This one could very well end up on my list of favorite shows at the end of the year, and three-fourths of the fans acted like it was the best concert they’d ever seen. Nas unfortunately cut most of his songs short (one verse, one chorus), but that seemed to heighten his delivery of them. He and everyone else enjoyed having the band (Marley’s) behind him alongside DJ Green Lantern.  Jr. Gong, meanwhile, was absolutely electrifying. The guy has Tommy-gun spitfire talent as a rapper, and he does his father’s legacy proud as a torchbearing (but hardly just a copycat) reggae singer. There was a clear chemistry between the two Jamaican-blooded stars, who just finished an album together, “Distance Relatives,” and are co-headlining the Rock the Bells Tour this summer. Their 80-minute set here was cut up into different parts. Here’s how it went down:

Nas solo: He opened with “Hip-Hop Is Dead” and tore through a flurry of classics, including “The World Is Yours,” “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” and “If I Ruled the World.”

Nas & Marley: The duo traded verses on Nas songs such as “N.Y. State of Mind” and “Represent,” then did a “One Love” riff.

Marley solo: He focused on his reggae side with “More Justice,” the riveting “Hey Girl,” “Love and Inity,” a feisty version of Bob’s “War/No More Trouble” and then finishing with “Jam Rock.”

Nas again: Focused on his topical tracks such as “Hate Me Now,” “Black President” (big cheers), “I Can” and “The Slave and the Master.”

Nas & Marley: Finished with “On the Road to Zion,” then encored with two songs off the new record, which sounded a little tepid but had a well-aimed come-together message.

BTW, dig the photo Rohan Preston shot above. Yeah, our theater critic.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 8:25 am and is filed under Concerts, Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.