Despite not selling out, as previously anticipated, Jay-Z's Friday night concert at Memorial Gym was received with enthusiasm by Vanderbilt students and the local Nashville community.
Students with floor seat tickets, which were first-come, first-serve, started lining up as early as 9 a.m. and took shifts to ensure they would be in the front row.
Jay-Z protege J.Cole opened up the show.
“Although not as popular as the main act, J.Cole did a really good job keeping the crowd pumped and interested,” said junior Shannon Coleman. “I wanted to go back and listen to his mixtape.”
Rapper Wale followed him, performing crowd favorites "Chillin'" and "Pretty Girls" and bringing a couple of Vanderbilt freshmen on the stage with him.
A clock appeared on the screens and counted down the minutes to the main event.
When it hit zero, Jay-Z rose from the middle of the stage. The set, a video board backdrop in the shape of a skyscraper, displayed graphics, clips from music videos, and close-ups of Jay-Z and crew.
“I loved all the technical stuff,” said junior Gabrielle Westbrook.
Referring to himself as the JeHOVAh of rap, Jay-Z performed many songs from the recently released "The Blueprint 3," and, much to the pleasure of the crowd, many of his most popular hits from past, such as "Excuse Me Miss," "Dirt Off Your Shoulders" and "Give it to Me."
Jay-Z also had a live band, brought back out popular rapper Memphis Bleek as his hypeman and had vocals by up-and-coming artist Bridgette Kelly.
Unlike Homecoming's Quake concert, which featured O.A.R. and Pitbull at the same venue, the audience Friday night was hyped throughout the whole performance, especially when Jay-Z took time to shout out individual people in the crowd.
“His interaction with the crowd was great,” Westbrook said. “He really connected with the fans by shouting them out at the end of the concert.”
The RocNation tour — popularly referred to as the HOVcoming by many of Vanderbilt’s students — was deemed a success for many concertgoers.
“In all my four years at Vanderbilt, this was hands down the best concert I have been to,” said senior Michael Romeo. “... With the exception of this years’ Homecoming, I have been front-row center at every Rites of Spring and Quake concert, and Jay-Z took the cake. If any artist is able to engage the audience including the nosebleed section for two hours, and dazzle us with a backdrop out of this world, they are of such a high caliber and breed.”
