Despite an hours-long delay and a super late start to the show, Jay-Z treated his fans to a myriad of special guests at his Yankee Stadium concert.
Sunday’s concert was dubbed “Extra Innings” as it was added after the initial pair of Yankee Stadium shows were announced. The name also suggested that Hov was free to explore his stacked catalog without focusing an entire performance on one specific album, which was the case at the two previous engagements.
The show actually ended up kicking off early Monday morning, plagued by hours of delays due to logistical issues at the stadium. “We’re going to go until like 5 a.m., so don’t be scared,” Jay said, per Variety, at about 1 a.m., about 40 minutes after the show finally started.
When the clock struck midnight, Jay’s band took their places, but he didn’t make his way onto the stage until 12:20 a.m.
“It was like 10,000 people outside and they closed all the doors and somebody rushed the doors and they closed the door,” the rapper said while addressing the delay. “But your guys’ safety and everybody’s safety outside, it’s 10,000 people outside, I don’t want to start music and people get trampled. So I’m really sorry for the inconvenience but I had to make sure everybody’s OK. So I appreciate your patience, we’re going to have a good time tonight. I got some s**t for you, I promise you.”
Once the show finally began, Hov treated the audience to a tour of his discography that featured guest appearances from Beyoncé, Rihanna, Usher, Jermaine Dupri, Pharrell Williams, Clipse, Teyana Taylor, Swizz Beatz, Jeezy, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, and The-Dream.
Source: Courtesy of Roc Nation / Courtesy of Roc Nation
As the night went on, Jay-Z played almost 50 songs over the course of nearly three hours.