PHOTOS: Jay Z Disses Philly, Crowd Goes Wild

It’s not a huge surprise that the best performance at Citizen’s Bank Park this summer came while the Phillies were out of town. Jay Z and Justin Timberlake’s “Legends of Summer” Tour took over the stadium on Tuesday night with a show that had the crowd standing for well over two hours.

The two mega-stars worked well together, trading off songs with neither leaving the stage for long. The differences in style were also apparent. Timberlake was working hard for the love, moving around the stage, mugging for the audience, and playing multiple instruments. All Jay Z had to do was step into the spotlight to get the crowd chanting his name.

The crowd sang along to Jay Z throwbacks like “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me),” “Big Pimpin’” and “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem).” The Tennessee Kids, Timberlake’s backing band, was unleashed on “Cry Me A River” and “What Goes Around… Comes Around.” Timberlake also gave a nod to Philly by working Boyz II Men’s “Motown Philly” into his “Take Back the Night.” The best collaboration between the two may have been “99 Problems” (which was not dedicated to Charlie Manuel)” with Timberlake playing the part of the policeman.

The highlight, and lowlight, of the show was Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” bookended by Timberlake singing Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” At least Boston got a disclaimer before the song. Philly got no acknowledgement of our longstanding complex with our neighbor to the north, even though the Phillies lost the World Series just a few years ago when that song was the Yankees’ theme. Bruce Springsteen at least has the decency to work a pause into his song for boos when he mentions the Giants in “Wrecking Ball,“ his ode to the Meadowlands.

This came after Jay Z introduced “99 Problems” with some “real talk” and “tough love,” saying “Boston, Chicago, and the Rose bowl were louder than y’all.”

Philly seems to have lost its edge since the World Series win in 2008, so I’ll try to take back some pride. The song I was most looking forward to from the “Legends of Summer” was “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love).” They did it well, but the Roots did it better.

Setlist

1. Holy Grail
2. I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)
3. Rock Your Body
4. I Want You Back
5. Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
6. Excuse Me Miss
7. Senorita
8. On to the Next One
9. Like I Love You
10. My Love
11. Big Pimpin’
12. Tunnel Vision
13. Jigga What, Jigga Who
14. U Don’t Know
15. 99 Problems
16. F***WithMeYouKnowIGotIt
17. Public Service Announcement
18. Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)
19. Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)
20. Pusher Love Girl
21. Summer Love
22. LoveStoned
23. Until the End Of Time
24. Cry Me A River
25. Take Back The Night
26. What Goes Around … Comes Around
27. Dirt Off Your Shoulder
28. N***** In Paris
29. Tom Ford
30. New York, New York / Empire State of Mind
31. Mirrors
32. Run This Town
33. SexyBack
34. Encore
35. Suit & Tie
36. Young Forever