track. They finished off this section of the show performing hits back and forth. From what I can recall, Jay-Z performed songs like On to the Next One and Big Pimpin' back-and-forth with Justin's Like I Love You, My Love and Tunnel Vision.

The Jay-Z Section

Although they left the stage briefly during this first section, there was a definitive progression into a series of solo sections. Jay-Z was first up to bat and of course this is where the concert would hit its stride, for me anyways.

Hov started it off by getting the crowd into it with Jigga What. Soon after this, Jay-Z instructed the crowd to take it from a 7 to a 99 and Mr. Timberlake returned to the stage guitar in hand to assist Jay-Z on 99 Problems. JT provided vocals as the profiling cop and even added riffs of Run DMC's Walk This Way throughout the song.

Backed by the 12-billion piece instrument band, Hov played crowd-movers like PSA, Hard Knock Life and my personal favourite U Don't Know. Hov also performed another one from Magna Carta. After asking the crowd if they got the new album and reminding them that it debuted at #1, he let loose FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotit--which is one of my favourite MCHG tracks off the strength off the Boi-1da production. Soon enough Justin joined him back to sing the chorus for Heart of the City which is probably my favourite Kanye West beat ever.

The Justin Timberlake Section

Mr. Timberlake slowly eased his way into his solo section. I must say he killed it. JT is a great performer and comes alive on stage. He was the ultimate showman from dancing to playing guitar and piano. He gave songs I'm not too big on like Lovestoned new life on stage; end-of-song break down and all. JT performed songs like Pusher Love Girl and Summer Love before hitting the shows only break in excitement.

The Slow Point

Justin got into a new song off of The 20/20 Experience - 2 of 2, Take Back the Night; although it had a 70's groove, I took this time to sit for a bit. The somber drop off continued with songs like Until the End of Time and picked up briefly when Justin did his last Pharrell cover of Frontin' to accompany Jay-Z's short verse. Soon after, it diverted back to a slow pace when Jay-Z jumped into Song Cry.

My favourite Justin Timberlake moment was when he performed Cry Me a River. He just owned the stage in this performance and for the break down at the end he even threw in a little 'Ball so hard motherfuckers wanna find me'. Soon after this, JT hopped on a piano for one of my favourite Timberlake songs, What Goes Around...Comes Around. This was followed by a well-received Tom Ford that picked the crowd up for what would be a strong finish.

The Strong Finish

The last section of the show had lots of Jay-Z songs, but it didn't feel dominated. Justin definitely had a presence from here until the end. The band stalled for a moment before Justin returned to a single spotlight in front of a red back drop. From here he sang his rendition of Frank Sinatra's New York, New York in the lowest register possible for JT. Of course this segued into Empire State of Mind where Jay-Z took great pleasure in hearing a stadium in Toronto belt out the name of his home city.

From here Justin took to a true gem from The 20/20 Experience with Mirrors. Soon after, backed with Rihanna vocals, Jay-Z came in with Run This Town. This lead to Encore which gave the crowd the feeling that the end was near and the two left the stage.



For a pseudo-encore the two returned for Suit & Tie. A transparent, but fitting way to conclude the evening's events. Following this the two stayed on stage and Jay-Z dedicated the final number to Trayvon Martin, Forever Young. He encouraged everyone to take out lighters and cellphones to set up for an epic closing.
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Overall, it was a great concert. I've yet to miss a Jay-Z concert in TO and I must say this performance falls at the end of the short list. However this takes nothing away from a great show of epic proportions. It's not often that you see any sign musical boundaries obliterated like this. It shows you how hip-hop has seeped into the mainstream over the past decades. I used to think the 2000's didn't have a definitive sound like the 70's or 80's, but looking back it's clear the inclusion of hip-hop is a large part of the identity of 2000's pop music and possibly more so in the 2010's. Two iconic artists representing their respective genres on the same stage to a diverse, sold out crowd is a beautiful thing.

I'm out like lighters at a Jay-Z concert...