jay z

He came out to 'Death of Auto-Tune' and ended on 'Encore.' The rapper known as Jay Z let us know he still had it, just in case we thought he lost it somewhere between Brooklyn and Hollywood. Jay took it back to the true essence of hip-hop – a rousing good time with just enough boom bap pow to make you forget your troubles and dance; and dance this multi-ethnic crowd did for 90 minutes straight.

Shawn Carter took us down memory lane backed by a 9-piece band -- complete horn section, two drummers, two on keys, a DJ and a bass player -- on his July 10 spot date at the Arena at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville CT. As part of the deal Jay inked with concert promoter LiveNation in 2008 for a reported 150 million, Jay's five-date unnamed tour was a way for him to continue to bring in revenue, to connect with fans and to break new music.

Stripped down to an all black set topped by a concave mountain of screens (at about movie theatre height) Jay proved himself sherriff of the stage adorned in all black jeans shirt shades and cap – though he did give 'em some pop with white hightops and humongous neon pink sole peeking out from under them.