All Points West

My Grandma passed away from AML on 7/31/07. I can never forget certain things... especially my mothers behavior. I was raised by my Grandma for most of my life while my mother dealt with her own issues. As a result, Grammy & I had a very strong bond. So when I woke up on Friday 7/31/09, I put on a cute dress I knew she'd love (even though the forecast said it would rain). Around 5pm, Maegan (my manager) sent an email out about not being able to go to APW and did any 1 want the tix. I immediately hit her up on Instant Messenger "MEEEEEE!!!!" I was the first to reply & she can't resist my sad puppy face- so she blessed me.

I saw Jay-Z perform once before, at MSG the day after R Kelly flipped out on the Best of Both Worlds tour. Seeing him again was exciting- of course! Alex rushed over right after work and we were en route to Liberty State Park within the hour.
The whole series of events was such an adventure, we didn't mind the mud so much. Vampire Weekend was finishing we finally made it to the main stage... Alex was hype about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I was still feeling a bit melancholy about Grammy & then...

the acoustic version of MAPS hit me so hard. It made me think of Grammy. I kept looking up at the beautiful sky... really feelin' it

"wait... they don't love you like I love you"

I felt so much that way about her... my eyes just kept leaking. Feeling so happy to know she watches over me even in her after life (or whatever you want to call it). I was having a moment.

What a rush- and Jay-Z was next! He took the stage in natural Hip Hop fashion,about 30 min late. Every 1 was more smushed together more than ever before. Some people were getting hostile.... finally, a 10min countdown clock came on the screen & everyone's mood changed.
He began the show by covering No Sleep Til Brooklyn in obvious tribute to MCA— changing the song's "Beastie Boys at the Garden, cold kickin' it live" line to "Jay-Z, All Points West, kickin' it live". Everyone was jumping around in the centimeter of space each had- how could you not love it?

Continuing the BK theme, he went into "Brooklyn (we go hard)" and then "Hello Brooklyn" followed by more hits including: Roc Boys, H to the Izzo, Can I Live, U Don't Know, Blue Magic, Show Me What U Got, Dirt Off Your Shoulder, Hard Knock Life & Big Pimpin'. He also paid tribute to Michael Jackson with an interlude recording of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back".

"If you take one thing from this concert, it should be that we don't mourn death, we celebrate life,"

Fuck yeah, I was feelin all that 100%. He performed Death of Auto tune, Run This Town and also some acapella of material off The Blueprint 3...

"Hey I appreciate y'all stayin' out in the rain or whatever, fuckin' up your new sneakers and all that shit." He closed the show by pointing out different fans in the crowd and thanking them individually. How awesome is that?