Photo courtesy of Karla Moy

The first rap concert I ever went to was the Glow In The Dark show of 2008 and although I’ve seen plenty of shows since, that concert remained a benchmark for amazing performances. On Wednesday and Thursday, that benchmark was met and shattered when Jay-Z and Kanye West brought their Watch The Throne tour to Toronto. Without an opening act, the superstars stepped on stage at 9:15PM before unleashing a salvo of songs that included classics hits, past collaborations, and of course, most of the Watch The Throne tracklist.

Carter and West stood opposite each other on lit up platforms that would eventually rise to reveal screens on all four sides; screens that would show everything from images of MLK and the civil rights movement, to National Geographic style shots of cheetahs hunting prey and sharks being sharks. Sporting what looked like a Coogi Snuggie, Kanye’s energy and enthusiasm played a sharp contrast to Jay’s stoic and commanding presence as they preformed a handful of songs from the album with the help of a laser light show that made you wish you ate a ‘special’ brownie on the way to the ACC.

The duo preformed almost 40 songs in two hours, a feat that was accomplished by never taking a break from the music. While Carter performed classics like “Where I’m From” and Jigga What, Kanye would build his energy before coming out with Graduation hits, which gave Jay a chance to take his own breather. The pace kept is a testament to not only their energy level, but also their catalog of music, which blended together seamlessly even if some songs were recorded years apart. Their on-stage rapport was captured by revolving cameras that zoomed in often to allow the crowd a close up of Jay-Z’s serious face and Kanye’s brow, which was understandably sweaty from the overt use of pyrotechnics during the second half of the show.

The Toronto shows didn’t feature anything unique; we got Kanye’s ‘fight’ with the lighting guy about getting his timing right for “All Of The Lights”, we heard the same extended version of “Runaway” (“If I said I don’t like your shoes tonight, don’t listen to me, because I’m an asshole, you’re always fine. If I said I don’t like your hair tonight, don’t listen to me because I’m an asshole, you’re always fine. The only part I fucked up is that I thought you’d always be mine.”) and the Wednesday crowd heard “Niggas In Paris” 3 times (Thursday they heard it 5X). The rumors of Drake or J. Cole opening may have been false, but the amount of musical history that the audience at the Air Canada Center experienced over the last 2 days is sure to make its own headlines.

Tracklist:

HAM
Who Gon Stop Me
Otis
Welcome To The Jungle
Gotta Have It
Where I’m From
Jigga What
Can’t Tell Me Nothing
Flashing Lights
Jesus Walks
All Falls Down
Diamonds Remix
PSA
U Don’t Know
Run This Town
Monster
All of The Lights
Made in America
New Day
Empire State Of Mind
Runaway
Heartless
Stronger
On To The Next One
Dirt Off Your Shoulder
That’s My Bitch
Goodlife
Touch The Sky
All of The Lights
Big Pmpin
No Church in the Wild
Lift Off
Niggas in Paris x2
Encore
Niggas in Paris

PREVIOUSLY:

• EVENT RUNDOWN: Diddy & Dirty Money @ KOOLHAUS
• EVENT RUNDOWN: Method Man Live @ Sound Academy [Toronto]
• EVENT RUNDOWN: De La Soul in Toronto Aug. 23rd.