Best of Both Worlds: THE UPGRADE

Concert Review of 'The Heart of The City Tour'
Location: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
Date: 4.6.08

If you missed this, count your losses! There aren't enough postings on youtube to capture this once in a lifetime experience. Folks might argue once you've seen one Jigga or Mary performance, you've seen them all, but clearly nothing tops this. What do you get when you add two artists at the top of their career & one sold out venue?? PURE MAGIC!!! They each have enough chart topping hits to entertain without any ounce of a complaint from their fans. Not to mention the wasted time of an opening act, which by the way, SUCKED! No offense to those who enjoyed hearing Mr. American Dream sound like a cat on its death bed, but, the only shining moment to his alloted ten minutes were the retro Jordan IX's.

The minutes leading up to the main event seemed like an eternity. Fans chanting each artists' names respectively in anticipation of who was to perform first. HOUSE LIGHTS OUT! The mini convo between Mary & Jay-Z explaining Heart of the City captures everyones attention, then the countdown begins; 5,4,3,2,1! Enter the guests of honor of the evening performing Can't Knock the Hustle. The first of many crowd pleasing hits.

Many kudos goes out to the production team responsible for the lighting, pyro techniques, and each back-drop, helping to make the experience memorable. Mary's solo performance took us back down memory lane, with hits like Real Love, Reminisce, Sweet Thing, just to name a few, before bringing us to present day with Just Fine & Stay Down. She performed with much intensity & heart, bringing the fans to their feet in applause.

Mr. Carter knows how to bring 'em out. He emptied the entire clip without having to re-load. Throw ya diamonds in the sky! His swagger was on overload, and he knew it. Fans chanting the lyrics to not one, but ALL his songs. Letting the cat out the bag with with hits from Reasonable Doubt, Blueprint & the Black Album, Hov took us on one up& down rollercoaster ride with many unexpected turns. My highlight of the night was Money over bitches...FUCK BUSH. There were so many hype moments, but not enough time nor space to highlight them all, however, they closed the show with You're All Welcome, a song, dedicated to their fans. No matter where you sat, or how much money you paid for your ticket, the show was well worth it. Lets hope Heart of the City makes it to your nearest Circuit City or Best Buy as a collectors item for many years to come, because it definately was an UPGRADE to Best of Both Worlds.

-Mello-